03.17.23: I’m excited to put this one out into the world- the Allweather guys and I convened a couple weeks ago to make an audition tape for the NPR Tiny Desk Concert. My esteemed bandmates ( Tom Strait, Race Hoglund, Steve Wallevand, Joel Beseler-Thompson) and I crammed into my office at MSUM with a few mics and cameras, and I’m really happy with the result.
“90’s Drums” is a tune I wrote apart from any larger project or goal- this groove popped in my head, and most of this one was singing straight to paper. To my mind, this is the kind of beat you’d hear on a mid-90’s R&B record (hence the title), or maybe that vibe as filtered through someone like Kenny Garrett. You don’t have to squint too hard to figure I lifted this from Maxwell or Erykah Badu. Squint a little bit harder, and it sounds like I pulled it from Massive Attack, maybe. Due props to the vanguard of this style, past and present.
This is our cleanest recording of new material in a while, and it shows off the newest iteration of this band, featuring Dr. Tom Strait leading our horn frontline. We shot a B-side too, and I’ll be putting that up in a couple weeks.
Very excited to play more with these guys in 2023, keep an eye out for show announcements! On that note, if you are an arts presenter or concert promoter in the upper Midwest, and you like what you hear, drop me a line. We’re looking for things to do!
See you out there.
-Max
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Max Johnk 