The members of Lubriphonic have individually toured with artists as diverse as Koko Taylor, Buddy Miles, Otis Rush, The Ohio Players, Buddy Guy and Lenny Kravitz. They have fused their talents and experience as side-men in order to create an orignal project that is soulful, unique, and exciting. Their two 2008 releases, “Soul Solution”  and “Lubriphonic Live” (the latter recorded live in a single set at aliveOne in Chicago) exemplify this. The recordings capture the band at it’s best—confident, daring, and very, very, funky.  Lubriphonic fuses old-school soul music with hip shaking rock’n'roll and searing improvisation. 

Some recent highlights

** Giles Corey was nominated best male vocalist for a “Chicago Music Award” 2009.  “Soul Solution” was nominated best CD 2009.

** “Soul Solution” was #1 on Jambands.com radio chart in January. It also reached #5 on Homegrown Music Network radio chart.

** The band played a ton of shows so far this year including one with Buddy Guy & two with Buckwheat Zydeco.

** They are booked to play: Desert Rocks Music Festival, Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite CA, Chicago Blues Festival, Gathering Of The Vibes in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bear Creek & other festivals this season.

** Progressive Global Agency has signed on to book Lubriphonic.  They toured the Southeast with The New Mastersounds culminating with a sold out show second Friday of Jazz Fest in New Orleans at House Of Blues.

  ** The band recorded their latest release “The Gig Is On” which is slated for release in September.  National tours are bringing them from coast to coast.

JUNE

Jun 3 - The Mint - Los Angeles, CA
Jun 4 - Boom Boom Room - San Francisco, CA
Jun 5 - Morro Bay Music Festival, Morro Bay, CA
Jun 6 - Summer Fest at Benbow Lake - Garberville, CA
Jun 9 - Crossroads KC - Kansas City, MO
- opening for George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic
Jun 10 - Rock Island Brew Co. - Rock Island, IL
Jun 11 - People’s Court - Des Moines, IA
- opening for Euforquestra
Jun 13 - Chicago Blues Festival - Chicago, IL
Jun 17 - Tres Hombres - Carbondale, IL
Jun 18 - Iowa City Yacht Club - Iowa City, IA
Jun 19 - The Cabooze - Minneapolis, MN
Jun 20 - Taste of Randolph - Chicago, IL
Jun 23 - Alive After Five - Boise, ID
Jun 24 - Whiskey Jacques - Ketchum, ID
Jun 25 - Downstairs - Park City - Park City, UT
Jun 26 - Groovefest - Cedar City, UT

JULY

Jul 1 - Summerfest - Milwaukee, WI
Jul 3 - Snowbird Cool Air Concerts - Snowbird, UT
- afternoon show
Jul 4 - City Park - West Yellowstone, MT
Jul 10 - Boulevard Bash - Chicago, IL
Jul 16 - The B.O.B. - Grand Rapids, MI
Jul 17 - Camp Euforia, Iowa City, IA
Jul 24 - Carbondale Mountain Fair - Carbondale, CO
Jul 29 - Canterbury Beachland Park - Cleveland, OH
Jul 30 - Thunderbird Cafe - Pittsburgh, PA
Jul 31 - Brooklyn Bowl - Brooklyn, NY

AUGUST

Aug 1 - Gathering of the Vibes - Bridgeport, CT
Aug 5 - US Coast Guard Festival - Grand Haven, MI
Aug 11 - Heritage Park, Algoma, WI
Aug 12 - Jazz in the Park - Milwaukee, WI
Aug 13 - Marly’s Pub - Springfield, IL
Aug 14 - Broadway Oyster Bar - St. Louis, MO
Aug 20 - The Llama - Telluride, CO
Aug 21 - THC Music Festival, Alma, CO
Aug 27 - TC Microbrew & Music Festival - Traverse City, MI
Aug 28 - TC Microbrew & Music Festival - Traverse City, MI
Aug 29 - Round Barn Harvest Festival - Baroda, MI

