The Royal Potato Family

Superhuman Happiness | New Video & Winter Shows

admin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:33:02 +0000

SUPERHUMAN HAPPINESS | “Needles & Pins”

SUPERHUMAN HAPPINESS | Winter Shows:

available now at: iTunes || Insound (w/ free 7-inch) || Royal Potato Family (pick up the EP + three 7-inches for only $15) || Amazon or anywhere else you buy music!!!

SUPERHUMAN HAPPINESS Facebook
SUPERHUMAN HAPPINESS Twitter

Garage A Trois | Colorado Shows In December

admin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:20:29 +0000

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GARAGE A TROIS To Play Five Shows In Colorado This December

featuring Skerik, Marco Benevento, Mike Dillon & Stanton Moore

“Garage A Trois skew grittier and more psychedelic with the current lineup, combining heavy-riff distortion with a rough-and-tumble funk delirium.” – The New York Times

“Insolently awesome since 1999, the instrumental quartet Garage a Trois consists of the hair-raising saxophonist Skerik, whiplash keyboardist Marco Benevento, Galactic drummer Stanton Moore, and vibraphone-whacking percussionist Mike Dillon; brutal yet meticulously deranged blast of raw, jazz-rock power.” - Village Voice

Garage A Trois, a post rock/freak jazz entity comprised of Seattle-based saxophonics master Skerik, Brooklyn sound-sculptor/keysman Marco Benevento, Texas-born punk rock vibraphone hero Mike Dillon and New Orleans funky drummer/beat scientist Stanton Moore, have announced five shows in Colorado this December. The run starts in Telluride, stops in Breckenridge, Ft. Collins and Boulder, and concludes in Denver. While in Boulder, the band plans to drop into Immersive Studios to record a limited edition 7-inch for release on Record Store Day in 2012.

The Colorado tour is part of a year long surge behind Garage A Trois‘ latest critically lauded album Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil out now on The Royal Potato Family. Utne Reader wrote of the record: “there’s a head-clearing vigor to this music, as if the weirdos among us might be onto something after all,” while Relix declared: “the album’s title perfectly encapsulates the vibe of the band: the music is fun, energetic and hopeful, but there’s a darkness to it that begs listeners to stay on their toes.”

Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil is the follow up to Garage A Trois’ 2009 release, Power Patriot (the band’s debut with Benevento replacing original member Charlie Hunter). In the words of Stanton Moore, “the band set out to capture the highly flammable, rock-driven, avant pop album we all knew we were capable of making.” Recorded at Studio In The Country in Bogalusa, LA (where albums by The Neville Brothers, Stevie Wonder and The Wild Magnolias have been cut) with engineer/producer Randall Dunn (Cave Singers, Black Mountain, Sun City Girls), it’s the finest representation yet of the band’s sinewy, fourth-dimensional, polychromatic songwriting.

Upcoming Colorado Tour Dates are:

December 13 | The Llama | Telluride, CO {tickets}
December 14 | Three 20 South | Breckenridge, CO {tickets}
December 15 | Aggie Theater | Ft. Collins, CO {tickets}
December 16 | Fox Theater | Boulder, CO {tickets}
December 17 | Cervantes | Denver, CO {tickets}

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Garage A Trois latest album Always Be Happy, But Stay Evil
is available now on LP, CD & MP3

“Part hippie jam band, part space-rock psychedelic freakout, part late-night jazz club skronk session, Garage a Trois is ultimately just the sound of four extremely talented musicians enjoying the hell out of one another’s considerable chops. Swampy, almost lo-fi jams like ‘Resentment Incubator’ put the ‘Garage’ part of the equation front and center, but they’re talented enough to let texture and restraint lead the way, too, as on the mesmerizingly moody ‘Baby Mama Drama.’” – METROMIX

“…slinky (‘Resentment Incubator’), polyrhythmic (‘Earl Harvin’), accessible (‘Earl Harvin’ again), raw (‘The Drum Department’), cosmic (‘Shooting Breaks’), and ever so eerie (‘Swellage’). Recorded by engineer/producer Randall Dunn (Secret Chiefs 3, Sunn O))), Earth), it closes with an unexpected cover of John Carpenter’s ‘Assault on Precinct 13,’ a rendition that sonically embodies the album’s title.” – ALARM MAGAZINE

