Flashback: ROBERT CRAY 2016 interview:

Rhythm n’ Blues is alive and well, just take it from Robert Cray, who will be playing at The Coach House June 11.

Since the 70’s, Cray has been pumpin’ out album after album writing about anything he pleases and has no plans on stopping. From unfriendly radio in the ‘70’s to the Blues Hall of Fame a few years ago, hurtles have been leaped over to get him where he is today.

Concert Guide Live caught up with the guitarist/singer to take a trip down memory lane and to get to know a little more about his musical journey.

CONCERT GUIDE LIVE: Did you ever struggle making music?

ROBERT CRAY: Yeah, it’s a struggle all the time [laughs]. If you didn’t struggle it wouldn’t be any fun.

CGL: You’ve had the opportunity to play with people like Eric Clapton. How was it playing with him?

CRAY: Oh, it was tremendous because I got a chance to talk to him before we got a chance to play together, and I’m a big fan of his. He had listened to our first record, or not our first record but our second album, the album called Bad Influence. He had just recorded a version of it (the title track, “Bad Influence”) when we met for the first time. We started playing together and it was great being on stage with, you know, one of my heroes. It was fantastic.

CGL: Were you nervous the first time?

CRAY: Of course [laughs].

CGL: Do you still get nervous?

CRAY: Yeah, still do.

CGL: What do you do before [a show]?

CRAY: Well the thing is, we like to get together as a band and chat before going on stage until I figure out what I have to work with for the night, to see what my voice is, to get my footing.

CGL: How did you find out you won your first Grammy?

CRAY: Well you don’t know until you’re at the show because you’re nominated. And, um, the first Grammy I won was with Albert Collins as a matter of fact, and a guy named Jonny Coplin. Both were great blues musicians and I had the opportunity to make a record with them called Showdown.

CGL: How’d that feel to win [your first Grammy]?

CRAY: It was great! But I was happier for Albert Collins and Jonny Coplin. Both of whom were another generation ahead of me and have been working for the longest time and they won an award. It was fantastic.

CGL: Did you have a speech prepared?

CRAY: No [laughs]. We just went up on stage and said thank you. And it wasn’t on the main ceremony, but they have a pre-televised ceremony.

CGL: Are you doing anything special with your Grammys? I heard some people drink beer out of them.

CRAY: Do they [laughs]? No, nothing special. It’s upstairs in the office.

CGL: How do you come up with new stuff?

CRAY: Just look at what’s going on around. It can be from politics to what’s happening to the next-door neighbor or pages from my past, that kind of thing.

CGL: All true stories or made up sometimes?

CRAY: Both.

CGL: Did your influence seem to come quick or gradual?

CRAY: It all depends on who you speak to. We started the band to play rhythm and blues when that stuff wasn’t popular on radio and never really has been. We’ve seen fans that have been fans for 20 or 30 years and they’re bringing their kids to the shows and it’s great.

CGL: Have you had any other opportunities like movies or anything?

CRAY: Yeah, I’ve been in movies. I’ve been in “Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll” with Chuck Berry and l and was in the movie “Animal House”.

CGL: You sing a lot about girls and relationships. Do you have your own family now?

CRAY: Yes. It’s great. It’s a wonderful thing.

CGL: Did you meet your wife through music? Was she a fan?

CRAY: Yeah, I met my wife in Tokyo with Eric Clapton. And no, she wasn’t a fan [laughs].

Rev your engines and get ready for Eric Sardinas and Big Motor to rock your world at The Coach House Apr. 13. The blues-rock group that has been touring 250 plus days a year for 18 years now is ready to rock your socks off with their bluesy rock beats and volatile live show.

Concert Guide Live caught up with the Eric Sardinas himself to see what’s going on behind his music.

CONCERT GUIDE LIVE: How long have you been playing music?
ERIC SARDINAS: I’ve been playing since I was six years old.

CGL: Why did you switch your guitar playing from left to right-handed?
ES: Everyone was telling me I was doing it wrong and just tried right-handed.

CGL: Who have been your favorite people to play with?
ES: I’ve played with so many it’s hard to say. I’ve been fortunate enough to play with guys like B.B. King, ZZ Top, Robert Plant. The point is the music is what gets me. It’s my inspiration. The roots of the music is what I fell in love with. That energy is what is fused in blues and rock. To be able to flex that tradition and almost make my own thumbprint between blues and rock is amazing.

CGL: What do you do in your free time?
ES: Well I’m touring 250 plus days a year. But when I do have free time I like to work on my ’58 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. I’m done with it but like to wrench on it once in a while. Besides that, I write, sleep, and recuperate.

CGL: What is your favorite place to play live?
ES: Depends on the energy of the crowd which venue I like. What I get back is magic, literally.