SEPTEMBER

Sep 25 - Double Door - Chicago, IL

NOVEMBER

Nov 11-14 - Bear Creek Music Festival - Live Oak, FL

THE BLACK EYED PEAS ‘PUMP IT’ UP ON BIG SCREENS LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES ON 3.30 NCM Fathom and AEG Live Team Up Again to Present an Exclusive One-Night Concert Performance with Behind-the-Scenes Footage Broadcast LIVE to Nearly 500 Select Movie Theaters

Centennial, Colo. – Feb. 11, 2010 – The Black Eyed Peas are getting the party started across the country on The E.N.D. World Tour, presented by BlackBerry® and will rock the big screen as their concert performance from Los Angeles is transmitted LIVE nationwide on Tuesday, March 30th. Broadcast from STAPLES Center to nearly 500 select movie theaters across America, The Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. World Tour LIVE Presented by BlackBerry event will feature a 30-minute exclusive program for movie theater audiences, including behind-the-scenes footage and band interviews.

Tickets for The Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. World Tour LIVE Presented by BlackBerry on March 30 at 10:30 p.m. Eastern / 9:30 p.m. Central / 8:30 p.m. Mountain / 7:30 p.m. Pacific are available at participating theater box offices and online at http://www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, please visit the web site (theaters and participants may be subject to change). “This tour is not the E.N.D. but the beginning of The Black Eyed Peas experience presented to you in full Pea fashion,” says Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas.

Presented by NCM Fathom and AEG Live and produced by AEG Network Live, The Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. World Tour LIVE Presented by BlackBerry event captures the six-time GRAMMY Award-winning group – will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie – on their first tour since 2006. The North American leg of The E.N.D. World Tour 2010 presented by BlackBerry, is the group’s most ambitious stage production to date. In support of their multi-platinum No. 1 album, The E.N.D – featuring the chart record-breaking consecutive No. 1 singles “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling” – The Black Eyed Peas will transform major arenas into massive club parties across the country and around the world. The E.N.D. World Tour Presented by BlackBerry proves The Energy Never Dies with state of the art lasers, lights, HD visuals, flying stunts and eight world class dancers that will be a visual assault on the senses for hundreds of thousands of fans.

The Black Eyed Peas won three more GRAMMY Awards this year - Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (“I Gotta Feeling”); Best Pop Vocal Album (The E.N.D.); and Best Short Form Music Video (“Boom Boom Pow”). To date, The Black Eyed Peas’ fifth studio album The E.N.D., has sold nearly 2 million units in the U.S. and over 5.5 million units worldwide with digital single sales in the U.S. selling over 12.5 million tracks. The Peas have logged over 350 headlining tour dates in 29 countries, with over 2.5 million tickets sold.

“The Black Eyed Peas, hot off their Grammy wins, are as good as it gets, and fans in theaters nationwide are in for an amazing one-night-only concert experience,” said Dan Diamond, vice president of Fathom. “Fathom is proud to again partner with AEG Live for this theater event, giving audiences a front-row view of this explosive concert, live from STAPLES Center to their community.”

The Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. World Tour LIVE Presented by BlackBerry appears on the big screen in high-definition with Cinema Surround Sound in 476 select movie theaters, including AMC Entertainment Inc., Celebration! Cinema, Cinemark USA Inc., Clearview Cinemas, Cobb Theatres, Georgia Theatre Company, Goodrich Quality Theatres, Hollywood Theaters, Kerasotes Showplace Theatres, Marcus Theatres, National Amusements and Regal Entertainment Group movie theaters, as well as the Carolina Theatre (Asheville, NC), Palace Cinema 9 (South Burlington, VT), Penn Cinema (Lititz, PA) and El Raton Theatre (Raton, NM), through NCM’s exclusive Digital Broadcast Network – North America’s largest cinema broadcast network.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE KDTU STREET TEAM

