Concert in your area for Rock, Indie & Alt, Country, and Folk & Blues.
A musical child from an early age, Grace Potter sung in choirs, school musical productions and regional theatre productions while learning to play the piano from her mother. However, she wouldn't form a proper band until she went to college, where she met Matt Burr during an open-mic performance in 2002. Burr would later become the drummer of The Nocturnals, and also Potter's wife, and the duo would later recruit bassist Courtright Beard and guitarist Scott Tournet to complete the first true line-up of Potter's backing band in 2003. Rather than go the traditional route of searching for a label to release their music, the band formed their own label, Ragged Company, to release Potter's 2004 solo debut “Original Soul”.
Potter's second album and the band's first, 2005's “Nothing But The Water”, was also released on Ragged Company but by that point, they'd built up such a name for themselves via their records and their famed live shows, that Potter and the band signed with Hollywood Records in December of the same year. Ever since then, Potter has remained a massively acclaimed name in modern rock, with the seal of approval of everyone from The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach to Kenny Chesney, with whom Potter collaborated with to create “You And Tequila”, a top three hit on the Billboard country charts and to date, Potter's only appearance in the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100. She's an artist who's achieved far more in the first decade of her career than most achieve in a lifetime, and she's got so much more to offer as well. For that, Grace Potter comes highly recommended.
Originally recording and performing under the moniker Ambassadors, it wasn’t until singer-songwriter Sam Harris, keyboardist brother Casey Harris, and guitarist Noah Feldsuh all graduated from college, and moved to New York City that the band found success. In New York, Ambassadors also found drummer Adam Levin, who alongside the rest of the band crafted the debut output the EP “Ambassadors”, released in 2009. The record was led by the single “Tropisms” which later earned a music video and was supported by a tour alongside the likes of LIGHTS. The full-length album “Litost” was issued later that year, spawning the singles “Unconsolable” and “Litost”.
The single “Unconsolable” also made it on to the band’s “Love Songs Drug Songs” EP, which charted at No. 11 on the U.S. Heatseekers Chart in May 2013. The song and EP were later heard by popular rock band Imagine Dragons, who insisted that their label Interscope sign X Ambassadors, as they were now known. Following the release the band embarked on a national tour in support of Imagine Dragons, Jimmy Eat World, and The Mowglis. Also in 2013 the band was featured on Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” track “Wicked Ways”, and collaborated with Keljet on the single “Love of a Life”. X Ambassadors subsequently released the single “Jungle” alongside Jamie N Commons featuring Jay-Z, which was proceeded with “The Reason” EP in April 2014. Peaking at No. 7 on the U.S. Heatseekers Album Chart, the band supported the record opening fro Panic! at the Disco and Imagine Dragons.
I was thrilled at a recent chance to catch the amazing Grace Potter and her band, The Nocturnals. Accompanied by a slightly incompliant best friend, I was determined to change his mind about this amazing group. He stopped protesting quite so much when he saw her, though. She is quite the hottie. And I’d like to think he changed his mind about the music, as well.
Always and incredible evening of music, this band looks like they stepped out of another time, mainly the sixties. And in some ways, they sound like a mix of the best of the psychedelic sixties, the hard rocking seventies and a bit of the glam metal of the eighties.
However you describe it, the music sounds fresh and exciting and this was true of this show as well. Grace’s soulful voice is always compared to Janis Joplin’s and this is not untrue but there is also a sweet melody to it that Janis, legend that she is, was lacking. Barefoot and beautiful, as always, Grace is the undeniable focal point of this group. Her band is super talented but let’s be honest, they would be playing covers in a bar somewhere without Grace’s energy and talent to lead them. It was an incredible night of music, as always and I think she has a new fan!
X Ambassadors were great live! I was invited by a friend to attend the concert and at the time all I really knew about X Ambassadors was that their song “Jungle” with Jamie N Commons was used in the Beats ad for the world cup and the promo video for the new season of “Orange is the New Black”. After agreeing to go, I downloaded their two EPs and started getting familiar with their music. I really loved what I heard and was really excited to see them live.
The venue was small, but as the band is still relatively unknown, that wasn’t a huge surprise, and it worked in the favor of the crowd because we could literally stand in front of the stage within arms reach of the band. They were awesome to watch mainly because the lead singer, Sam, danced ferociously around the stage, so much so that he actually pulled his back during one of the last songs and couldn’t do an encore. Another highlight was the keyboardist, Casey, Sam’s brother who is legally blind, but is an enthusiastic keyboard player who dances the whole time he plays.
Another highlight of the show was that they brought on Jamie N Commons for their final song, “Jungle”. And since Sam had injured his back, Jamie played an unreleased song for the encore while Sam went in the green room to rest. Overall, it was a really fun night and I would highly recommend going to see them live.
The Honeycutters are my favorite band ever, and they give an amazing live show! All players in the band are top notch. Amanda and her band are naturals on stage and will make you laugh, dance, cry and want to hug the person next to you. Don't miss the chance to see them in person.