INsite Atlanta September 2021 Issue

SEPTEMBER 2021

C

0 YEARS! 3 G N I T ELEBRA

INSITEATLANTA.COM

VOL. 30, NO. 2 FREE

Los Lobos Tito Jackson Willie Nile

Fall FESTIVALS Helen Oktoberfest • North Georgia State Fair • Taste of Marietta East Atlanta Strut • AIDS Walk • Mimosa Festival Norcross Art Festival • Taste of Acworth • Rescue Dog Games Brunch Festival • Smyrna Fall Jonquil • Taste of Kennesaw

CONTENTS • SEPTEMBER 2021 • VOLUME 30, NO. 2 music at

the fred

30 R AT I N G CELEB

YEARS!

Atlanta’s

Entertainment Monthly

2021 concert season presented by:

tickets on sale now sat, september 25

Face to face - a tribute to elton john and billy joel

INTERVIEWS 08 Tito Jackson

08

10 Los Lobos 11 Cruzados 12 Willie Nile 13 Florence LaRue

sat, october 2 ABBa Revisted - tribute to abba

10

FEATURES 04 Pizza Guide

FOR DETAILS VISIT w w w . a m p h i t h e ate r . o r g

Summer Concert Series SATURDAY, SEPT. 25

MIDNIGHT STAR

CONFUNKSHUN & EL DEBARGE

06 Fall Festivals

03 Around Town 09 Station Streaming 14 Album Reviews

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4

Keith Sweat

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

Jonathan Butler, Norman Brown & Eric Darius Sounds of Good Medicine SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18

Dru Hill with Silk & Next SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19

Southern Soul Sunday: Tucka, Calvin Richardson, T.K. Soul FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

STAFF LISTING Publisher Steve Miller steve@insiteatlanta.com Art Director / Web Design Nick Tipton nick@insiteatlanta.com

She’s a Rebel

Managing Editor Lee Valentine Smith lee@insiteatlanta.com

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

Local Events Editor Marci Miller marci@insiteatlanta.com

Tribute to female singers and songwriters

Midnight Star, Confunkshun & El Debarge SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26

Tank w/ Raheem Devaughn

5239 Floyd Rd. Mableton, GA 30126 Box Office: (770) 819-7765 MableHouse.org PG 2 • September 2021 • insiteatlanta.com

13

insiteatlanta.com

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11

Najee, Maysa, Paul Taylor, Michael Lington & Vincent Ingala

12

COLUMNS

Music Editor John Moore john@insiteatlanta.com

Follow INsite on Social!

Contributing Writers / Interns: Alex. S. Morrison, Dave Cohen, Benjamin Carr, Demarco Williams Advertising Sales Steve Miller (404) 308-5119 • ads@insiteatlanta.com WEBSITE • insiteatlanta.com Editorial content of INsite is the opinion of each writer and is not necessarily the opinion of INsite, its staff, or its advertisers. INsite does not knowingly accept false or misleading advertising or editorial content, nor do the publisher or editors of INsite assume responsibility should such advertising or editorial appear. No content, i.e., articles, graphics, designs and information (any and all) in this publication may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from publisher.

SEPTEMBER 2021

© Copyright 2021, Be Bop Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved

S! TING 30 YEAR CELEBRA

INSITEATLANTA.COM

VOL. 30, NO. 2 FREE

Los Lobos Tito Jackson Willie Nile

Fall FESTIVALS Helen Oktoberfest • North Georgia State Fair • Taste of Marietta East Atlanta Strut • AIDS Walk • Mimosa Festival Norcross Art Festival • Taste of Acworth Brunch Festival • Smyrna Fall Jonquil • Rescue Dog Games • Taste of Kennesaw

Around Town

Movies, Concerts and Festivals taking place this Month

SEPTEMBER 2 - 6

SUNDAY & MONDAY SEPT. 5 & 6 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

Downtown Atlanta

Piedmont Park in Midtown

Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre

ATLANTA JAZZ FESTIVAL

FACE 2 FACE

Face 2 Face: a Tribute to Elton John & Billy Joel will perform a high-energy, interactive show with the mega-hits you know and love, including “Saturday Night,” “Crocodile Rock,” “Candle in the Wind,” “Piano Man” and “Big Shot.” The concert features a solo set from each artist then ends with the two piano men playing sideby-side. This unforgettable night at the Fred happens on Saturday, September 25.

Sing-a-longs and spontaneous humor are fully expected during this evening. Tickets available at Amphitheater.org.

Legendary R&B group Midnight Star join Confunkshun and multi-talented, Grammy nominated artist El Debarge Saturday, September 25 live at Mable House Barnes Amphitheater in Cobb County. Midnight Star had a string of R&B hits in the '80s including "I've Been Watching You”, "Operator”, “Freak-A-Zoid" and platinum selling album “No Parking on the Dance Floor”. The show is part of the Wade Ford Concert Series. Get tickets at Mablehouse.org.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3

Atlanta Jazz Festival returns to Piedmont Park Sunday & Monday, Sept. 5 & 6 over Labor Day weekend. e lineup will feature a variety of up and coming artists like Sean Jones and Jazzmeia Horn along with legends Archie Shepp, Patti Austin and Ron Carter. e festival weekend offers a KidZone area with games and inflatables, two performance stages and a VIP Lounge. e Atlanta Jazz Festival is the perfect way to spend the holiday with family and friends. Admission to the festival is free. Visit atlantafestivals.com for full line-up.

Duluth Town Green

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11

SEPTEMBER 23, 24 & 25 FOOD THAT ROCKS

VIRGINIA-HIGHLAND SUMMERFEST

Flicks on the Bricks runs alongside Food Truck Friday. Watch a free movie while sitting under the stars on the Duluth Town Green. Enjoy themed entertainment, live music and food trucks before the show. e movie starts at 8pm and the screen will be to the left of the Festival Center Stage. See the cinema classic e Wizard of Oz on Friday, September 3rd. Flick’s on the Bricks is presented by the District of Duluth. Visit DuluthGA.net for more information.

MOVIES IN THE PARK SERIES Fullers Park, Marietta

Cobb County Movies in the Park Series continues on Saturday, Sept. 11 with Raya The Last Dragon at Fullers Park in Marietta. Pack your car with family and friends; bring outdoor chairs and blankets for a fun outdoor movie experience. Park opens at 7pm with trivia questions prior to movie start at sunset. $20 per vehicle, ticket required. Visit cobbcounty.org/parks and click on "Register and Reserve" then click on the "Special Events" tab.

Food that Rocks, a tasting event celebrating the vibrant dining scene in Sandy Springs. e event has expanded this year to three nights with a Saturday afternoon session. Each session features tastes from participating restaurants, wine, beer, cocktail tastings, and live music. Sessions are from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. September 23-25 with the September 25 afternoon session from noon – 3 p.m. Have fun while sampling food and drinks from local chefs and mixologists. Visit foodthatrocks.org.

Virginia-Highland Summerfest brings together local and regional music talent on two stages, the Juried Artist Market, the Makers’ Market, a 5K run, food from local vendors and more.

Visitors can celebrate the culmination of the summer with endless fun festivities. Atlanta’s premier art show features a display of fine, folk, and unique art from more than 200 artists from the Southeast and beyond. Attendees will have the opportunity to find the perfect piece of art for their home. The market will include painting, photography, sculpture, wood, stone, jewelry, metal, glass, textile and mixed media. Vahisummerfest.org.

NER

B

SEPT 23OCT 3, 2021

Virginia-Highland neighborhood

City Springs in Sandy Springs

OF COB ST

2021 WIN RE

P

Voted Best Festival and B e s t F a m i ly A m u s e m e n t

SATURDAY-SUNDAY SEPT. 25 & 26

SE

N TE

FE D BY COBB LI

Online th

ru Sept. 2

IN E

FLICKS ON THE BRICKS

MIDNIGHT STAR

Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater

ADMISSIO 10 & Und N $7 | 21 Ride T er ALWAY IC S FREE ADKETS $11 MISSION! courtesy of

AZ

Dragon Con is back in Downtown Atlanta for five days over Labor Day weekend. e world's largest sci-fi, multimedia, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music and film in the world.