“Garage a Trois has crafted an album destined to go down as one of the best instrumental releases of the last couple decades. That may sound a tad hyperbolic, but Always Be Happy but Stay Evil showcases the extraordinary range of four musicians at the top of their respective games.” – GLIDE MAGAZINE

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Marco Benevento | Winter Tour

admin — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 16:04:39 +0000

WINTER Tour

Grayson Capps & The Lost Cause Minstrels | Fall Tour

admin — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:39:49 +0000

Grayson Capps heads out on the road this month in support of his critically acclaimed new album, The Lost Cause Minstrels available now on LP & CD here | On MP3 here

Also catch Grayson with a cameo and two songs in the new Sony Pictures Film, Straw Dogs.

“Chief Seattle” | Grayson Capps

“With a voice recalling Steve Earle and Delbert McClinton, rolled together with a fifth of cheap scotch, Capps is a natural treasure in the making.” – Maverick Magazine UK

“With ‘The Lost Cause Minstrels,’ Capps joins the Drive-By Truckers on the short list of artists who can tell a serious story while evoking the thrills of vintage Southern rock.” – Sound & Vision Magazine

“With Minstrels, Capps has finally made a classic album.” – American Songwriter Magazine

“The New Orleans-steeped literary roots rocker hasn’t gone countrypolitan: he’s just taken his down-home game to a new level, and illuminated his vocal gifts in the process.” – Relix Magazine

“The album has just about everything a Grayson Capps fan could want: Memorable characters, a handful of swampy hard-rocking numbers, a range of moods that makes full use of Capps’ ability to voice naked emotion, even a touch of Mardi Gras.” – Mobile Press Register

“The Lost Cause Minstrels takes all of Capps’ strengths, hones them to a razored point, and trains them on the listener in a wily collection of songs that reflect pathos, passion, and earned wisdom.” – All Music Guide

“‘The Lost Cause Minstrels’ should be the record that introduces Capps to the world, at least those that are paying attention, cause it’s his watershed moment…definitely top 5 record of the year as we stand at almost the midway point of 2011.” – Captain’s Dead

“These 12 songs on ‘The Lost Cause Minstrels’ verify Grayson Capps as one of the country’s finest songwriters.” – Swampland

“The Lost Cause Minstrels is the kind of record I can see myself continuing to listen to years from now.” – Berkeley Place

“Definitely an album that will feature on the end of year best of lists for roots music fans – file under essential listening.” – Beat Surrender

“A man who can write a slow song, call it ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and get away it, knows what he is doing.” – Here Comes The Flood

JFJO Fall Tour | ‘The Race Riot Suite’ Out Now

admin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:20:15 +0000

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey‘s new album The Race Riot Suite is in stores now.

Order LP or CD direct from RPF here | Download MP3s from iTunes and get four exclusive bonus tracks here

Grandfather’s Gun by jfjo

Watch JFJO perform “Black Wall Street” from The Race Riot Suite

MTO Plays SLY | NYC Release Party on Oct. 14 at 92Y Tribeca

admin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:25:21 +0000

Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra celebrates the release of MTO Plays SLY, a tribute to the music of Sly & The Family Stone, at 92Y Tribeca on Friday, October 14. Advance tickets are on sale here.

MTO Plays SLY is now available for pre-order on LP and CD. Any orders received before street date on September 27 will be signed by Steven Bernstein. Pick up your copy now.

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…more on MTO PLAYS SLY

With Special Guests Antony Hegarty, Bernie Worrell, Bill Laswell, Dean Bowman, Martha Wainwright, Sandra St. Victor, Shilpa Ray and Vernon Reid

New York City’s favorite “little big band” Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra cracks open wide the monumental songbook of Sly & The Family Stone on its third album, MTO Plays SLY. On this freewheeling and jubilant 13-track tribute, MTO is propelled by a dynamic cast of special guests, including Antony Hegarty, Bernie Worrell, Bill Laswell, Dean Bowman, Martha Wainwright, Sandra St. Victor, Shilpa Ray and Vernon Reid, treating Sly & The Family Stone with the same (ir)reverence it would Duke Ellington or Count Basie. By illuminating the melodic and harmonic sophistication of the iconoclast’s body of work, MTO re-imagine Sly Stone through the filter of their own “downtown NYC” aesthetic, while still upholding the Day-Glo soul and psychedelic funk that is the backbone for classics like “M’Lady,” “Everyday People” and “Family Affair.” Both the CD and LP versions of the release include extensive liner notes by Steven Bernstein and music historian Greg Tate along with never before seen photos from the recording sessions.

