The New Mastersounds, while new to this writer and maybe some of you, have been plying their craft of soul and funk for over two decades now through seventeen albums.
Founding members of The New Mastersounds & The Greyboy Allstars have formed The Rare Sounds featuring Eddie Roberts (The New Mastersounds), Robert Walter (The Greyboy Allstars), Chris Stillwell (The Greyboy Allstars), and Zak Najor (Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, formerly GBA). The group
The title of The New Mastersounds’ latest, Breaks from the Border, refers to the fact that the album was recorded in the border town of Tornillo, Texas, but it may as well refer to the musical position in which the band finds itself in the wake of the album’s release.
At South by Southwest, sometimes you ignore your schedule completely and end up in places you wouldn’t have thought about going and doing things you wouldn’t normally do. You might wait in line for an hour for free booze and popcorn at the Fader Fort or you might find yourself in a private party thrown by Entertainment Weekly, again, drinking free booze during a funk show. When you should have been trying to get on camera at Widespread Panic’s show, you might instead wander off course a bit to a rather unknown wine bar and discover a singer who turns Gangstas Paradise into a melody played on glockenspiel. There is also a chance that you’d end up at a DJ set on a smoky dance floor or seeing a good band play in a small bar with a shitty sound system. Also, we saw Wu Tang, and the rumors are true. They ain’t nothing to fuck with.
Even without a plan, we knocked a couple more items off our scavenger hunt. Check it out how we did…
See 18 Bands in a Day
We saw 19 acts perform yesterday and we weren’t even trying. However, our feet feel like whatever happens to pregnant women. Here’s our list:
Givers, The Answering Machine, The Antlers, The New Mastersounds, Fitz and the Tantrums, Alyson Greenfield, Bo Bliz, Morning Teleportation, Ume, Times New Viking, Trouble Andrew, Rocky Business, Marz Lovejoy, Trae Tha Truth, Yelawolf, Fishbone, Wu-Tang, Erykah Badu, The Fresh and Onlys
READ ON for more from 3GM’s second day at SXSW..
A week ago, My Morning Jacket rang in the new year in NYC by imploring us all to “celebrate good times… come on!” Well, the NYC Freaks are doing just that, throwing a kick ass celebration at the ninth annual Freaks Ball this Saturday at Southpaw in Brooklyn. This is the show that got Robert Randolph and the Duo started and has featured Bustle In Your Hedgerow, The Campbell Brothers, Apollo Sunshine, Ollabelle, Skerik & Mike Dillon and a whole bunch more. Saturday night should be just as special, with The New Mastersounds headlining with their uber-funk straight from Brittania.
Of course, there’s plenty more on the bill. Danjaboots (Joe Russo & Scott Metzger) will open the night with a rare countrified set of songs about drinkin’, fightin’ and f$%^’in; then the Rodney Speed Experience will set the mood with some classic rock for ya. After NMS. the late night party will get handed over to Rana playing a rawking midnight set. All in all a pretty damn good night. In addition, the night will start off with a special sneak preview of the new Derek Trucks album Already Free and there will be beer specials on Sixpoint brews from 8-10. So come early and often, the Freaks would love you to join ’em: there are still a limited number of tickets left.
We’re aiming for a kick ass celebration with lotsa birthdays, babies being born, not to mention starting the countdown on the last 10 days ’til the country changes hands… what will you be celebrating? Let us know what you’d like to celebrate on Saturday night by leaving a comment below, and we’ll pick a winner for two tickets to the gig on Friday afternoon.
READ ON for more details and downloads from FBIX artists…