Dragon Con boasts close to 40 fan-based tracks, a night at the GA Aquarium, a vendor hall, comics, pop art exhibits and displays plus nightly concerts and parties.

Visit DragonCon.org for more details.

BE

DRAGON CON

G MA

K & UI D S 1 0

FRENDER E!

ADM E V E IS S IO RY D N AY

3

JIM R. Miller Park Marietta

2021 CONCERT SERIES Friday, Sept. 24

Thursday, Sept. 30

Saturday, Sept. 25

Friday, Oct. 1

Wednesday, Sept. 29

Saturday, Oct. 2

We Are Messengers Chris Lane

Gabby Barrett

Jon Langston Chase Rice Mark Wills

NORTHGEORGIASTATEFAIR.COM PRESENTED BY:

SPONSORED BY:

insiteatlanta.com • September 2021 • PG 3

Taste of the Month - Pizza!

Johnny’s NY Style Pizza

Over 50 Atlanta area locations: Order online @ JohnnysPizza.com

DINE-IN! Vaulted Dining Rooms & Enclosed Patio

Extremely Fresh Cuisine Atlanta’s Best Margaritas & Tequila Bar Open 7 nights a week at 4pm

Johnny’s Pizza is synonymous with great pizza and subs in Atlanta. The secret to their success is in the preparation. They always use the finest ingredients.

Johnny’s specializes in NY style pizza. They have several house specialties including the Johnny’s Deluxe, Italian Special, Veggie, Steak & Cheese, Pesto and Buffalo Chicken. There are plenty of individual toppings to create your own masterpiece. Also on the menu are subs, salads, sandwiches and other popular Italian dishes including calzones, stromboli and lasagna. Johnny’s restaurants offer dine-in, take-out and delivery. Please check with your local store to find out their latest hours and dining options. You may always call or order online for takeout, curbside pickup and contactless delivery. Go to JohnnysPizza.com to find the location nearest you.

Mo’s Pizza

3109 Briarcliff Rd. 404.320.1258 MosPizza.com Feel at home at Mo’s Pizza, your neighborhood eatery offering a wide variety of lunch and dinner specials to please any palate. Mo’s has been serving up great pizza in Clairmont / N. Druid Hills for over 30 years! Everything is made using the freshest ingredients including the dough built from scratch every day. Menu highlights include Mo's Special, Meat Lovers and BBQ Chicken pizzas and you will love Mo’s traditional American fare like hamburgers, salads, sandwiches and more. Mo’s Pizza is currently open for Dine-In, Take-out and Delivery. Inside tables have been removed and spaced out while they offer a huge dog friendly deck to hang out on and soak up the sun! Hours are Monday – Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 10:00 p.m. Mo’s is one of the longest running pizza joints in Atlanta, come in and see why they are among the best.

Fritti

Your Neighborhood Pizzeria!

309 N. Highland Ave. 404.880.9559 Frittiatl.com Located in the heart of historic Inman Park just walking distance from the Atlanta Beltline, Fritti is nationally recognized for its pizza and state of the art wood-burning oven. This world class oven can maintain a temperature of 1,000 degrees and cooks pizza unlike anything you have ever experienced. Fritti serves authentic Neapolitan Pizza that is prepared according to traditional artisan methods. The dough is made with Caputo flour and natural yeast, tomato sauce is hand milled and they use locally produced fior di latte mozzarella.

Try their Salsiccia e Pepperoni (sweet Italian sausage and roasted peppers), the Cotto e Funghi (Crimini and Portobello mushrooms with cotto ham) or the Vegetariana (roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, red onion and arugula). Fritti offers a variety of antipasti dishes including offerings of funghi fritti (fried mushrooms), fried calamari and classic Sicilian arancini. Also find a bevy of delicious salads, Italian Skewers and Panozzi pizza-bread paninos. Their patio is among the hottest places to be in Inman Park as the entire dining room opens up to the lively street scene.

Soak up the sun!

PATIO SEATING

Atlanta’s Favorite Pizza!

Multiple Atlanta Locations: JohnnysPizza.com PG 4 • September 2021 • insiteatlanta.com

Great Subs, Sandwiches, Salads & Wings Since 1980

Dine-In • Pick-Up & Delivery to the area

Just off I-85 @ Clairmont (Corner of Briarcliff & Clairmont)

3109 Briarcliff Rd. • (404) 320-1258 • MosPizza.com

insiteatlanta.com • September 2021 • PG 5

Fall FESTIVALS

HELEN, GA OKTOBERFEST

September 9 - 12, 16 - 19, 23 - 26; then daily from Sept 30 – Nov 7 at Festhalle, HelenChamber.com Beer, brats, bands and Lederhosen - the Helen Oktoberfest has them all! The longest running Oktoberfest in the United States is celebrating its 50 Year Anniversary! The festival runs Thursday - Sunday the second, third and fourth weekends in September then every day from September 30 through November 7. As is tradition, the Helen Festhalle will house the event. Germanstyle bands from around the country and around the world play on the stage. Grab your partner and take a spin on the dance floor to lively Polka music.

NORTH GEORGIA STATE FAIR

September 23 - October 3 Jim R. Miller Park Marietta NorthGeorgiaStateFair.com As the largest fair in metro Atlanta, the North Georgia State Fair attracts nearly 300,000 people every year. The fair features live music, free attractions and shows, farm animals, flower shows, blue ribbon competitions, local entertainment,

and delicious fair foods. Headlining this year’s concerts are: We Are Messengers (Friday, 9/24), Chris Lane (Saturday, 9/25), Gabby Barrett (Wednesday, 9/29), Jon Landston (Thursday, 9/30), Chase Rice (Friday, 10/1) and Mark Wills (Saturday 10/2). All concerts begin at 8 p.m. and are free with fair admission. A covered arena guarantees concerts rain or shine. There are also games and rides on the midway. New this year is the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show, Jurassic Kingdom and Alligator Show. Admission to the fair is $7.00; Children 10 and under are free. Pack of 21 ride tickets are $11.

Discount tickets may be purchased online through September 23 and at all Metro Atlanta O’Reiley Auto Parts stores.

EAST ATLANTA STRUT

Saturday, September 25 12-6pm; East Atlanta Village EastAtlantaStrut.com The East Atlanta Strut is taking it to the streets – all the streets of the neighborhood! This free, one-day extravaganza showcases the city’s hottest in-town neighborhood. East Atlanta is the place to eat, drink, shop and play. The Rockin’ Road Trip party bus lets you hop-on and hop-off

Presented by southern feedstore and the Marbut

at hot spots around the neighborhood as East Atlanta shows off its bands, artists, gardens, classic cars, culinary delights and a collection of cool contests. Try your luck at Llama Poop Bingo, get winded at the Leaf Blower Madness Tournament or get a taste of Strut Your Bake, a rum dessert bake-off.

This year’s presenting sponsors are the Southern Feedstore – a food hall debuting at the Strut! -- and The Marbut – a retail and residential complex opening in early 2022. The Strut also features the beers of Creature Comforts Brewing, including Classic City Lager. Beneficiaries of this allvolunteer-run festival include the Free99Fridge project and Pet Buddies Food Pantry.

AIDS WALK ATLANTA & 5K RUN

Saturday, September 25 Piedmont Park AIDSWalkAtlanta.com Despite cancelations in 2020 due to COVID- 19, Atlanta’s signature fundraising event of the year AIDS Walk Atlanta & 5K Run is back and better than ever!

Taking place on Saturday, September 25, 2021 from 10am- 2pm at the meadow in Piedmont Park, the Atlanta community is encouraged to attend the event to either

walk, run, or simply party for a purpose with special music guests Ludacris and Sevyn Streeter. For 30 years, this is the largest AIDS-related fundraising event in the Southeast supporting those living with HIV/AIDS. Become a ‘Change Agent’ to help raise over $750,000 of critical funds needed, to make a difference as we try to move the needle closer to zero infections. All monies raised are used right here in our community to support the programs and services of eleven participating local HIV/AIDS service organizations. For more information on how to register, fundraise or volunteer, go to AIDSWalkAtlanta.com.