Like a Super Nova burning bright in the night sky comes Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe.  Based out of San Diego, KDTU began its journey in 1998 after bandleader Karl Denson decided to change gears five years after he’d help create The Greyboy Allstars. GBA had proven themselves as the ultimate party band, spreading their “West Coast Boogaloo” style all over the world, making “Jazz” a dance term once again. Karl set out to take this formula to the next level by putting more emphasis on vocals and adding some funk, r&b and hip hop elements. It turned out to be a winning combination which set KDTU on the top of the heap in the touring world from 1999 through 2005. In 2005 Karl decided to get back to his roots and work in a smaller jazzier setting.  During 2006 and 2007 Karl led KD3, a trio configuration featuring Sax, Organ and Drums. This led to the 2007 release of KD3’s “Lunar Orbit”, an album which was a great critical success. In 2008, Karl rejoined his former boss Lenny Kravitz and spent the year country hopping through Europe and North America. In 2009 Karl went back into the studio and conjured up what is being hailed as the most soulful KDTU adventure yet, “Brother’s Keeper” which was released Sept 15th,  2009.

Here are the confirmed tour dates for 2010 so far…

2.05.10 | Crown Room | Crystal Bay, NV
2.06.10 | Crown Room | Crystal Bay, NV
2.12.10 | La Zona Rosa | Austin, TX
2.13.10 | Tipitina’s w/ Galactic | New Orleans, LA
2.14.10 | The Bottling Company | Hattiesburg, MS
2.15.10 | Tipitina’s w/ Galactic | New Orleans, LA
2.16.10 | The Lyric Oxford | Oxford, MS
2.17.10 | George’s Majestic Lounge | Fayetteville, AR
2.18.10 | The Pageant w/ Galactic | St. Louis, MO
2.19.10 | CarniVail | Vail, CO
2.20.10 | The Fillmore w/ Galactic | Denver, CO
2.23.10 | Wilma Theater w/ Galactic | Missoula, MT
2.24.10 | Zebra Cocktail Lounge | Bozeman, MT
2.25.10 | Knotty Pine | Victor, ID
2.26.10 | Whiskey Jacques | Ketchum, ID
2.27.10 | The State Room | Salt Lake City, UT
3.13.10 | Belly Up | Solana Beach, CA

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE GREYBOY ALLSTARS STREET TEAM

The Greyboy Allstars

What Happened to Television?

The quintessential sound of the West Coast has returned as The Greyboy Allstars emerge with a new studio album and live performances. Last year marked a return to the stage after a six-year hiatus from touring, reenergizing the San Diego-based five-piece and motivating the creation of What Happened to Television?

“It was really liberating to be in the room with so many talented people and just have a good time again,” says Elgin Park of reuniting with the group in the studio. Park (also known as Mike Andrews) is illustrative of how busy the individual members of The Greyboy Allstars have been during its relative hibernation. Andrews scored the hip cult films Me and You and Everyone We Know and Donnie Darko, the latter generating a number one hit in the UK for his cover of Tears For Fears’ “Mad World” with singer Gary Jules, as well as the acclaimed television program Freaks & Geeks. Andrews has also produced albums by Brendan Benson, Inara George, and Metric. But The Greyboy Allstars offer Andrews something unique; the opportunity to be Elgin Park. “In this band I’m a completely different player than in almost any other circumstance,” he explains. “I am normally not a blues or jazz player. So this band has really opened up a new world for me creatively.”

Music by The Greyboy Allstars have been a popular staple on television (ESPN), in films (such as Zero Effect), and even extreme sports videos, reflecting the culture of some of the group’s most devoted fans. This wide and varied exposure has garnered one of the broadest, multi-generational fan bases a group could possibly ask for, mirroring the diverse ethnic and artistic makeup of their native Southern California. What Happened to Television? marks the first studio release in almost 10 years for The Greyboy Allstars, and the first since 1995’s debut West Coast Boogaloo (which featured former James Brown musical director Fred Wesley) where they have reunited with producer and namesake DJ Greyboy.

