Tues 3/2: Grayson Capps and The Bridge

Mar 2, 2010 by Anonymous

Grayson Capps at Agave, The Bridge at Three20South – more info on each below…

Grayson Capps and The Stumpknockers are touring in support of their new album Rott ‘N’ Roll, a title that originated with Grayson Capps’ fans in New Orleans as an explanation of his music. Prostitutes, alcoholics, vagrants and drifters often inhabit the southern troubadour’s songs, while his live performances are ignited by sanctified Southern soul, howling back-country stomp and raucous roadhouse blues. Slowly, but surely, the phrase spread from one city to the next as the definition of the Grayson Capps experience. For Grayson himself, Rott ‘N’ Roll has come to represent the state of mind needed to play uncompromising roots music as a means for survival in the Dirty South; the yin and yang between the debauchery of life on the road and the come down upon returning home.. Yet, as Grayson makes clear on “Back To The Country,” the album’s opening track, when Rott ‘N’ Roll is the credo, even the serenity of home means, “eating cornbread and raising hell.”

The Bridge is a unique rock band whose music combines elements of blues and roots, spiced with funk and soul. They have recently become known coast-to-coast, and even in Europe, for their gritty and grand live performances and poignantly hand crafted albums. Following in the tradition of classic / southern roots rock, and flavoring their sound with Americana sensibilities, the band has built their own niche between the jam, country, and bluegrass genres.
The band’s roots date back to 2001, when guitarist & vocalist Cris Jacobs reunited, post college, with high school friend Kenny Liner (who’d recently returned from living in Hawaii and learning the mandolin). They found an immediate chemistry playing music together, and would go onto create The Bridge by osmosis. They played countless regional shows, working on each other’s material, experimenting with bands members and ultimately woodshedding the band until it locked into focus. Jacobs and Liner solidified the The Bridge’s core line-up with the addition of saxophonist Patrick Rainey, bassist Dave Markowitz and drummer Mike Gambone.
Philadelphia based keyboardist Mark Brown began doing shows with the band in 2008, and by the end of that year he had also become a full time member of the band, rounding out their sound with organ and piano