ATLANTA MIMOSA FESTIVAL

Saturday, October 2 Historic 4th Ward Skate Park AtlantaMimosaFestival.com The Mimosa Festival is back on Saturday, October 2 at Historic 4th Ward. There will be lots of Mimosas, Extra mimosa flavors, wine, seltzers, RTDs, beer & cider. Enjoy live Music & spinning from DJ Qtip. Ticket includes entry, enter-

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS!

Larg Select e of Ge ion & Dom rman es Beers tic

Live German Music Dancing

Oversized, Pretzels Brats & Beer Cheese

Separate Kids Dance Floor Saturday, October 2: 10am – 6pm Sunday, October 3: 10am – 5pm • Whimsical & Colorful Artist Booths • Kidz Zone with Inflatables • Variety of Food Trucks • Live Musical Entertainment • Plenty of Free Parking Available

NEW LOCATION!

Lillian Webb Park in Downtown Norcross 2021 Featured Artist: Jacquie Leavitt from Chattanooga, TN

SplashFestivals.com

PG 6 • September 2021 • insiteatlanta.com

Sponsored by:

City of Norcross and Explore Gwinnett

September 9-12; 16-19; 23-26 (Thu – Sun) September 30 – November 7 Admission: $8 Mon-Fri, $10 on Sat, FREE on Sunday Time: Weekdays 6-10:30pm, Fri 6pm-Midnight, Sat 1pm-Midnight, Sun 1pm-7:00pm

1074 Edelweiss Strasse • Helen, GA 30545

For more information, contact the Alpine Helen Chamber of Commerce at 706-878-1619

HelenChamber.com

Oktoberfest Festhalle Friends

tainment, souvenir cup, and all alcohol samples. Cost is $45 advance, $50 after Sept. 23 and $60 day of event. Food not included with ticket.

NORCROSS ART SPLASH FESTIVAL

Saturday, Oct 2 and Sunday, Oct 3 Lillian Webb Park, Downtown SplashFestivals.com The 17th annual art celebration, known for its whimsical and fun artist market, will move to its exciting new home, Lillian Webb Park in downtown Historic Norcross. Local and regional artisans look forward to showcasing their unique talents to festivalgoers. Georgia Grown members and makers will also be at the festival to promote their homemade goods and products. The exciting Kidz Zone will be full of colorful inflatables and creative arts and crafts for children and their parents! Food trucks serving festival cuisine will line the park with tasty treats for everyone. The award-winning art show will open Saturday, October 2 from 10 a.m.

– 6 p.m. and Sunday, October 3 from 10 a.m.

– 5 p.m. Free parking is available all over the charming streets of Historic Norcross.

FESTIVAL ON PONCE

Oct. 9 & 10 Olmsted Linear Park FestivalonPonce.com The Festival on Ponce is a 2-Day local arts and crafts event held at the Historic Olmsted Linear Park.

The Artist's Market features arts and handmade crafts.

There is a Children's Park, local food and beverage concessions and live acoustic

entertainment. Attendance is free. Stroll the event while enjoying the art on display and the historic gardens. This is a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the vision and legacy of one of America's most celebrated landscape architects, Fredrick Olmsted, Sr.

TASTE OF ACWORTH

Saturday, October 9, 11am – 6:00pm Main Street – Downtown Acworth AcworthBusiness.org Taste of Acworth hosted by the Acworth Business Association is back Saturday, October 9. The festival attracts patrons from all over North Atlanta for one of the largest public events in Acworth. The festival showcases many of the great local restaurants. At prices from $1$4, it’s impossible to leave hungry!

Complete with local vendors, an interactive Kid’s Zone, a Beer Garden & live entertainment. Plan to bring your family to experience a true “Taste” of Acworth.

RESCUE DOG GAMES

Saturday, October 16 Piedmont Park 11am – 5pm RescueDogGames.com All dogs and their humans welcome on Saturday, October 16th for Atlanta’s Dog Festival & Howl-O-Ween Party. The popular event takes place in Piedmont Park at the meadow by Charles Allen Dr. The day consists of interactive dog/human games, dog art project, pet rescues, dog & human photo booths, dog lure chase, disc dogs and more. Enjoy the festivities with music, the dog Howl-O-Ween Costume

Contest along with food and beer vendors.

Free to attend. Bring un-opened dog food to donate. Win prizes for you and your dog.

Register your dog at RescueDogGames.com to get all the info on the festival and to take on The Great Dog Challenge taking place 2 weeks leading up to the festival. This virtual interactive fun challenge is for you and your dog Oct 1 – 16.

ATLANTA BRUNCH FESTIVAL

Saturday, October 23 Atlantic Station AtlantaBrunchFestival.com Atlanta Brunch Fest will be held on Saturday, October 23 from 12-4pm, with early entry at 11am.

A celebration of brunch with bites from great Atlanta restaurants. Enjoy mimosas, bloody marys, Brunch Punch, White Claw, beer, and wine. Live music and everyone's favorite DJ Q-Tip will be on hand.

Bottomless drinks tickets are $45 advance, $50 after Oct. 14 , $60 day of event. Food not included with ticket.

SMYRNA FALL JONQUIL FESTIVAL

October 23 & 24 Downtown Smyrna SmyrnaCity.com The Fall Jonquil Festival is located on the beautiful Village Green in downtown Smyrna. The festival takes place Saturday, October 23 from 10 am - 6 pm and Sunday, October 24 from 12 - 5 pm. Serving the area for more than 20 years, the festival will feature over 150 hand-made arts & crafts booths, a dozen food booths, live music on a local entertainment stage, and plenty of children's activities.

TASTE OF MARIETTA

Sunday, October 24 Historic Marietta Square; TasteofMarietta.com Taste of Marietta is celebrating its 27th anniversary showcasing Cobb County restaurants. It is the longest running food festival in Cobb County and has become a favorite annual tradition among local residents. A variety of Marietta’s favorite restaurants will be offering samples.

Tastings range from $1 - $5. There will be musical entertainment all day on stages throughout the festival, fun and games, and a food judging competition. In addition to the event festivities, enjoy unique shops and museums present on the Marietta Square.

TASTE OF KENNESAW

Saturday, November 6 Downtown Kennesaw KennesawBusiness.org Come on out to Taste of Kennesaw on Saturday, November 6 as Downtown Kennesaw will be filled with the sweet smell of food and the sweet sounds of Rock ‘n Roll.

There will be over 30 food booths, a beer garden, sponsor booths, and plenty of children's activities. Admission is free and samples are just $1 - $4. The taste attracts over 20,000 people from all around the Kennesaw area. There will be two entertainment stages showcasing various acts. The show hours are 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Grab a cold beverage from the beer garden, sample delicious food, and sit back and listen to great music on the Main Street Entertainment stages all day. Parking available at Adams Park and First Baptist Church.

Saturday, October 9th, 2021 11am-6pm • Downtown Acworth

Free Admission, Free Entertainment,

Food Sample Tastings, Kids Zone For more information call 770-423-1330 or visit acworthbusiness.org/taste-of-acworth

insiteatlanta.com • September 2021 • PG 7

MUSIC

IT’S TITO’S TIME, FINALLY

Tito Jackson’s New Album Under Your Spell is an All-Star Love Fest

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

S

INCE THE MIDDLE ‘60S, THE Jackson family has been one of the most influential and innovative forces in pop, soul and R&B. First as the Jackson Five quartet and later as solo artists, the family own a solid slice of modern music history.

Whether known as the First Family of Soul or the Royal Family of Pop, the Jackson dynasty have presided over an unrivaled variety of music and entertainment ventures, individually and collectively. Michael and Janet, of course, are the undisputed sales leaders of the empire.

On the other end of the spectrum is Tito. The shy guitarist of the Jackson Five is the late bloomer of the unit. Tito Time, his first official solo album, was released in 2016. Last month, he finally followed-up his debut with Under Your Spell.

Released by SRG / Gulf Coast Records / Hillside, his latest collection finds the affable musician surrounded by friends, family and pop culture icons for all-star sessions of inspired blues jams.

Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Joe Bonamassa, Marlon Jackson, Eddie Levert, Kenny Neal, Bobby Rush and Claudette King are among the many guest artists on the disc, recorded remotely during the peak of the pandemic.

