MAPACHE
In the past, Mapache recording sessions have been pretty laid-back affairs, with friends coming and going, the sessions starting and stopping at the band’s discretion—as relaxed a process as the immaculately sunny vibes that their four albums would suggest. But on their dynamic and ambitious fifth album of cosmic-folk, Swinging Stars, Sam Blasucci and Clay Finch decided to take a trip and hunker down somewhere particularly special.
“It’s a pretty impactful place,” Finch says of the Panoramic House, the artist retreat where Swinging Stars was recorded. “It’s kind of dramatic. It’s a castle-y building on a hill, way up overlooking the Bay.”
Located in Stinson Beach in Marin County, California, the Panoramic House has recently hosted acts like My Morning Jacket, the War on Drugs, and Cate Le Bon, and was the ideal combination of scenic beauty and self-imposed confinement to allow Mapache to settle in for their most cohesive album yet. “That environment yields itself to a higher level of focus because everybody’s together for a week,” says Finch, explaining that the band stayed there during the process, sharing every bit of their time and energy on a shared vision. “We were all captive. No one could escape,” he laughs.
Swinging Stars, an album of calm, second-nature swagger, is the natural result of a band that’s existed in one form or another for its founders’ entire adult lives. Finch and Blasucci first met as students at La Cañada High School, just north of Los Angeles, where they both had a guitar class: “There wasn’t much supervision or anything,” remembers Blasucci. “It was really nice. And we got to just play guitars together.”
The two stayed friends through their college years—Finch went to Chico State and Blasucci spent two years as a missionary in Mexico—and eventually they ended up back in L.A., spending their days playing guitar together once again, just like old times. Working with producer/engineer Dan Horne (Cass McCombs, Allah-Lahs), they recorded four albums —2017’s Mapache, 2020’s From Liberty Street, 2021’s 3, and 2022’s Roscoe’s Dream. Often trading solos, and occasionally switching from English to Spanish, Finch and Blasucci are perfectly in sync together.
VALE! ULB
Vale! ULB, Go! United Latin Band in Spanish, is a super group with amazing artists representing the Latin diaspora in a major way! Hailing from Cuba, Argentina, Peru, and Colombia with a touch of New Orleans bounce back via Mexico; these musicians all have extensive backgrounds in the music business. Val, daughter of the acclaimed Dante Vargas, multiple Latin Grammy award-winning musician, and producer, is the lead vocalist, who has worked with numerous Latin artists as a singer/songwriter, Deezle a 3-time Grammy award-winning producer (Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj), Emiliano, a Grammy award-winning trumpeter (The United States vs Billie Holiday) who has toured percussionist awarded first place in the Fiesta del Tambor (Festival of Drum) several times in Cuba, and Friki, son of the founder of the Buena Vista Social Club, is a guitarist who has toured with some of the biggest Latin artists in music.
This band is anything but typical, sharing a melting pot of cultural backgrounds. Reflecting the many shades of Latin America but the common thread is their love for Latin music which has a deep-rooted spiritual connection to their ancestral music in creating a festive pop-funk sound. In an accordance with their amazing sound, they also love to give back to their community. The Trombone Shorty Foundation, based in New Orleans, allows them to mentor and support young aspiring musicians, providing instruments and performance opportunities alongside Vale! ULB. Vale! ULB is a celebration of the endless fiesta of Latin America.
THE MAIN SQUEEZE
There seems to be an aura in the air when the five members of The Main Squeeze enter a room. A multicultural five-piece from Los Angeles, CA, The Main Squeeze has built a cult following in the States on the road – putting rubber to pavement and playing over 1,000 shows together over the past nine years. For a group of men with completely different backgrounds, tastes, religions, and opinions, there’s already a spirit shared among them when they sit down to play together.