CGL: What are your favorite songs to play live?
ES: My favorite live songs are just what I make up on the spot. There’s a kinda magic in doing it on the spot.

CGL: Do you have a go to guitar you play?
ES: Yeah, I have my number one and number two. I have Isabella, my “Brown Dog”. I have about 6,000 plus shows. The other is La Pistola. It’s a custom resonator, the first signature model.

CGL: Do you still get nervous at shows?
ES: I would worry if I ever did not get nervous. I always want to give it my best. I never want to be jaded. It would go against all the things I fell in love with in music. Live shows are like a cyclone. It’s my aim. I breathe it and live it. It’s everything to me. To be bored of that magic would be a sin [laughs].

CGL: What do you do to prepare for a show?
ES: I like to get centered. I close out everything and clear the mechanisms and get centered and free and it begins.

CGL: Who is someone you’d like to play with live?
ES: Dave Grohl. I would love to tear it up with him.

CGL: What do you like most about being on tour?
ES: Travel and go where the music takes us and see the world. It’s very fulfilling. Being able to come full circle and be fulfilled.

CGL: What other kind of genres of music do you like?
ES: I like gospel, soul and Motown, funk, jazz, and rock-n-roll. Pretty much everything.

When looking for a healthy musical playlist, there is nothing like the classics. The Rascals easily fall into this category with their string of 60s hit singles such as the number-one hit “Groovin’”. “It’s A Beautiful Morning,” “Good Lovin’,” along with numerous others, filled the airwaves and featured vocalist Felix Cavaliere’s blue-eyed soul. He will be performing the all-time hits at The Coach House Sep. 10.

From the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, to the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, to the Grammy Hall of Fame, and the Hammond Organ Hall of Fame, Felix Cavaliere has been doing something right in his 50 years in the business. Concert Guide Live had a chance to talk with him and see what he’s been up to aside from the inductions.

CONCERT GUIDE LIVE: What is blue-eyed soul?

FELIX CAVALIERE: I think it’s a way of people saying there’s white people who sing R & B. It was penned when The Righteous Brothers were around.

CGL: Why did you start making music? What inspired you?

CAVALIERE: As I became about Junior High School age, a friend of mine mentioned a radio show from Cleveland called Allen Freed’s Rock ‘n Roll show and I heard what was the beginning of Rock ‘n Roll music. And it just spoke to me.

CGL: Who gave you your first instrument?

CAVALIERE: Well, actually it was a Baldwin piano and I guess it came from my mom.

CGL: How old were you when you heard yourself on the radio?

CAVALIERE: Oh my goodness I think I was like 20. But I remember it vividly. We were walking on the streets of New York and it was quite a revelation for us. Bunch of kids started out and got a record deal and next thing you know they play it on the radio. The first time it was magical.

Basically I had a transistor radio and was warned it was going to happen. The band was living together and didn’t want to miss it. We heard “and now we have a new release from a group of guys from New York,” and next thing you know we’re going out of our mind.

CGL: What’s your favorite song that’s not as well known?

CAVALIERE: Oh wow from our work. I don’t know we had a really good singing group attached from our band. We did a song called “Island of Love” that only album buyers have heard. Singing groups came in the 50’s and more band type in the 60’s. It’s a lot of fun to sing with guys who can really sing. It is a nice feeling. I used to write songs just for us to sing and it worked and a lot of times that wasn’t necessarily a single.

CGL: Are you still writing music?

CAVALIERE: Yeah, that’s why I moved here (Nashville). I came down here to continue to write. It’s an amazing place for music.

CGL: Who would you like to share the stage with?

CAVALIERE: I’ve never worked with a dancer. I’d like to try that one day. It would be pretty interesting. Like Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake. They are both really good dancers.

CGL: What’s your favorite award you’ve won and why?

CAVALIERE: Uh, I think the Songwriters Hall of Fame is the nicest one. It’s so little publicized and televised and hasn’t turned into a circus.

CGL: If you weren’t a musician what do you think you’d be doing?

CAVALIERE: I think I’d be a doctor and be in a healing field. I’ve always been attracted to that I think because of my family. Everyone in my family is in medicine in one form or another. I was the guy that changed the loop a little bit.

CGL: How much longer do you plan on playing live shows?

CAVALIERE: Good question. I have no idea. When people want to hear you it’s awfully hard to say no. I don’t want to go. As long as I keep my body in shape, which I work very hard at, and keep my voice in shape, thank God, I’d like to continue.

CGL: Are you a family man now?

CAVALIERE: Oh yeah, I got a bunch of kids. I got a bunch of grandkids.

CGL: Do your kids listen to “Good Lovin’’’?

CAVALIERE: (Haha) I guess they’ve heard it a few times.

Electronics have already glued our eyes, now they’re working on our ears with help from the electronic tunes by Flume.