The celebratory video for the album’s first single “Love One Another” features a slew of famous faces including several Kardashians and a special appearance from 91-year-old family matriarch Katherine Jackson.

INsite recently spoke with Jackson by phone from his recording studio in Los Angeles Under Your Spell is a massive family affair with an impressive guest list.

Well, with the pandemic going on, I knew all my colleagues and friends weren’t doing nothing. I wanted to put in a little work and call them on some of the favors they’d been offering for years. They knew that I knew they weren’t on the road doing other things so they couldn’t make the usual excuses some people make. ‘Oh, I’m on the road, I’m recording.’ I think they were all bored and missing the music part of their lives. So we used email a lot and shared files. You add your ice and then your flavor and then your attitudes.

When you first came up with the album concept, did you have the songs ready or did everyone contribute?

Well, it was funny because when I was calling people, I had no songs. Like with Eddie Levert on “All In The Family Blues.”

After he committed, we were on the phone together and I said, ‘Eddie, do you have anything?’ He said, ‘No, man. I don’t have nothing. Do you?’ I said, ‘No but I’ll find something we can do together.’ So, I basically got to brainstorming and called Kenny Gamble. I said, ‘Can you find some music for

I’M AT AN AGE WHERE I CAN MAKE THE DECISIONS IN MY OWN CAREER, AND NOT HAVE MANAGERS AND COMPANIES AND THINGS LIKE THAT MAKING THEM FOR ME. FINALLY, IT’S MY TIME.

us?’ He said, ‘I’ll check. Give me a few days.’ He came back the second or third day with the song. That’s how it happened. He always said that he’d wanted to write a song for me. So now we have it.

The new single “Love One Another” should be the anthem of the moment.

Yeah. It’s the blues, a structured song, but Stevie [Wonder] puts the soul in it. Bobby [Rush] puts the blues on it. Then my family and all these celebrities are on there. So it’s everybody, different people, different genres all mixed together with the blues being the basis of it. We’re telling the world to love one another. On the video, I had my mom kickin’ it off and my sister and my friends, the Kardashian family. Magic and all of these others to tell the world and let everybody know that they’re all behind the message.

People need to hear it.

They do. It’s the thing that everyone wants, love in the world. So that’s basically what the song is. You know, hold the door for the young lady. If somebody’s short on change it at the cash register, reach in your pocket and give it to them if you can afford it. We need more moments like that. People don’t even stop if your car breaks down anymore. Unless you’re a beautiful lady, then they’ll stop. If you’re a dude, you’re just totally out of luck.

You mentioned the Kardashians. An iconic family who, like the Jacksons, have spent plenty of time in the public consciousness.

They’re all about love and peace. World peace. I thought it would be a great idea for them to show the world that they support this song and the message. Because the message is stronger than the song. And that’s one of the very reasons my complete family, practically, got behind it. Kids and grandkids and you name it, they all wanted the world to know they support this message.

Good move. Some people might listen to a Kardashian more than a musician at this point.

Or a politician. Especially when you’re talking about the younger generation. You know, we’ve been knowing the Kardashian family for many years, even before they were even popular to the world. Even before the affiliation with O.J. and for the lawyer. Kim dated my youngest son when she was 14 or 15 years old. They were girlfriend and boyfriend for many years and my middle son dated Kourtney for like three or four years.

That is a pretty impressive crossover of pop culture figures.

Mm-hmm. Well, it’s just called loving one another.

And obviously you love the blues. you have been immersed in the blues form for almost two decades now.

Yeah, I started playing guitar as young boy trying to play like my dad and my uncle. They played a lot of blues around the house. But in 1985, the Jackson brothers took their first

PG 8 • September 2021 • insiteatlanta.com

break and I didn’t have anything to do for a long time. I decided to grab people, my friends who were musicians with real day jobs, and we’d jam. I just needed some music. So i was playing with my friends and I was trying to get over a few things, get over my shyness, get used to playing on the stage when my brothers aren’t with me, learn to carry the show by myself and all these things. I worked on all that. Did some charity stuff. Did churches, weddings, fundraisers, what have you, until I felt I was ready. Then I got a cruise. I started doing other shows everywhere - Bahamas, Europe, UK, Japan, Brazil. I started traveling all over the world with what I was doing. After doing that for a long time, I said, ‘I’m doing all this stuff, but I don’t have a record of my own.’

That eventually became Tito Time, right?

Yeah but It wasn’t a blues record yet. My very first record, I wanted to do it for the fans, and I wanted to give them something that they were accustomed to hearing from my family. The more pop, R&B-orientated stuff. Then my sophomore record had to be the blues. And that’s this record.

At this point, with two albums under your belt and international tours, how does it feel to be in the spotlight without your brothers?

It’s different. You know, cause usually I’m in the Jackson band. I’m a background singer, basically and the rhythm guitar player. That’s quite different than being upfront by yourself, being the lead singer and all. My father, when he built the group, he built it on ability, and Michael always had all the marbles it takes to be a star. Jermaine was next and then Jackie. I fell way down the line ‘cause I’ve always had that low voice and that whole thing. I was Melvin Franklin. You know the guy in the Temptations? I was the Melvin Franklin of the Jackson 5. I was quiet and I’d say, ‘Well, one day I’ll get a chance to do my thing.’

Just quietly waiting for the right moment.

Yeah, but then I got married at 18, had kids, and my brothers were making solo records. Michael, Jackie, Jermaine, they all had solo records coming out. Marlon was making one and I still didn’t have a record. Even my sons had got a record out before me. There was even a survey online, ‘Will Tito ever do an album? Fans are asking.’

It must feel great to finally have the freedom to do the albums you’ve been waiting to record, on your own terms without a producer, manager, team - or family - to satisfy.

I do have a producer, but we share ideas. But the nice little thing, as you say, I don’t have the brothers in there pitching their ideas or whatever. They do still pitch ideas here and there but it’s totally up to me whether I use them or not. I’m at an age where I can make the decisions in my own career, and not have managers and companies and things like that making them for me. Finally, it’s my time.

Under Your Spell is available via most major music platforms.

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HISTORIC MARIETTA SQUARE

October 24

2021 11:00am–7:00pm

BY BENJAMIN CARR

O

NE OF THE ADVANTAGES OF television over movies is the returning of characters to familiar stories. In movies the people we meet are usually gone within a few hours except in the case of long-running franchises. Episodic television has been popular since the 1950s because of the implied intimacy of the viewing experience. You are inviting people into your living room to spend time with you, and you expect them to come back every week. It feels like friendship. Some favorites have recently returned to our screens for another visit and they have new stories to tell.

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TED LASSO (Apple TV+)

One of the gems to emerge out of the nightmare that was 2020 was this weird sitcom about soccer, starring Saturday Night Live alum Jason Sudeikis as a cheery U.S. football coach imported across the Atlantic to coach a team. He’s going through a divorce. He doesn’t know the sport but he needs the job. And through contagious, unwavering joy and optimism, Coach Lasso managed to win over all the bitter Brits he encountered, including jaded veteran player Roy Kent and the team owner Rebecca - who only hired him to spite her ex-husband.

The first season of Ted Lasso won over audiences and Emmy voters too, because it was a bright light in a dark time. The second season of Ted Lasso began streaming earlier this summer and the entire ensemble is winning. Hannah Waddingham continues to do great work as Rebecca, turning the cold boss stereotype on its head by projecting warmth, kindness and authority in every scene. As the hilariously foulmouthed and angry Roy, Brett Goldstein has stolen full episodes of the second season which has moved away from the culture clash antics of Coach Lasso. Now the biggest issue that the coach himself has to face is his emotions, which is a less-motivated story, but the mood of the show remains the same. Ted Lasso remains a fun, weird delight of a show.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY: DOUBLE FEATURE (FX)

For its tenth season, this sorta-kinda anthology series returns once again with a repertory of familiar actors playing new roles. Regular viewers have come to expect that each season will tell some new tale of terror, which will be vaguely connected to all the other seasons in some way, but the early promise of seasons like Murder House, Asylum and Coven has faded the longer the show has run. A sister show called American Horror Stories ran earlier this summer and was completely terrible, telling standalone stories that would have been better off never seeing the light of day.