If any of this sounds a bit confusing, it’s time to press pause and hit rewind for a minute.

The Greyboy Allstars were formed in December 1993 by Greyboy (aka Andreas Stevens) and Karl Denson as an extension of Greyboy’s classic soul and funk DJ sets at a weekly residency at the now defunct Green Circle Bar in downtown San Diego. The hand-picked players performed both classics from the catalogs of labels like Blue Note and Prestige as well as new material, much of which emerged on Greyboy’s debut Freestylin’, an album which label Ubiquity Records still considers one of its cornerstones and launching pad to international success.

Despite the diverse, bustling music scene in San Diego, nothing could contain the force of the players that Greyboy put together into some sort of local secret. That’s a fact that has only become more apparent in the years that the members have spent pursuing various musical endeavors. Karl Denson spent four years as lead sax player for Lenny Kravitz in the early years of the Allstars, has recorded with artists including the Blind Boys of Alabama, Guster and Miles Davis cohorts Jack Dejohnette and Dave Holland, and still leads successful touring mainstays Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. In addition to recording solo, Robert Walter leads many successful touring groups and tickles the keys for the legendary Headhunters. The unstoppable rhythm section of Chris Stillwell and Zak Najor have been playing together since their early days as part of San Diego group Motherlode and have gigged with artists including Inara George, Ozomatli and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.  After a few years and word spread of the group around the world, it became clear that Greyboy was not interested in the touring life in the way that the others were. And so retaining the name and spirit, The Greyboy Allstars and DJ Greyboy moved in different physical directions.

“He’s our mentor from the beginning,” clarifies Robert Walter. “We continued on and developed a chemistry amongst ourselves outside of that, but we always had him in mind when making music.”  The Allstars continued on outside its initial intentions, but ties were never completely severed. This is particularly so in the case of Elgin Park, who has continued to work with and produce DJ Greyboy on and off over the years. To this day, DJ Greyboy is still the trusted friend who will give the Allstars the most honest feedback, good or bad. And after almost a dozen years, it’s a role he officially assumed as a producer along with the band on What Happened to Television?. He made suggestions ranging from style to tempo to that intangible feel that makes music work. Sometimes the suggestions themselves are slightly intangible, too; a buoyant head-nod, or maybe a sincere smile.

“He’s the taste,” says Walter.

“He’s the ears,” echoes Park.

What Happened to Television? was written and recorded in about a week’s time. The creation process was lead by a somewhat unique self-imposed rule. “No one was allowed to bring any ideas that they had in. We had to sit down and all create together,” explains Park.  Capturing the sounds when truly fresh could in part be viewed as a nod to the freedom of the band’s live sets. The album was recorded totally live without the use of computers. What few edits were made were done by the old-fashioned technique of cutting tape by hand.

But it was also a simple case of the music feeling good to everyone right away that allowed both the conception and the recording process to be so brief. “It could have gone either way,” says Walter. “It was possible that we’d go in there and not come up with anything and be sort of stuck with a bunch of material that wasn’t really developed. But it flowed along real good. It was much easier than we thought, and that way the music really is a product of the group rather than trying to perform somebody else’s song. We’re trying to be more composition minded and work on songwriting and song craft.” Even for these well-seasoned musicians, the catalytic force that seems to take hold when they collaborate with each other seems to pleasantly surprise them. Karl Denson puts this accelerated pace of creation into astonishing perspective. “What we did in one week would take me two months to do of the same quality in any other situation,” he reasons.