The Main Squeeze, who have toured with the likes of George Clinton & The Parliament Funkadelic, String Cheese Incident, Umphrey's McGee, and many more and are lauded across North America's live music circuit. They've graced hundreds of stages and played festivals including Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, Firefly, and many more. Their breakout moment came during the pandemic, the band quickly developed a huge following on TikTok. They’ve since gained praise from NPR, Rolling Stone, Relix, and Wonderland as well as collaborated with artists such as 6LACK and Gallant and regularly hosted celebrity-attended gigs at their fast-becoming infamous “Squeeze House.”
The band is coming off their sixth album “To Be Determined” a body of work showcasing the unique chemistry the Los Angeles, CA based band have developed together over the years. The album is a stunning showcase into why they have become a touring phenomenon in the US and around the world, which has led to a passionate fan base – with some fans traveling the US and having seen up to 30 shows.
IKO ALLSTARS
The Iko Allstars, founded by guitarist Billy Iuso and later joined by Mike "Fou" Fouquier on drums. The duo recruits the best musicians New Orleans has to offer. Reggie Scanlan, Mike Doussan, Eddie Christmas, Brian Stoltz, Papa Mali, John Papa Gros, Cr Gruver, Joe Ashlar, Mean Willie Green, Jonny Vidacovich & many more have all participated in the past to fill out a 6 piece line up. They have set out to pay tribute to the Dead in their own unique way. The Iko lineup mirrors the Grateful Dead's. Effortlessly, the group places a New Orleans spin on the Dead's jam-oriented repertoire. Each of the Allstars bleeds purple, green, and gold. This, combined with their love for the Grateful Dead, comprises the foundation of the Iko Allstars. They ride a wave that was set in motion in 1965. Perpetually jamming on sounds we've heard many times and in many different ways. The Iko Allstars truly give us their own interpretation of the music of the Dead.
J & THE CAUSEWAYS
At the core of soul music is a vibrant, embracing spirit, one aimed at connecting the dots of humanity that reside on both sides of the microphone.
“It doesn’t matter if there are 10 people in the audience or a 1,000,” says Jordan Anderson, lead singer/keyboardist for J & The Causeways. “It’s that sacrifice we make of our art, so that people can feel it that much harder the first time they hear you.”
In a serendipitous sequence of events, J & The Causeways was formed at the legendary Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans. A juggernaut soul/R&B ensemble, the group is filled with heavy backbeats and a soaring horn section, all swirling around the magnetic vocal stylings of Anderson.
“We definitely shine live because each and every member of this band loves to be onstage and in that genuine moment of performance,” Anderson says. “New Orleans is home to some of the finest singers and musicians on the planet, which also means you have to bring your A-game to every single show — you’re representing this city and the long history of beautiful music that’s been created here.”
As a kid, Anderson was first exposed to the power of music from his grandmother, a piano teacher in his small rural Louisiana hometown. It was her backroom record collection that mesmerized Anderson, where he found himself thumbing through the vinyl and discovering the likes of Otis Redding, Al Green, Queen, and Aretha Franklin.
“I learned early on to not fall into the vanilla variety of pitch,” Anderson says. “It’s about finding a certain power that you can harness with the pure emotion of your voice, which is what all of those singers had — finding that spectrum of vocalists who put it all out there for the audience.”
EASY HONEY
Easy Honey was born out of the small-town innocent college days: the days of walking home under the starry night, and springing under the watchful eye of sunny graveyards, Dairy Queens, and neo-gothic cathedrals. Easy Honey's witty melodies dotted with catchy hooks serve as anthems of nostalgia for their indie rock audience of daydreamer and nightseekers. Drawing inspiration from the originality and attitude of The Kinks, The Replacements, and Radiohead, the band's raucous yet sentimental live show exemplifies the realness that people crave in a post covid/internet driven world.
THE LOWERLINE
After selling out their very first performance at the iconic Tipitinas in the fall of 2023, The Lowerline has grown to be a fan favorite cover band known for playing a wide range of music genres including RnB, Classic Rock, Funk and Pop. Starting out as a group of friends who liked to jam out in their free time, The Lowerline has grown to book professional sets across the city and looks forward to performing a variety of shows in the coming future