MTO is Steven Bernstein, Peter Apfelbaum, Doug Wieselman, Erik Lawrence, Curtis Fowlkes, Charlie Burnham, Matt Munisteri, Ben Allison and Ben Perowsky

M’Lady | Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra (featuring Dean Bowman)

Superhuman Happiness | ‘The Physical EP’ Release Shows | Sept. 23 & 24 at Zebulon in Brooklyn

admin — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 15:40:48 +0000

Superhuman Happiness The Physical EP available worldwide on Oct. 11

Look for the pre-order coming soon…

“Needles & Pins” | Superhuman Happiness

Grayson Capps | The Lost Cause Minstrels

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:10:09 +0000

GRAYSON CAPPS | The Lost Cause Minstrels

Available on Vinyl, CD & MP3 | Order Here

“Highway 42″ | Grayson Capps

“Jane’s Alley Blues” | Grayson Capps

“The Lost Cause Minstrels should be the record that introduces Capps to the world, at least those that are paying attention, cause it’s his watershed moment…definitely top 5 record of the year as we stand at almost the midway point of 2011.” – CAPTAIN’S DEAD

“The Lost Cause Minstrels is the kind of record I can see myself continuing to listen to years from now.” – BERKELEY PLACE

“New Orleans’ marvel Grayson Capps is alive and well and slowly building one of the most phenomenal songbooks in America today. If ever there were a cat primed to pick up where Lowell George and John Prine have left off, it’s Capps.” – JAMBASE

“Although his distinctive sound is rootsy at its core, a Dixie-fried amalgam of twang-rock, Memphis soul, and roadhouse blues, Capps’ Tennessee-Williams-meets-Charles-Bukowski lyrical style is equal parts Southern Gothic and Los Angeles noir. His songs are literate, imaginative, and sometimes magical, his storytelling skills matched by an uncanny sense of musical history that will grow on you like kudzu vine.” – BLURT

“Take the poetry of Texas troubadour Townes Van Zandt, combine with Steve Earle’s edgy attitude and stir with a little cup of the bayou-blues (think Howlin’ Wolf) and you start to get a taste of Capps’s scrumptious gothic gumbo.” – AMERICAN SONGWRITER

Grayson Capps‘ fifth studio album, The Lost Cause Minstrels, finds the Mobile, Alabama-based singer-songwriter coming of age. That doesn’t mean his often unholy tales of the Southern Gothic have lost any of their sting. Quite the contrary, Capps’ Tao-tinged philosophical musings wrapped inside songs shuddering with spit, stomp and snarl are as potent as ever. Look no further than “Highway 42,” “No Definitions” and “Rock N Roll” to hear that Capps cedes no quarter. It’s just that this time his bark and bite is more accepting of the unanswered questions mucking up the universe. And yes, occasionally, even a celebratory mood prevails like the horn-fueled romp “Ol’ Slac,” an ode the rebirth of the Mobile, Alabama Mardi Gras, or “Coconut Moonshine,” a character sketch based on Mr. Jim who inhabits the hallowed roadside barbecue joint in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Two rare but classic American roots’ numbers are born again here, as well: Taj Mahal’s country-blues paen “Annie’s Lover” and Richard Rabbit Brown’s jaunty “Jane’s Alley Blues,” (the original recording preserved on Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music).