So Double Feature arrived with deadened enthusiasm, yet the first section of it, a Provincetown set vampire tale with a twist called Red Tide, has been surprisingly good fun so far.

American Horror Story: Double Feature

Ted Lasso

Centered around Finn Wittrock’s struggling novelist character and his very pregnant, interior designer wife, played by the great Lily Rabe, Red Tide feels a bit like Salem’s Lot and The Shining.

The family arrives in off-season Provincetown to renovate a house and get some creative work done. But things suddenly turn violent. Strange, pale, bald freaks with fangs roam the streets during the day, chasing down children and ripping the throats out of roadkill.

Series staples Evan Peters and Frances Conroy show up to help the author out of his writer’s block with strange, black pills that boost your creativity if you have any talent but the pills also make you want to drink blood. Though only two episodes have aired, this story is going to scary places and it’s very promising. Sarah Paulson, Leslie Grossman and Macaulay Culkin also appear in the show this season. The second half of Double Feature remains a mystery but the promotional art suggests that there may be little green aliens from outer space involved.

GRACE AND FRANKIE (Netflix)

Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin’s late-in-life Odd Couple sitcom has returned to the streaming service with four new episodes from its seventh and final season. And though it’s only a glimpse because production on the series shut down during the pandemic, this show is comfort food for a lot of people.

As a refresher, the show is about two very different women, a hippie and a cold CEO who moved in together in their late 70s after their husbands came out of the closet. Because of the advanced ages of stars Fonda, Tomlin, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston, the remaining episodes of the show will likely drop sometime in 2022. But it’s good to get even a little bit of Grace and Frankie in all its silly, corny glory.

They’re not trying to reinvent the wheel with this show, which has occasionally gone to sexier, edgier places than other sitcoms about seniors, but it never dwells in unsafe topics for very long. And Fonda and Tomlin have terrific chemistry, honed over years of collaboration and friendship.

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MUSIC

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Busy musician-producer Steve Berlin on Los Lobos’ Native Sons

So, we knew we were going to have to do something (“Bluebird”/”For What It’s Worth”) by them.

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

S

OME BANDS STRICTLY AVOID cover tunes in favor of their own compositions, but Los Lobos has included rousing versions of their favorite songs since their inception in East Los Angeles in the ‘70s. Infusing elements of ‘50s rock and roll, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, Tex-Mex and traditional, the band gained international acclaim - and a number one hit - in 1987 with their remake of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba.”

Since 1984, founding members David Hidalgo, Louie Pérez, Cesar Rosas and Conrad Lozano have been joined by saxophonist-keyboardist-producer Steve Berlin. A fellow vet of the gritty Hollywood music scene, Berlin was formerly in The Blasters, Flesheaters and Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs. His list of production and session credits include a wide-ranging array of artists, including R.E,M., The Replacements, Willie Nelson and many others - including Los Lobos.

On Native Sons, the band revisits songs from their favorite Southern California influences. The result is a golden suite of covers that narrate a genre-defying love letter to their musical predecessors.

Released in late July by New West, the collection pays homage to a diverse set of artists and composers, from “Love Special Delivery,” originally released in 1966 by Chicano rockers Thee Midniters through the sole original title track.

INsite spoke with Berlin by phone from Denver, Colorado.

I hear that during the pandemic, you’ve been trying out some new techniques on your instrument. How’s it coming along?

Yeah, I made a pandemic wishlist of things that I’d like to come out with on the other side, and one of those things was proper saxophone technique. So my new techniques are taking lessons and learning how to actually play it, instead of just pretending I know what I’m doing. I have a teacher I do online lessons with and so far, so good. If you’re right-handed, it’s like learning to write with your left hand - more or less. Muscle memory is a hard thing to retrain.

It sounds like you’ve made the most of your down-time, but then you’re usually juggling a number of projects.

I like being overwhelmed, I guess. It’s kind of like my normal state. So, that’s where I find myself most comfortable.

Besides the lessons I’ve been producing several recording projects remotely. If you’d asked me in 2019 if it was possible to produce a record from a distance, I would’ve said no, you have to be there.

But it’s definitely possible. I’m in Denver right now, working on a record for Taylor Scott, a very talented, blues-influenced guitar player. I’ve got a project with John Doe coming sometime later this year on Fat Possum, a new album with Southern Avenue from Memphis, then Fastball, I think.

Were the Native Sons sessions completed before the shutdown?

We started February of last year, so it was just as all the craziness was really starting. We had a pretty busy touring PG 10 • September 2021 • insiteatlanta.com

Lalo was obviously an influence, as well.

Oh, Lalo Guerrero was a huge influence.

He wrote “Los Chucos Suaves” and he was a mentor, an influence and a good friend.

We did a children’s record with him many years ago and we knew that one way or another, we’re going to have to do a Lalo song on this album. Likewise, War. We knew we couldn’t do a record about L.A. without doing a War song. So we included “The World Is A Ghetto.” Some of the stuff, we knew we wouldn’t be able to face ourselves if we didn’t at least try.

It’s very cool to see (The Premiers / Don & Dewey hit) “Farmer John” in the track list.

We’ve been doing that song forever. It’s been on the edges of the set list from the very beginning, the first days of the band.

So that was an easy choice for us, really.

I DON’T THINK I’VE EVER BEEN OFF TOUR FOR THIS LONG. I DIDN’T THINK I’D MISS IT SO MUCH. EVEN THE THINGS YOU TAKE FOR GRANTED, I CAN’T WAIT TO DO AGAIN. SEEING THE BAND, PLAYING SHOWS, SEEING OUR FRIENDS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. schedule planned at the time, so we thought doing a record of covers would be something we could do in drips and drabs.

That way, we wouldn’t need the intense sort of non-stop focus that doing a record with originals generally requires. Then COVID arrived and suddenly it made even more sense, because we could just do a song or two at a time, which is kind of how we ended up doing it. Obviously, we shut down in March like everything else.

Then in June, we started just doing two, three, four days, more or less, each month.

We have a nice, big studio in East L.A. that offers plenty of distance so we don’t have to be on top of one another. We had complete, total freedom to just hand it in whenever we felt like we were done.

When you started the project, was the whole Southern California theme already in mind?

When we started talking about it back in 2019, it was more like, ‘It might be time to do a covers record.’ Fans seemed to like the idea of it, but a generic covers record wouldn’t have been a compelling story. Then the idea of doing it basically as our love letter to Los Angeles emerged as an idea.

Did everyone bring in the songs they specifically wanted to do?

When we did the Christmas record 2019, we reached out to friends and people we knew that were aficionados of both Latin and Christmas music. For that record, we had over 100 songs to pick from.

We sort of did the same thing with this one. I reached out to a bunch of record collector friends, people that I knew would understand what we were trying to do and what songs that we could put our stamp on. I think we probably had 100 or so various songs of different vibes, Latin, R & B, soul, just everything under the sun.

It was a freeflowing process.

It started with just listening to a bunch of stuff.

Then other ideas popped in, like the Jackson Browne song (“Jamaica Say You Will”). Then, Conrad [Lozano] is the world’s biggest, or at least the band’s biggest, Beach Boys fan.

He was adamant that we do a Beach Boys song. We probably weren’t going to get out of the room alive unless we did something.

I think “Sail On, Sailor” came out great. I knew it was going to be a bit of a lift, but I think we pulled it off.

Stylistically, it’s all over the place. But that’s to be expected from Los Lobos.

We wanted it that way, to highlight both the variety of stuff that came out of L.A. and the stuff that influenced and informed us. Buffalo Springfield was a huge influence on the guys growing up.

This album’s cover might be the band’s best since ‘Wolf. It’s cool to see you standing in the middle of the shot, that’s new.

You know, I mentioned that to my wife.

It’s the first time I’ve ever been in the middle of any picture in 40 years. It’s weird, I’m not used to it. That was our photographer’s idea. I would always be on one corner or the other. I much prefer being in the back than the front, but he stuck me there. I just saw the vinyl version and the whole package looks great.

Hopefully you’ll bring some along for the merch table when the tour resumes. Are you ready to get back out there?

