THE SUBDUDES; press photo
The Subdudes and their well-seasoned New Orleans sound makes a return to Southern California playing The Coach House Jan. 11, The Rose Jan. 12, and Sweetwater Union High School Jan. 13.
Lead bass player Tim Cook says he’s especially looking forward to returning to California to effectively end the group’s belated leave of absence from the area.
“We haven’t played Southern California for several years so we’re really looking forward to coming back, especially to places like The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano because we had a lot of fun always playing at that venue.”
Founded in 1987 in New Orleans, The Subdudes still continue to play just as passionately as they did during their debut at the famous Louisiana music venue Tipitina’s. Cook though has been with the group since 2014 but has had no issue fitting in quickly.
“We’ve been having a lot of fun playing these last couple three years. Everybody’s getting along, you know, when you’re in a band, that’s always a good thing. So we’re having a good time playing.”
Ask Cook what his favorite places to play at are, Cook takes absolutely no sides. Wherever he and his still vibrant group of bandmates play is always fun.
“No matter where we’re playing, we’re real appreciative to the venue owners and the venues that have survived over the years to especially give us older guys, and our fans who are older, a place to go play and a place for our friends and fans to come and hear us.”
The Subdudes, a name play on the word “subdued,” are well-known for their unique take on roots rock. Blending the blues of both New Orleans and Louisiana, folk, country, soul and gospel, the group can best be described as an auditory sampler plate of all the best song stylings often associated with the Southern United States.
Having grown up listening to such genres, Cook says that it seems natural for him and his bandmates to not discriminate in finding a way to streamline such stylings into a deftly composed combination others can enjoy.
“When we write a song I don’t think we’re actually thinking about, ‘well, we’re going to make this one a country song’ or ‘we’re going to make this one a soul song or a rock song.’ Some of our songs rock out, some of them lean into country, and some have a gospel tinge to them just because of the singing.”
It’s an amalgamation remaining just as fresh with concertgoers as when first heard back when The Subdudes started playing it. Even today the group thrives off live concert events which remain just as lively, energetic and motivating as when the group started playing in 1987.
Such a good vibe doesn’t just go toward concertgoers but also reverts back towards the band as Cook points out.
“When I get off stage and somebody comes up and says ‘oh, thank you so much. You made me so happy tonight,’ I just feel like it’s such a blessing that we get to do this still. Even after all these years we can still go out and make people happy. That’s our job.”
It’s an occupation that never gets old to Cook and his fellow Subdudes who continually look forward to sharing their unique brand of music to concertgoers. Cook doesn’t discriminate in regards to the specialness of each of their live appearances.
“All the shows we do, from the smallest venue we play, like a little listening room, all the way up to something like Jazz Fest where there’s like 50,000, I just think there’s no one particular show or place. They’re all special to us.”
Even while the present keeps the Subdudes busy, Cook says he and his bandmates are already looking towards the future. 2018 he says will see an expanded set of songs played at each concert.
“We’ve got 10 CDs to pick from and a few handful of songs we haven’t been doing that we’re looking at bringing into our song list.”
But what Subdude fans can look forward to most of all is a brand new album: their latest one since 2009. Cook says that it will be much more unique than their previous releases however.
“We’re actually looking at recording a couple of covers. It’s something that we’ve always wanted to do: make a 45 of a couple of songs from groups that influenced us that we can put our swing on.”
But for now, Cook simply says that concertgoers to their upcoming shows can look forward to one thing in particular.
“Just a lot of enthusiasm,” he says with a joyful laugh.