Blues albums can be great, but live blues albums always seem to be the best. It makes sense that GA-20's upcoming album would be a live one. The Boston blues rock trio are a powerhouse of a live act, and that just can't be recreated in a studio. The latest single off of the album is "By My Lonesome," and it captures the energy and oomph of a GA-20 live performance. You get the feeling that the guitar is threatening to escape the confines of the song at any moment, but keeps getting reeled back in by the drums. This is a really fun one, and shows why GA-20 are quickly becoming one of the favorites in the current blues scene.
Guitarist Matthew Stubbs says of the upcoming live album:
“There is a special type of energy that is exchanged when we play in front of a live audience, and we definitely feed off of that and wanted to capture that. I love the power and energy of the best live blues albums. Historically, some of the most iconic blues and jazz records have been live ones. B.B. King’s Live At The Regal changed my life. So did Hound Dog Taylor’s Beware Of The Dog!, and Albert King’s Live Wire/Blues Power. We really wanted to continue that tradition and do one of our own.”
You can listen to "By My Lonesome" below. Live in Loveland is due out March 17 on Colemine Records, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on GA-20, check out the band's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the song.
FEB 18 THU Starlite - Southbridge, MA
FEB 23 THU Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club - Portsmouth, NH
FEB 24 FRI Brooklyn Made - Brooklyn, NY (w/ Kendra Morris and Abby Jeanne)
FEB 25 SAT The Met - Pawtucket, RI
MAR 2 THU - PW Enns Centennial Concert Hall - Winkler, MB, Canada
MAR 3 FRI - Saskatoon Blues Festival 2023 - Saskatoon, SK, Canada
MAR 4 SAT Mid Winter Blues Festival 2023 - Regina, SK, Canada
MAR 10 FRI - Arden Gild Hall - Wilmington, DE
MAR 11 SAT Crossroads Music Series - North Andover, MA
MAR 12 SUN The Ridgefield Playhouse - Ridgefield, CT (opening for Mavis Staples)
APR 12 WED - Neurolux Lounge - Boise, ID
APR 14 FRI - Lucky You Lounge - Spokane, WA
APR 15 SAT Nectar Lounge, Seattle, WA
APR 16 SUN - Volcanic Theatre Pub - Bend, OR
APR 17 MON - Humboldt State University - Arcata, CA
APR 19 WED Hopmonk Tavern - Sebastopol, CA
APR 20 THU Moe's Alley - Santa Cruz, CA
APR 21 FRI Crest Theatre - Sacramento, CA
APR 23 SUN The Peppermint Club - West Hollywood, CA
APR 26 WED - Sundown at Granada - Dallas, TX
APR 27 THU - Dosey Doe Big Barn - The Woodlands, TX
APR 28 FRI - Chickie Wah Wah - New Orleans, LA
MAY 6 SAT - WMNF Tropical Heatwave 2023 - Ybor City, FL
MAY 26 FRI - Boston Calling Festival 2023 - Allston, MA
MAY 31 WED - 100 Club - London, United Kingdom
JUN 1 THU - St Mary's Centre, Chester - Chester, United Kingdom
JUN 2 FRI - Red Rooster 2023 - Euston, United Kingdom
JUN 4 SUN - Goezot in't Hofke 2023 - Oud-turnhout, Belgium
JUN 6 TUE - jugend- und bürgerzentrum werden - Essen, Germany
JUN 7 WED - Der Aa-Theater - Groningen, Netherlands
JUN 8 THU - Rotown Rotterdam - Rotterdam, Netherlands
JUN 9 FRI - Merleyn - Nijmegen, Netherlands
JUN 10 SAT - 4AD - Diksmuide, Belgium
JUN 11 SUN - Paradiso - Amsterdam, Netherlands
JUN 14 WED - Koppartälten - Solna, Sweden
JUN 15 THU - Tavastia Club - Helsinki, Finland
JUN 16 FRI - Hotelli Verstas - Nakkila, Finland
JUN 17 SAT - Apollo Turku - Turku, Finland
JUN 18 SUN - Ravintola Telakka - Tampere, Finland
JUN 24 SAT - The Green River Festival 2023 - Greenfield, MA
Somehow Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns has another band that I never knew about. Minibeast already released an album that I completely missed back in 2012, and they are currently at work on the follow up, Free Will. Based on a track from the upcoming album, "High Sea," Minibeast shares some common sonic ground with Mission of Burma, but with an added emphasis on the groovy side of things. It's basically the noise and dissonance of Burma but heard through a 60s surf groove, as if Frankie and Annette were punks. You can listen to "High Sea" below. Minibeast currently have a Kickstarter to help fund the final production of Free Will. You can get more information on that here . It should be out sometime in June.
Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it. “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....
Earlier this week I was expressing sympathy for Limp Bizkit. Limp Bizkit just don't seem to be riding that surge of 90s nostalgia that all sorts of other terrible bands from that era are. Sure, they're terrible. But are they really that much worse than Filter, Alien Ant Farm, and other bands on those 90s nostalgia packages. And then this video is released. The first lyrics to the song are literally "Go fuck yourself." It then features Fred Durst sitting on a toilet, bikini clad chicks pretending to fellate garden hoses and leaf blowers, and Fred Durst talking about fucking bitches, all while wearing a hoodie and a backwards red baseball hat. Then Lil Wayne comes out. Please keep in mind Fred Durst is a 42 year old man.