I don’t think I’ve ever been off tour for this long. I didn’t think I’d miss it so much.

Even the things you take for granted, I can’t wait to do again. Seeing the band, playing shows, seeing our friends across the country. It feels strange to be away from it. So yeah, I’m really looking forward to being back on the road. I’m excited to tour this album. These songs are really fun to play live - once we learned how to play them. My road muscles got pretty flabby in the last year and a half. We’ll see how long it takes to get back to it. There are, whatever you call them, ‘gig muscles’ that you have to sort of build back up to the proper level of road intensity. So it might take a minute or two, but I know we’ll get there. I don’t think half the guys in the band have even opened their instrument cases much for a year, so it’s not going to be as tough for me as it’s going to be for them, I’m sure.

Well, sometimes those raw moments become part of the most memorable shows.

(Laughs) Sometimes, yes. Maybe not all the time.

You’re all pros. I cannot imagine anyone in that camp turning in a bad performance.

Well, if that’s what you think, I’m not here to tell you there’s no Santa Claus, so just keep believing that. I won’t bust your bubble.

Native Sons is available wherever new music is sold and from direct from the label at newwestrecords.com.

MUSIC

CRUZADOS CONTROL

Thirty years later, L.A. Band Reemerges with a New Album and Line-Up

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

H

ARD ROCKING CRUZADOS, A band that emerged in the mid-‘80s from the ruins of the harsh Los Angeles punk scene is back. Three decades after their second record was released, a new line-up revives the legacy of the group with She’s Automatic!

Led by original co-founder-bassist-songwriter Tony Marsico, the band now includes members of fellow scene vets Little Caesar. Vocalist Ron Young, guitarist Loren Molinare, guitarist Mark Tremalgia and drummer Rob Klonel round out the line-up.

The new album also features an impressive guestlist, including appearances from John Doe (X), Dave Alvin (Blasters), David Hildago and Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) and Melanie Vammen (Muffs,Pandoras), among others.

Multi-instrumentalist/author Marsico - an indemand session musician and popular sideman for artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Matthew Sweet and Willie Nelson - spoke with INsite from his car on the 101 freeway, enroute to a recording gig in L.A. It’s rare to revisit a band 30 years later. How did you decide to revitalize Cruzados?

It’s not like I’d thought about doing it for years because I really hadn’t. I never thought I would.

But last year, I was kind of losing my mind at home, just like everyone else. I started writing some songs and playing them live on Facebook, which, for me, was torture but I did it. Then, before ya knew it, I had all these new songs. So I was like, what the hell, I’m going to just see if I could resurrect a few older songs, too. I got a little nostalgic because I hadn’t played my own songs in years. I dug out some of the old Cruzados stuff and that’s what really sparked my interest to try and write again. I’ve been writing all along, but to try and write in that vein and get something going was a real challenge.

Obviously in that vein, it had to rock; it couldn’t be the typical singer-songwriter fare.

My idea was it’s got to rock hard or why am I doing it? I didn’t want a soft, weepy album during the pandemic. But I had a lot of weird feelings in my head. I had a lot of aggression as well so I channeled the aggression rather than the bummer part, and pushed that onto the songs.

I thought, maybe let’s just go in and get this aggression out. That’s the kind of stuff I like to listen to anyway.

So you decided early on to do it as a band record instead of a solo project?

Oh yeah. I’m a band guy since day one. I love being in a band, playing live gigs or just hanging out with my buddies. So whenever I can choose to do anything that’s a band project, I’ll choose that any day over solo stuff.

Was recording those aggressive songs a cathartic process?

I’ve got to tell you, it was really healing to go in the studio and track these things. It felt so good.

I just turned my damn amp up to 10 and played really hard with a bunch of guys who are very like-minded.

How did you get together with the Little Caesar guys?

Little Caesar was happening on the L.A. scene in the early ‘80s. They were a great rock band.

I kept my eye on those guys, checking them out. I became friends with Mark Tremalgia, the

slide guitar player who I wound up eventually recruiting for this band. We kept in touch and, before you know it, I was like, ‘Hey man, you want to do some playing with me?’ And then it spread because I knew the guys. They were very close friends with our old drummer Chalo back in the day. So I knew these guys could rock. I knew what they were capable of and I knew their blues and Southern rock influences. And I knew I could hang with them, which is a really important thing when you’re putting together a band.

Resurrecting a band that a lot of people thought was gone forever is a major challenge.

Well, I thought that too, honestly. The Cruzados tale is a sad one because we lost two of our members due to a lot of ugly circumstances.

Chalo Quintana and Marshall Rohner, our drummer, our guitar player. How do you resurrect that kind of band? It’s very tough to fill in those kinds of shoes, with founding members.

Our singer, Tito Larriva, he lives in Austin and he’s been busy with his own band, Tito & Tarantula, for years. I played with them back in the day. But it’s been years since we’ve really done anything together. I was hoping to get a band that was right here in Los Angeles. So if I wanted to go do a gig tonight, we could. But it is crazy how it all came together. Honestly, the Little Caesar guys are responsible for making it happen. All the pieces came together and fell in place faster than I could imagine.

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How does it feel to have been in the original band and now you’re the leader of the new edition?

Well, the truth is, there was some pressure when I got it going because you don’t want to let down your old fans or people that knew the band. Nor in my mind, would I ever want to let down my fallen brothers who are no longer with us. I had to get this record right and it had to rock. It really feels good to bring these songs back, knowing that I’m dedicating it all to my brothers.

Thirty years makes a lot of difference - in taste, approach and style.

Yeah, my musical direction has changed a lot in 30 years. It’s gone toward a heavier blues feel.

It’s still rock but with new influences. I really wanted to work them into this record. That’s the thing, when you bring something back like this, I don’t want to be a tribute band. But it’s funny, had it been a tribute, I would probably be working a lot more because that seems to be all people are booking these days. They’re working all the time, but I’m not going that route. I’m not trying to duplicate the Cruzados sound from back in the day. For us, it’s all about trying to create new sounds and new songs.

She’s Automatic! is now available from most music outlets or straight from the band at www. cruzadosband.com.

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MUSIC

LET IT ROCK

Willie Nile on his latest release, The Day The Earth Stood Still

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

T

I’ve wanted to put out some positive stuff.

The new one is just a reaction to what everybody’s going through this year, not just here in New York but everywhere.

HE DAY THE EARTH STOOD Still is the title of a classic sci-fi film but it’s also the name of the 14th studio album from veteran New York rocker New York has been quite the muse for your Willie Nile. On the new album, Nile is not work throughout your career. After forty only describing the mood of his beloved years, it seems you continue to find new New York City in the eerie throes of the perspectives of it and fresh ways to be pandemic, he’s speaking about the general inspired by it. temperature of the world in nightmarish, It’s still teaching me things. I love the code-red crisis mode, circa January 2021. city. It fascinates me to no end and next But he’s a rock and roller at heart, so year, it’ll be 50 years, coming and going. even though the message is You see the good, the bad and crucial, the new songs offer ugly - and the beautiful I HOPE TO the a kinetic catharsis with equal and the not so beautiful. I love does of humor and pathos in the MAKE PEOPLE the cosmopolitan nature of lyrics. The 11-song set yearns and I could stand here STOP AND it.on You for “Sanctuary” as it details the my corner, on MacDougal “Way of the Heart,” cries out THINK AND and Bleecker, and in just a few for swift justice with “Blood On minutes, we’d hear four or five Your Hands” and salutes the late MAYBE ENJOY different languages from people Congressman John Lewis with THEMSELVES walking by. I dig that. it has an the stirring “The Justice Bell.”

FOR A WHILE. energy that I feed off and it just Rollicking tracks, including continues to inspire me.

“Off My Medication” and “Where There’s A Willie, There’s A What is the vibe there now? Last time Way” cleverly balance the set, featuring we talked, you said it was eerie because the self-depreciating humor and astute everything was closed down and pretty observational skills of the Buffalo-born much dead. singer-songwriter. With able support from Last year, it was totally haunting, totally his band, Nile and company remain on top eerie, just like The Walking Dead. Now of their game, riding an impressive curve it’s much, much more vibrant. People are of creativity that began in 1980 and kicked out and about, the streets are littered with into overdrive in 2006. the restaurants that are build out into the Hoarse on the morning after a marathon street, where cars would park. They’ve built CD release show in NYC, Nike spoke with these open-air, covered for rain-type spaces INsite from his home in Greenwich Village. and some of them are very elaborate. At night, you can hear the buzz of the city, How was the show last night at City the horns, the motorcycles, people talking, Winery? laughing, partying. It’s alive and well again.

