People's Blues of Richmond

People’s Blues of Richmond brings a carnival-like mayhem to their dark, blues-infused psychedelia. Their new album, Good Time Suicide, is a study inexcess, brimming with ballads of drugs, vice and murder that sonically recall early Led Zeppelin, only weirder and with a modern sheen. Word is starting to spread about the manic intensity of the band’s live performances as theyburn up the road in support of Good Time Suicide, sharing bills with a diverse collection of bands—from Ghostland Observatory and Black Joe Lewis to Galactic and Flogging Molly.

People’s Blues co-founders and lifelong friends Tim Beavers (lead guitar/vox) and Matt Volkes (bass, vox) began playing music together in college as a way to grieve the loss of a mutual friend. Those bleak, drug-fueled days pushed the two into a maelstrom of songwriting and camaraderie that led to their debut LP, Hard-On Blues. Recorded in just two days, the record teems with urgency, transcendence and raw, primal emotion. The band wasted no time in hitting the road behind the release, galloping offon a year-and-a-half-long endurance test of live dates. During this tour, original drummer Raphael Katchinoff introduced the band to Tommy Booker, who left behind his more subdued life in NYC to play keys with People’s Blues on the road, and write and record with them back home in Richmond.

The band’s sophomore release, Good Time Suicide, came together in a time offlux. Busy with new side projects and tired of the constant touring, Booker and Katchinoff decided to leave People’s Blues as soon as the record was finished. Undaunted, Beavers and Volkes pressed on, paring down to a three-piece and bringing on local hotshot Neko Williams (son of Drummie Zeb of legendary reggae band The Wailers) as their new drummer.

“It was a wild time,” Volkes says, “because we were simultaneously practicing with Neko and recording with our old drummer, sometimes on the same day.”

Good Time Suicide was recorded and produced by Adrian Olsen (Futurebirds, Steve Wynn) at Montrose Recording in Richmond on the exact same handmade ’68 Flickinger board used to record T. Rex’s Futuristic Dragon.

“There was definitely a vibe to the sessions,” Beavers says. “We had the songs down so well that we could’ve easily nailed them all in one take, but instead we took the time try new things—space-echo on the drums, layering multiple amps to get just the right sound. And if you got frustrated you could justwalk out behind the studio and chop some wood.”

Good Time Suicide is a debauched album wrapped in an ecstatic, celebratory delivery, lead track “Cocaine” spilling forth witha raw, rootsy gypsy/klezmer feel. “I’d been off of drugs for six months,” Beaverssays, “and I wanted to write a tongue-in-cheek song about being strung out. For percussion we pounded a steel chain on the bass drum and banged on some pottery we found outside.”

“Black Cat” sets pulsing mad-scientist organ to the narrative of two addictsslowly tearing each other apart, while on “Free Will” and “Nihilist,” the band wrestles with the ideas of destiny and futility. “I just screamed at my ceiling with my acoustic guitar while writing ‘Free Will,’” Volkes says, “and in that same vein, ‘Nihilist’ came out like a temper tantrum.”

People’s Blues is currently on the road touring behind Good Time Suicide and has been busy crafting a whole new set of eclectic, blues-infused psych rockers. “It’s working out really well because we all have the same dream,” Neko says. “ We’re hungry for it.”

“It’s more than that even,” Volkes adds. “This band—we look out for each other. If I have a sandwich, Tim and Neko get a bite. It’s like we’re brothers.”

"The whole concept behind People’s Blues of Richmond,” Beavers says, “is that we all struggle, we all experience pain. Life is full of highs and lows, and we all work hard to survive. So we do the only thing we know how—we get out on the road, and we keep moving forward. We become a part of something bigger than ourselves."

Stop Light Observations

Charleston, South Carolina home-grown band Stop Light Observations, also known as SLO, started playing together at the young age of 13 when songwriter/ pianist John-Keith Culbreth asked guitarist Louis Duffie the iconic teenager boy question: “Wanna start a band?”. The duo picked up childhood friends Luke Withers and Will Blackburn to play dem’ drums and sing dem’ songs, and over time added Coleman Sawyer on bass and fiddle and Wyatt Garrey on lead guitar, formulating the power-dynamic six piece rock group that is Stop Light Observations.

Truly one of the most gifted and dynamic bands performing today, SLO’s shows have become an experience both musically and metaphysically, not only delivering a message of community and love through their exquisitely crafted songs that build to explosive crescendos sending sold out crowds into a unified pandemonium, but as well giving every audience member that undeniable sensation that they are part of something much bigger than themselves, much bigger than any individual or any band alone.

SLO seamlessly incorporates numerous genres into their music, best described Transformational Rock with influences of Classic Rock N’ Roll, Indie, Motown, Hip-hop and Folk, Revival, Psychedelic, Garage, and Arena Rock. Their sound is unique and diverse and has attracted audiences from all walks of life. There has never been anything like SLO out there, and that is just the way they like it.