BRAD AT NYC'S GRAMERCY THEATER 6/23/12

photo credit: Maria Ives 

You can’t call Brad a “side-project” anymore, they’ve been around for almost 20 years.  They’re a band… a funky band and a great one. Singer/multi-instrumentalist Shawn Smith, drummer Regan Hagar and guitarist Stone Gossard have been together for a long time, and they play like it (even though there are sometimes long breaks between albums).  They now feature bassist Keith Lowe and are often accompanied by multi-instrumentalist/singer Happy Chichester. 

When Brad first came out, Pearl Jam were the biggest, hottest band in the world, and I guess it was annoying to Stone and the other guys that people were showing up to their gigs hoping to hear Pearl Jam. That has, thankfully, faded.  And maintaining that they are their own thing has definitely paid off.  While Shawn Smith is the focal point of the group (he’s one of the greatest singers around), people go to see the band.  Everyone has their favorite songs, and favorite periods. I know: they skipped some of my favorite tunes! 

They opened with “Waters Deep,” a song that they gave away for free on their website, and went into a set that drew from their five album catalog.  For me, the highlight was “Every Whisper,” from their last album, Best Friends? (I wish they’d played “Bless Me Father” from that album as well, but I was lucky enough to film them performing it a few years ago). Two other highlights were their most rocking songs from their second album, Interiors, “Secret Girl” and “Sweet Al George.”

Photo Credit: Maria Ives 

But their most popular album is still their debut, Shame (indeed, when I posted to my Facebook page that I was at a Brad show, a friend immediately commented that Shame is one of her favorite albums ever).  I was totally stoked that they drew heavily from it towards the end of the show, playing “20^th Century,” “Buttercup” and “Screen.”

There were some great covers also: Shawn sat at the keyboard by himself for a solo segment, where he played Mother Love Bone’s “Crown Of Thorns,” and Prince’s “Purple Rain.”*  That was incredible, and a good reminder that Shawn has his own solo career, which is worth following as well.   As a band, they performed Neil Young’s amazing “Don’t Cry” (from his Freedom album).

photo credit: Maria Ives 

I don’t know what it takes to keep Brad on the road. I'm sure there's lots of scheduling issues involved, and I know it's not cheap to get them out there.  I know last time they toured they got a break when Band Of Horses offered them an opening spot (I’d have to think that they’d blow them away nightly). So, here’s hoping they get the break they need, because twenty years in, more people need to see this incredible band. I know they're reissuing their catalog this year, so it's the perfect time for people who have been missing out to get into this band.  Trust me, you'll dig it! 

*In a funny sidenote, I once filmed an interview with champion surfer Kelly Slater guest DJ-ing on Pearl Jam Radio, where he described going to see Brad and Shawn performing “ a couple of Prince songs.”   I tweeted the video once, and Shawn tweeted back at me that he only played one – “Purple Rain” – but he was flattered that Slater thought the rest of the songs were by Prince.  

THIS WEEK ON OUTQ: FUNK AND SOUL

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET (ish) I am a guest contributor to the SIRIUS XM OutQ channel show The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick.  Every week I discuss music (surprise!) and this week I'll be talking about some new funky and soulful releases.

I have written about Brad before: the band features Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, along with the great singer Shawn Smith. Smith also sings for Satchel (who Stone has produced), and for the electro music project Pigeonhed (the Lo-Fidelity Allstars remix of their song "Battleflag" is probably Smith's biggest "hit"), and has done solo albums too (as well as some other projects). He is one of the best singers you haven't heard. The band's drummer is Regan Hagar (also of Satchel, he used to be in Malfunkshun with the late Andrew Wood, who went on to form Mother Love Bone with Stone). Jeremy Toback used to be the bass player (he's also done some cool solo albums) but now Mike Berg is the bassist (he's also in Satchel). Enough family tree stuff, Brad is a really soulful band. At first they both benefitted and suffered from the Pearl Jam association: they certainly got more press because of Stone, but they sound nothing like Pearl Jam, they have a much more funky and soul music-based sound. Smith is the star of the band. If you can find the first album, 1993's Shame, check it out. But Best Friends?, their forth album which just came out, is very good too, although it did take me a few listens.