Grayson Capps’ personal situation has evolved since his previous release Rott ‘n’ Roll, and it’s reflected in the album’s spirit. In 2010, he dissolved his band The Stumpknockers, re-assembling a new cast of musicians, fittingly dubbed The Lost Cause Minstrels. The line-up (Corky Hughes on guitars, Chris Spies on keys, Christian Grizzard on bass and John Milham on drums) features a who’s who of the finest players on the Gulf Coast music scene and their musical breadth makes an immediate impact. Capps also moved back to Alabama where he was born and raised in the midst of recording the album. He’d relocated to Nashville in 2007 after being driven from his New Orleans’ home following Hurricane Katrina. He co-produced the effort with revered engineer/producer Trina Shoemaker (Queens of the Stone Age, Dylan Leblanc, Sheryl Crow). All of these factors coalesce into a collection of songs timeless in their pursuit of truth yet well aware of how hard the truth is to find in these times. The Lost Cause Minstrels is the highly anticipated next chapter from one of the finest Southern troubadours of the day.

Upcoming tour dates:

THE DEAD KENNY Gs Tour With PRIMUS | Headline WEST COAST

admin — Mon, 16 May 2011 12:39:00 +0000

The Dead Kenny Gs (featuring Skerik, Brad Houser and Mike Dillon) head out for ten dates supporting Primus at the end of May. The band will also headline a run of shows on the West Coast in July.

The Dead Kenny Gs brand new, critically acclaimed album, Operation Long Leash, is out now on Royal Potato Family.

Buy it: RPF | iTunes | Amazon

Listen to “Black Truman (Harry The Hottentot)”

The Dead Kenny Gs upcoming tour dates are:

What the press is saying about The Dead Kenny Gs…

“Describing themselves as “punk jazz,” the group embraces elements of jazz, metal and Afro-beat with a giddy abandon.” – Los Angeles Times

“Given its play-on-words moniker that simultaneously drives a sock down the mouth of smooth-jazz king Kenny G and recalls the early ’80s hardcore-punk band The Dead Kennedys, the powerhouse trio taps into a sound that fuses jazz and punk. It’s a crazy mix played intensely by a group that has the skill and knowledge to pull it off.” – Alarm Magazine

“”Dead Kenny Gs is a definitive statement of purpose: a resolute denunciation of all-things artificial. Skerik and his compatriots use their un-compromised art to draw an aesthetic line in the sand, they have some fun at the expense of crass commercialization that contaminates our art, our food, and what passes for our political discourse. It’s fun, fearless, and, if you are the ass-shaking type, you can get down accordingly.” – Popmatters

“True to their name, the Dead Kenny Gs play decidedly unsmooth jazz that pokes, prods, and challenges.” – Utne Reader

“…bursts of thrashing metal alternate with cool sax-and-vibes segments, whetting one’s appetite for the tablas-fueled Indian jam ahead.” – Relix

“The Dead Kenny Gs pinball between styles: Afro-pop, Balkan, Klezmer and pocket funk lashed to Middle Eastern modality.” – New York Times

ROYAL POTATO FAMILY @ New Orleans Jazzfest ’11

admin — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 18:50:50 +0000

ROYAL POTATO FAMILY
@ NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL 2011

Monday, May 2
730pm | WWOZ Piano Night featuring Marco Benevento @ House Of Blues

Tuesday, May 3
7pm | Grayson Capps (Solo Acoustic) @ Chickie Wah Wah’s
10pm | Skerik’s Saucefest @ Hi Ho Lounge

Wednesday, May 4
3pm | Garage A Trois (Free In-Store Performance & Signing) @ Louisiana Music Factory
9pm | Megalomaniacs Ball featuring Garage A Trois, Marco Benevento, Stanton Moore Trio & Illuminasti Trio @ Howlin’ Wolf |Advance Tickets|

Thursday, May 5
10pm | Southern Troubadours w/ Grayson Capps, Tab Benoit, Anders Osborne & Devon Allman @ Le Petit Theatre |Advance Tickets|
11pm | Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter Jr., Marco Benevento & Skerik @ Maple Leaf

Friday, May 6
8pm | Grayson Capps & The Lost Cause Minstrels @ d.b.a. |Show Info|
10pm | Illuminast Trio @ Blue Nile Upstairs
1am | Grayson Capps & The Lost Cause Minstrels @ Le Bon Temps Roule
2am | Superjam featuring Marco Benevento, George Porter Jr., Brian Stoltz & Adam Deitch @ Parish Room at House of Blues |Advance Tickets|
3am | Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey (w/ Steven Bernstein & Mark Southerland) @ Maple Leaf