It was really epic. I was concerned, with But people are cautious and still wear masks COVID picking up, some audiences are when you go into places, but it’s alive. It’s getting more squeamish, careful about our job as neighbors to try to be conscious coming out and the hurricane here. I of each other, be conscientious and try to checked in with my agent and checked in protect our families and our neighbors. I’m with the venue, and they said they would doing my best to keep my end up with not go ahead with it. A lot of people came out, spreading this thing, you know? and the band and I, we played for over two hours. You can hear it in my voice, I’m sure.

Let’s get back to the album a bit. You’ve It was one of the best shows we’ve ever said the late Congressman John Lewis done, ever. Played the new album top to inspired a track bottom and a song or two from New York on the record.

At Night.

Yeah, “The Justice Bell.” I Was it recorded or filmed for posterity? had the good There’s a guy making a documentary fortune to meet about me and he was there filming, so we Congressman got the audio as well as the film. I think Lewis about these are glory days for me in that I feel so three years ago. comfortable with the band on stage and in He was in New the studio, with my writing. I can’t control York to attend a anything about radio, the record business birthday party or whatever, but can control the songs I of Congressman write, the records I make and the shows we Joe Crowley, do. Since 2006, that’s been my entire focus. who’s been a I don’t force these records out. They just longtime friend occur to me. of mine. It was a birthday party at You’re definitely on a roll and this is the a club, Southside perfect follow-up to New York At Night.

Johnny was the band and Caroline Kennedy It really feels like it is the right thing for was there. A few people came up from the the times. But these are dark times. The Senate and Congress. Congressman John records, I think they’re full of light. They’re Lewis walks in the room and I almost fell upbeat, they’re positive. There’s nittyon the floor. gritty and there’s “Blood On Your Hands” and some heavy stuff but ultimately the He was an inspirational man. After bottom line is they’re feel-good rock and meeting him, it felt like you’d visited with roll records. Everybody’s going through some sort of royalty, because he was a this nightmare of a pandemic and political true icon. confusion, people are not getting along, so

PG 12 • September 2021 • insiteatlanta.com

That’s well put. He was a national treasure. It was great to just shake his hand and to thank him for his efforts to try to make this a better country, to try to make it more fair for everyone. He was just a guy trying to do the right thing. When he spoke, I was like five feet from him and watching him and I couldn’t believe my eyes. So that inspired the song. A friend of mine in DC got it to his former Chief of Staff and he will get it to the family, which I’m very happy about. Yeah, you’re right, after you spoke with him, you felt lifted up, cleansed.

The good thing about that meeting is you turned that moment into a piece of art. Not only did you feel good after speaking with him, you made a permanent record of the event.

I’m so proud of it. I sent it to Noel Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary. We did all a WhyHunger event back in November last year online, so I met him through that.

On the day I wrote it, I sent it to him and he said it reminded him of “If I Had A Hammer.” Ironically, the day we recorded it, was January 6th of this year. We were in the studio recording it and people kept coming in and saying, ‘You’ve got to watch what’s going on TV. There’s a riot in the

Capitol.’ And I went, ‘We’re too busy. Sorry, we’re recording this song.’ I had to get that song down because I wanted to share the message. Plus, as much as I love this country, we can’t control what anybody else does. We can only control what we each of us does, so we have to make it count.

You’re really adhering to the folk tradition of inspirational, proactive storytelling.

Well yeah, that’s the ultimate goal. But for me, I think all music is folk music.

This is a pretty rocking record in that it’s rough, but I do love the tradition of writing about what’s around you, what’s going on in the world, in one form or another.

It can take the form of a funny song, like “Off My Medication,” which is totally making fun of the surreal-ness of it all in an upbeat, rocking manner. It’s just fun to sing because it’s like Chuck Berry meeting Napoleon XIV. But I really do agree with the whole folk thing. I dig the mindset of accountability on a personal level.

Ultimately, you write stuff for different reasons. I never was interested in being an American Idol. It’s the music that I love.

It’s the songs that I’m here to stand up for and the message they bring. And if they rock, then that’s even better! I hope to make people stop and think and maybe enjoy themselves for a while. I’m definitely not up on stage, going, ‘listen to me, me, me.’ No, in my case, it’s ‘listen to this song, this song, this song.’ That’s what it’s all about. When the song is there, then it’s my job to just let it rock.

The Day The Earth Stood Still is available from most music outlets and direct from the artist at willienile.com.

MUSIC

THE AGE OF GRACE

The 5th Dimension’s Florence LaRue Embraces the Wisdom of Her Years

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

I

N JUNE, “SUMMER OF SOUL” brought a fresh new wave of attention to the unifying message of The 5th Dimension. The Questlove-directed film presented highlights of an historic 1969 performance from the band.

From 1967 through 1973, the original line-up released a string of anthemic pop and R&B hits including “Wedding Bell Blues,” “One Less Bell to Answer,” “Stoned Soul Picnic” and their best-known hits “Up,Up and Away” and “Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.” The band sold over 35 million albums, were awarded six Grammys and toured the world.

Today, the “champagne soul” quartet is still anchored by co-founder Florence LaRue. In addition to her busy touring schedule, she has just published her first book. Grace in Your Second Act: A Guide to Aging Gracefully finds the 77-year-old singer reflecting on her career and positively embracing her wellearned seniority.

The book is a thoroughly enjoyable manual for finding faith, freedom and beauty within the aging process. Along the way, she offers tips on everything from diet to decluttering, presenting a wholesome look at life from the unique perspective of an internationally known recording artist and Christian greatgrandmother.

LaRue recently spoke with INsite by phone from her home in southern California.

Thanks for writing such a positive, uplifting book. Even an old, jaded guy, like myself, can enjoy it.

Well, thank you. I’ve been getting very good response from it. Surprisingly, although I wrote it with seniors in mind, especially women, a lot of men have been telling me that they have learned a lot from it.

Music fans will certainly enjoy it, because you’ve included a wealth of your own personal entertainment history, as well. I learned a lot about you that I didn’t know.

Well, I have a few more secrets that I’ll share in my autobiography, but you can’t kiss and tell all at once. I’m really pleased that a lot of the young people are enjoying the book. Because, as you know, when you’re young, you really don’t think about getting older and becoming mature because you’re so busy enjoying life. But we have to prepare for our senior years by taking care of our bodies, minds and souls. That’s why I wrote the book, it’s all about being healthy - mentally, physically and spiritually. If you take care of all of that when you’re younger, you’ll have a much better ‘second act.’

Absolutely. Walk us through the process of the project. Was this book a product of the pandemic when you had some downtime from the road?

Well yes and no. I’ve been working on it for about six years. People would often say, ‘How do you have such energy at your age, and what do you do to look the way you do? You should write a book.’ I would always say, ‘Oh, I don’t need to write a quote, unquote, beauty book. There’s so many out there already.’ If I was going to write a book, I know I wanted it to be something different and fun but would

also bless people. Then with the pandemic, we weren’t on the road and I finally had time to really focus on it.

set goals in life as it goes along. Sometimes people ask me when I’m going to retire.

But I have no plans on retiring. At some point, I may change my career and do more speaking or writing. I hope to be active and to be productive for as long as the Lord lets me live.

As you said, when it comes to aging in general, it’s easy to not think about it. Or maybe we just don’t want to think about it. But there’s usually a wake-up call at some point.