Street Sweeper Social Club just put out their second release, The Ghetto Blaster EP. It rocks! It has a bunch of new songs, a remix of "Promenade" from their debut, a new version of Boots Riley's other group, The Coup's "Everythang," and covers of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" and LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out." Plus there's a few new songs. I think Boots is going to do a Coup album next, and I guess Tom Morello will do another Nightwatchman project (and maybe some Rage Against The Machine shows), before the next Street Sweeper full length.

Michael Franti has had such an interesting career. In the late '80s, he was in this angry industrial/hip-hop group The Beatnigs. After that, he had a very Public Enemy influenced hip-hop group called The Disposable Heroes of Hiphopricy (I saw them open for U2 at Shea Stadium, pretty bizarre). In 1994, he started Spearhead, which combined hip-hop with live music, soul, R&B and reggae, and he's been doing it for years without too much commercial success - but the band gets lots of respect in the jam band community. All of the sudden, last year, they had a hit with the very poppy "Say Hey (I Love You)," which is a classic hit single. A wonderful song. Franti's new Spearhead album, The Sound Of Sunshine, comes out September 21, and it sounds like it has a simlilar vibe to "Say Hey."

A couple of other things I'll be bringing: new songs by Cee-Lo Green (his viral hit "F*** You," and another new song "Georgia"), some Robert Randolph & The Family Band (featuring Ben Harper) and a preview of the John Legend/Roots album.

BRAD: NEW ALBUM, UPCOMING GIG

Over two years ago, I wrote about Brad - the band featuring singer/multi-instrumentalist Shawn Smith (also of Satchel and Pigeonhed), drummer Regan Hagar (also of Satchel) and guitarist Stone Gossard (of Pearl Jam) - being "back." Well, now their relaunched website says that they'll have an album, Best Friends?, out next month on Pearl Jam's Monkey Wrench Records.

Brad will also be doing a show at the Showbox in Seattle on April 14, which will also feature Satchel, the live debut of Pigeonhed, Stone's "Hank Khoir" (Hank Williams cover band), and other guests at the show will include Jeff Ament and former members of Mother Love Bone and Malfunkshun. Man, I wish I could make it to Seattle. More info on tickets at Brad's website.

PROG ROCK ALERT: "YES" TO TOUR WITH ASIA

Even though the Yes website has no info yet,
an email from Bowery Productions says that Yes and Asia will play Montclair, New Jersey's Welmont Theater on July 29. Double the Steve Howe! I hope he's in good shape. Of course, it is still the Jon Anderson-less version of Yes. I wish they would cut that out already.

In cooler Yes news, drummer Alan White will be performing the music of John Lennon at a benefit concert for Race for the Cure (an organization dedicated to fighting breast cancer) at the Snoqualmie Casino. Yes' Chris Squire will also be there, as will former Yes guitarist/singer/songwriter Trevor Rabin, who left the band in the early '90s. Also in the band, one of my favorite singers, Shawn Smith of Brad! (Alan White was in an early version of John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, by the way).

BRAD'S BACK!

Brad is usually referred to as a "side-project," but they've been together for 15 years (on and off), so I think it's fair to refer to them as a "band."

The three principals are singer/multi-instrumentalist Shawn Smith (also from Satchel, Pigeonhed, he was at one time a member of The Twilight Singers, and he's done a bunch of solo projects), drummer Regan Hagar (also from Satchel, he also played in Malfunkshun with the late Andrew Wood - who later formed Mother Love Bone) and former Green River/Mother Love Bone guitarist Stone Gossard (also, of course, of Pearl Jam).

They seem to come together whenever the stars align properly, and you never know if they're going to work together again. I'm glad to say that they're going to have a new album out at some point. They recently performed at New York's Highland Ballroom, and they played a bunch of new songs from their upcoming album, which you can hear at their myspace page. They also played some of their older stuff, of course, and, surprisingly, some Malfunkshun songs (Malfunkshun's Kevin Wood - brother of Andrew - was playing guitar with them). And Stone kind of crushed a Woody Guthrie cover, but it was funny. The band was really in town to do a Woody tribute/Huntington's Disease fundraiser (Woody died from that disease, and Stone's mother-in-law suffers from it).

It was great to see them again: it's so cool to see Stone, who I usually see rocking sold out arenas, in a small club. But the thing is, Brad isn't really about Stone, it's about Shawn. Or, maybe it's just about thier great songs: people love "20th Century," "Secret Girl," "The Day Brings," etc., even though they were never "singles" that were "worked to radio."

Here's looking forward to their new album, I hope to be more familiar with the new stuff next time I see them.