| Courtesy Josh Tockerman |
And there was dancin' and singin', and groovin' to the movin', and just when it hit me, somebody turned around and said....
It's Retro Transit Authority!
This funky jamband from SoCal is an unsigned and undiscovered talent that knows how to slow it down, speed it up, and keep the beat going. Citing influences from Galactic and Flaming Lips, to Greatful Dead and Bob Marley, the four-piece pulls notes and grooves from the past few decades and blends it with a modern soul. Singer/guitarist Jeff Champlin croons and wails like Raconteurs frontman Brendan Branson, with a voice that floats above the tunes while keeping you anchored to the sound.
A sign of a progressive band is how they handle live shows, and these guys have decided to let the awesome people at archive.org put up their live shows for free. For the unaware, archive.org hosts bands live performances from bands who don't care about live taping and trading, and gets free live shows to fans across the globe. Acts from Tenacious D to Ben Kweller have dozens of free shows to download and enjoy, in pristine quality (when available). My Morning Jacket has nearly 200 for download!
Back to the band, though, as I implore you to check out their myspace link at the bottom and at least give the song "Negative Wingspan" a listen. If it doesn't remind you of what is good and awesome about Rock'n'Roll, then we have a problem. The band seems to be currently tooling around with a new line-up, some new material, and hopefully some live dates sometime soon. In the meantime, give this diamond in the rough a listen and see if it doesn't make your day better. The video that follows is low on the volume side, so turn up your speakers to get down properly.
Retro Transit Authority - Live at The Screaming Moose
Retro Transit Authority | MySpace Music Videos
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