G. Love and Special Sauce Reunite at ‘Home’ – Premiere
Twenty years after the release of G. Love and Special Sauce’s debut album, the original lineup of the revered hip-hop blues trio is back together for a new album, Sugar, and an extensive U.S. tour. In advance of the new studio set, due April 22nd, the group descended on Cadillac Jack’s Diner for this black and white video, which was shot by Grammy-winning director Emmett Malloy. The clip puts the ferocious, harmonica-laden first single “Nothing Quite Like Home” in the company of vintage restaurant booths, a candy machine and a cigar store Indian.
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“I had a good idea for a riff off an old hip hop sample which I changed up, flipped upside down and played with slide guitar,” G. Love tells Rolling Stone of the song. “We cut it live with the trio at Brushfire in L.A. and added the ‘B’ section and drum break. I had been talking to Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons earlier in the summer about working on something and I sent him the instrumental we cut. He penned the lyrics and sent back a real tight demo over the instrumental. Later I added my vocals and got a helping hand from two of my favorite singers – Ben Harper, who just brought the chorus to another level, and Marc Broussard, who added some nice backgrounds.”
Sugar reunites G. Love, upright bassist James “Jimi Jazz” Prescott and drummer Jeffrey “The Houseman” Clemens for the first time in eight years. Tracked largely at Brushfire Records’ “Solar Powered Plastic Plant” studio in L.A., the disc also features Los Lobos guitarist David Hidalgo, current Oscar nominee Merry Clayton – best known for her duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” – and others.
The group’s aforementioned 20th anniversary tour will include a complete performance of G. Love and Special Sauce – including fan favorites like “Cold Beverage” and “Baby’s Got Sauce” – during the first set of the group’s shows. The 45-date U.S. trek gets underway on February 5th at Cincinnati’s 20th Century Theatre and includes stops at Brooklyn Bowl, L.A.’s House of Blues and two nights at the TLA in G. Love’s native Philadelphia before wrapping on April 11th in Boulder. A complete list of tour dates and album preorder information are available here.