The core message of the book, which is You’re right and I definitely had an inspirational on many levels, is to find a awakening about it. I reason for being and stick remember it clearly. with it. It’s not only about MUSIC IS JUST ONE WAY TO SEE finding that inner light One day I was washing THE WAYS IN WHICH PEOPLE and embracing it but my face and I looked in FROM DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES, maintaining a healthy the mirror. ‘Wow. I’m not a girl anymore. I’m DIFFERENT RACES, DIFFERENT lifestyle in order to fuel the a woman.’ It seemed like LANGUAGES AND YES, DIFFERENT machine. Your tips about it was a very sudden AGES, CAN WORK TOGETHER FOR maintaining a proper realization. There’s a THE BEST OF EVERYTHING. BUT diet, for example, are saying, and I’ve realized for any age.

NO MATTER WHAT WE’RE DOING, encouraging it truly is a fact: the older I can’t tell anyone how OR HOW OLD WE ARE, WE STILL to eat, because everyone’s you get, the faster time NEED TO LEARN TOLERANCE AND body is different. Everyone flies. I’ve been singing for LOVE FOR EACH OTHER. over 50 years now. But needs different things but we can’t fear the process.

I can suggest certain ways It’s just a time to realize your blessings. You of eating to stay healthy. For instance, I eat can worry about it or you can say, ‘Well thank organic. I’m not going to preach about it, but I God we’ve lived as long as we have and stayed think t would help everyone and it’s easy to do. as healthy as we are.’

The food we eat is just another way of staying connected, just like creating music or being That is a decidedly positive way to look at creative in any other way. It all works together it because people are often frightened by for our well-being. the prospect of getting older - and what comes next.

Speaking of music, one of the tips you offer on I truly believe that if you have a faith base, no staying connected, being present and remaining matter what religion you are, and you continue vital is to ‘listen to today’s music’ - whether you to live life and help other people, without being like it or not. That really resonates. self-centered, then you really don’t have to fear Unfortunately, I don’t know as much as I aging. Because, let’s face it, we certainly can’t would like to know about today’s music. But stop it.

I listen to it so I’ll know, first of all, how the young people are thinking. Because music People have tried, but it just doesn’t work, really will show you what’s going on in does it? people’s minds. Music is such a vital mode of Well, you know, some people just don’t expression, whether it’s thinking about who’s realize they can still be productive at any listening to it, actually making it and who it age. I went to see Tony Bennett a while is ultimately influencing. I’ve realized that back. He was 90 years old. He performed musicians have such a great responsibility a show at the Hollywood Bowl and he was with their talents, because it really, really fantastic! But you have to just continue to affects people. In so many ways.

Thanks to “Summer Of Soul” and your ongoing version of the band, the music of the 5th Dimension has been reaching a whole new generation of listeners.

I’m so blessed to have been a part of that music. And I am very proud of the fact that The 5th Dimension today, even though I’m the only original member, we still use those same arrangements. We still sing the music as it was performed back when it was new. People come to hear those songs to remember. I know they don’t want to hear an updated version or a rap version of their favorite 5th Dimension song.

You’re recreating the songs without recycling them.

Right, it’s nostalgia for the people who are listening. They always come up after the show, ‘Oh, don’t stop.’ I won’t be doing this forever, but I’ll be doing it for as long as the Lord allows. I believe our music painted a beautiful picture and because of that, it made memories.

I suppose with the young people, their music will paint a memory, also. Now whether it’s a pleasant memory or not, that we don’t know.

But I do think it’s good to have an open mind about every kind of music, as I said, to at least listen and see where people are coming from.

It circles right back to the message of maintaining an open line of communication.

Exactly, music is just one way to see the ways in which people from different personalities, different races, different languages and yes, different ages, can work together for the best of everything.

But no matter what we’re doing, or how old we are, we still need to learn tolerance and love for each other.

Do you think that’s possible in today’s segmented, often acrimonious world?

Oh yes, I think it’s definitely possible If I didn’t think so, I would be miserable. But we have to set an example for each other to follow.

We have to give our grace to other people.

Grace in Your Second Act: A Guide to Aging Gracefully, published by WestBow Press, is currently available from most major retailers. insiteatlanta.com • September 2021 • PG 13

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Joey Cape

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(Fat Wreck Chords) With the most apt title of an album so far this year, Lagwagon frontman Joey Cape gets somber of his latest solo outing.

Cape and the rest of Lagwagon were touring Australia when the global pandemic started last year. The band barely made it out of the country and back home before borders locked down. Cape was quarantining in a hotel and left with a lot of time to think. He was recently separated from his wife; his father had just passed away and now his livelihood – touring as a musician -was on hold for the foreseeable future.

That set up goes a long way to explain the melancholy surrounding a lot of A Good Year To Forget, felt from the opening title track and throughout. His most personal record to date, it was written and mostly recorded via a home studio setup in his parent’s house. The album serves as an aural journal of his past year and his struggles with what he was going through emotionally.

Songs like “The Poetry In Our Mistakes” and “We Might Be Wrong,” are raw and possess a vulnerability that is both beautiful and heart wrenching. More so than almost anything he has done beforeThe mood of this record can be difficult to get into at times but is well worth the effort as A Good Year To Forget is ultimately one of Cape’s most consistently profound records so far.

(Transmit Sound) Much like its predecessor, Electro Melodier— the latest from Son Volt—is overtly political compared to more subtle, earlier efforts, and rightfully so, given the past four-and-a-half years.

Though expectedly moody and somber (see the last sentence for an explanation), it also happens to be one of the band’s strongest releases in a decade. The album kicks off with the Tom Petty-ish “Reverie,” before slipping into the more bluesy “Arkey Blue” (naturally), a song focused on the increasing devastation brought on by climate change.

But songwriter and frontman Jay Farrar really excels when he turns his focus on more political issues, like on the “Livin’ in the USA,” which, much like Springsteen’s “Born in the USA,” grapples with the current, sad state of the American Dream and how politics has chipped away at the façade. The pandemic and the loneliness and isolation it brought also can be heard throughout the record.

At 14 tracks, the album is a certainly heavy on sorrow and despair and can get a little much at times, while boasting some of the band’s best songwriting. But there are glimpses of optimism here and there, like on “The Globe,” where Farrer focuses on those showing up to protests and forcing politicians and other in places of authority to be accountable.

A Good Year To Forget

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(Primal Beat Records) On their second album, Greg Antista & The Lonely Streets make good on the promise of their 2019 debut, delivering nearly a dozen 2-to3-minute pristine pop punk tracks that manage to eclipse the already impressive output from their first effort.

The band, which already featured former members of Joyride, Foxy, Manic Hispanic, Cadillac Tramps, and The Hangmen, added in veteran SoCal punk guitarist Frank Agnew (The Adolescents, T.S.O.L.) in the interim.

The album opens with “Down on Commonwealth” a song that manages to be both nostalgic about Antista’s own experiences growing up in Southern California and the timely, speaking to the need for police reforms (antagonistic LA cops were part of the hallmark of the 80’s punk scene… and sadly not much has changed).

Like 2019’s Shake, Stomp and Stumble, Under The Neon Heat still retains a bit of the Americana/country influences, especially on songs like the acoustic “Unfinished business” and goofy, but nonetheless stellar closing track, “Carmelita (Warren Does Warren),” a complete overhaul of the Warren Zevon song complete with accordion. The album is a solid step forward for these punk rock vets.

Ten Easy Pieces

(Rum Bar Records) It seems pretty fortuitous that Ontario’s Danny Laj discovered his love of music via The Beatles at the impressionable age of nine.

Because much like that Liverpool band, Laj and his group The Looks, manage to wind in and out of genres and musical styles on the brilliant Ten Easy Pieces, not sticking to a strict template.

Though power pop is at the core of the record, there are flourishes of psychedelic, garage rock and straight up pop wrapped over the dozen songs that make up the album.

The opening, “Smile,” sounding like The Posies and Fastball trying to outdo each other writing the most infectious pop song, is a brilliant intro to what follows. And “You And Me,” the record’s first single, is just as catchy.

The rest of the record is nearly as great.

From the more traditional, almost Americana -tinged “Don’t Keep Me Guessing,” the garage rock of “I Play Guitar,” the driving “Who’s Picking On You,” and the slightly mellow “In Other Words,” there is no reason to not love this record. Remarkably catchy without being insipid, Ten Easy Pieces is stripped of all pretentions and simply a fun way to spend the next 30 minutes of your life.

insiteatlanta.com • September 2021 • PG 15

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