Dig up a quilted blanket, some rolling papers and a mini cooler before the Brushfire Tour burns out. With a stage presence similar to that of the band Phish, one can appreciate G-Love & Special Sauce’s live jamming. Touring its newly released album The Hustle, fans are sure to appreciate old favorites like “Baby’s Got Sauce” and G- Love’s tendency to leave the audience and let the band’s “special sauce,” (drummer Jeffrey Clemens and bassist Jimmy Prescott) play to the crowd alone. It is this element of the band that really balances the clumsy lyrics with a sophisticated hip-hop and blues sound, stapled as the unique Philadelphonic funk.
The night features other members of the Brushfire Records’ family, including surfer-turned-musician Donavan Frankenreiter, who sings about the things he loves – his family and the ocean. As a native Californian, he brings a laid back feel to his music, which is similar to that of Jack Johnson, a native Hawaiian who also was influenced by the waves. Nothing short from a Renaissance man, Johnson is has been an active moviemaker, musician and yes, surfer as well. As an interactive performer, watch out for beach balls flying into the crowd as Jack Johnson spikes them between songs (one of his many talents).
-Richard Fleming Hagerty
It’s in the ‘Sauce’
A little bit of rock and roll, rap, and blues
“The Brushfire Tour was created to spread a funky roots type of music,” artist G-Love said. At the start of his career over 10 years ago, Garrett Dutton, 31, “just came up with” the name G-Love for his stage name. G-Love began playing the guitar at a very young age and experimented with new sounds and lyrics as a teenager. He describes his music style as “hip-hop blues” with a mix of heavily influenced guitar tracks, rapping and rhythm like none other. G-Love acknowledges the fact that this style of music has never been attempted before and explains that the creation of it “was just kind of a natural progression.”
“I grew up listening to hip-hop and learning the guitar,” he said. “I didn’t learn hip-hop on guitar, one day it all collided with my blues and rock influences.”
G-Love’s early musical influences included artists such as The Beatles, Don Henley, Culture Blues and Dr. John and the Right Place at the Wrong Time. With four albums under his belt, G-Love says he plans to continue pursuing his goal of getting his music out to as many people as possible, as he expects the tour to make his fan base flourish. G-Love insisted that although he would enjoy big-name fame, he also really enjoys having a tight knit fan following. And just in case the question was burning in your minds, the morning of our chat, G-Love had Raisin Bran for breakfast.
-Raquel Maya