From the smoldering raw urgency of “Still Waiting” and the jaunty bounce of the title track, to the laid back West Coast shuffle of “Deck Shoes,” What Happened to Television? is much more than a pleasant distraction from the banality of the boob tube. “Old School Cylons” is a flat out homage to the purity of early rap jams and their funk antecedents, a breath of fresh air in contrast to stale mainstream hip-hop. “How Glad I Am” hearkens back to the ‘40’s sass of the Andrews Sisters, but instead the vocals are provided by the current harmonies of the Living Sisters, a group helmed by Blue Note Records artist Inara George (daughter of the late Lowell George and member of The Bird and the Bee). The finale is a rousing cover of the Kings’ classic “Give the Drummer Some,” highlighting all the members individually and collectively. DJ Greyboy even gets some as well, thanking the accolades with lively cuts and scratches of vinyl records. Elgin Park’s take on The Greyboy Allstars and its singular feel-good energy sums up a feeling that not only radiates amongst band members when they take time out of their individually busy schedules to work together. It also resonates with its diverse range of appreciators.

“It really is a musical vacation,” he says

But don’t just take his word for it.

Elgin Park (guitar, vocals)
Karl Denson (saxophone, flute, vocals, percussion)
Robert Walter (keyboards)
Chris Stillwell (bass, vocals)
Zak Najor (drums, percussion, vocals)

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE LUBRIPHONIC STREET TEAM

Lubriphonic is one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Chicago in ages, incorporating elements of funk, hard soul, and rock into a live show that leaves audiences breathless.  The band is the brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Giles Corey and drummer Rick King, and began with a residency at Chicago’s legendary Checkerboard Lounge.  They recruited some of the best blues, funk, and rock musicians in the city for these raucous sessions. The result fuses roots music with explosive rock’n’roll and sensuous old-school dance music—part Stones, part Funkadelic, and part Otis Redding.

Lubriphonic’s latest releases, “Soul Solution” (2008) and “Lubriphonic Live” (2008), have been featured in Jambase, Hittin’ The Note, and Relix Magazine (where the band was picked as an “On The Verge” artist and included in two of their CD samplers).  Lubriphonic has been actively touring the Midwest and Rocky Mountain areas to rave reviews, as well as opening for acts as diverse as George Clinton, Derek Trucks, The Greyboy Allstars, Panjea w/ Michael Kang and PBS W/ Kyle Hollingsworth.

With a starring cast of six musicians (including a full horn section), Lubriphonic has a busy tour schedule for the rest of 2009, with runs through the Midwest and West Coast in the summer, and jaunts to the East Coast and Southeast this fall.  The band has been invited to play the High Sierra Music estival, Taste Of Chicago, The Telluride Blues and Brews & others.  While on tour, Lubriphonic is also recording tracks for it’s next release, “The Gig Is On”

August 15 - Shepherd Blues Festival - Shepherd, MI
August 20 - The GAP store - Maryville, IN
August 21 - Navy Pier Beer Garden - Chicago, Ill
August 22 - Billy’s Lounge - Grand Rapids, MI
August 23 - Private Party - Chicago, Ill
August 28 - Cubby Bear Chicago - Chicago, Ill
August 29 - Round Barn Winery - Baroda, MI
September 4 - Zeno’s - State College, PA
September 5 - Blinkin Lincoln - Philadelphia, PA
September 6 - Laughing Water Festival - Harrisburg, PA
September 8 - Vasser College - Poughkeepsie, NY
September 9 - Hamden Sydney College - Hamden Sydney, VA
September 11- Moe’s Irish Pub - Milwaukee, WI
September 12 - Moe’s Irish Pub - Wauwatosa, WI
September 17 - The Steam Plant” Salida, CO
September 18 - Alma’s Only Bar - Alma, CO
September 19 - Telluride Blues & Brews Festival - Telluride, CO
September 21 - Urban Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT
September 23 - Memorial Park - Albany, CA
September 24 - Marilyn’s On K - Sacramento, CA
September 25 - Connecticut Yankee - San Francisco, CA
September 26 - 19 Broadway - Fairfax, CA
October 3 - This Must Be The Place - Lemont, IL
October 11 - Riverview Music and Arts Fest - Elgin, IL
October 23-25 - Eastwinds Music festival - New Delhi, India
November 6 - Iowa City Yacht Club - Iowa City, IA
December 18 - Upfront & Company - Marquette, MI
December 19 - Upfront & Company - Marquette, MI