After releasing a highly anticipated album, Skin, May 27 this year, Flume has set off on a massive world tour, selling more than 100,000 North American tickets in only a week. Three shows scheduled at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles, Aug. 10, 11 and 12, sold out in mere minutes, prompting an unplanned fourth show Aug. 13, meaning four times the fun and a fourth chance to be part of the action.

The 24-year-old producer, aka Harley Streten, has been pulsating crowds of eardrums and throbbing hearts as Flume since the release of the self-titled debut album back in 2012 and has been picking up steam ever since. The dark electro sounds have been climbing charts and taking names in mixes with Lorde, Chet Faker, Vince Staples, Vic Mensa and more. The debut single “Never Be Like You” has made #1 triple platinum in its home of Australia and has debuted at #8 in the U.S.

Rolling Stone recently featured it as “Best 45 albums in 2016 so far”. TIME mentioned, “it sounds like the future of electronic music.” In 2013, while receiving an award for best male artist at the ARIA’s in Sydney, Streten pointed out being the first person to win the award that doesn’t even sing,

Earning acclaim takes work, and Flume is getting the support he needs. To find balance in sound and scale for the live settings, Flume worked with an expert team led by production designer Rob Sinclair (LCD Soundsystem, Florence + the Machine, Lorde) and Jonathan Zawada (Skin album art), as well as visual artist David Wexler of Strangeloop Studios (Flying Lotus, The Rolling Stones, Hudson Mohawke) and Lighting Designer Stu Dingley. With a strong support from a team that knows what it’s doing, promising shows with memorable results are sure to be in store.

Flume closed out the Coachella tents both Sundays this year alongside some big daddy’s like Calvin Harris, Sia and Major Lazer.

Fans have responded generously with millions of views online and sold out shows across the globe. You can check out Flume’s handpicked essential playlist on Spotify, or browse Flumemusic.com for more information and tour dates, while they last.

Young, energetic, and full of green hair, singer and songwriter, Phoebe Ryan, is taking her musical journey full throttle and seems to be enjoying every minute of it. With a musical background from NYU and a habit of singing in the car, Ryan’s talent shows in her videos and live shows, even catching the eye of Taylor Swift’s list of songs that will make your life more awesome.

Concert Guide Live had a chance to catch up with Ryan to see what life’s like from her shoes. She will be performing at Casbah July 15, The Constellation Room July 16 and the Troubadour July 19.

CONCERT GUIDE LIVE: Who is your biggest musical inspiration?
PHOEBE RYAN: This is an incredibly tough question to answer because I feel like I’m inspired by so many different artists and genres… But I’ve been obsessed with Ben Kweller and Bob Dylan since seventh grade and I think they’re part of the reason I ever picked up a guitar.

CGL: What’s your favorite part of playing shows?
RYAN: The look on people’s faces, whether they’re excited and loving it, or bored and preoccupied with their phones… I think it’s fascinating reading an audience. There’s also this magical energy sometimes, when everything just feels surreal and perfect, and it doesn’t happen every time, but it’s addicting to me.

CGL: What do you miss most about being on tour?
RYAN: Hanging out with my band and crew, meeting new people, engaging with fans face to face, and bringing the music to life every night.

CGL: Who is someone you’d like to be on stage with?
RYAN: I have so many friends in music, so whenever I get to share the stage with anyone I love, it’s an amazing feeling. Also – I love my band, they’re some of my best friends, and sharing the stage with such talented guys is constantly a rush.

CGL: Where’s your favorite place to sing, besides the stage?
RYAN: In the studio or in my car!

CGL:Do you like writing or singing more?
RYAN: Oh god, impossible to answer. It’s like, do I enjoy eating or sleeping more… I want to do both forever and ever.

CGL: If you had a million dollars what would you do?
RYAN: I’d travel and travel and travel and hopefully do very meaningful things with it.

CGL: What’s your favorite food to make and why?
RYAN: I’ve been a vegetarian for over 15 years, so my answer might be boring and lame to a lot of people, but I love preparing veggies in all sorts of creative ways. It’s a challenge to make vegetables taste better than bacon, but I manage to do it, I think.

CGL: Any other jobs you’d like to try out one day?
RYAN: I would love to teach one day, writing or performance techniques, who knows.

CGL: Do you have a crush? Do you kiss on the first date?
RYAN: I have a crush on my boo thang. And when it comes to kissing or making any kind of move, I always wait until it feels right, whether it’s 2 weeks or 2 seconds!

CGL: Why did you choose green for the hair and do you eat your vegetables?
RYAN: I think my hair turned green because I ate too many vegetables.

Loud, eccentric, and with a standard drug and alcohol friendly lifestyle supporting their cause, Fat White Family packs their shows with performances that come straight from… well… who knows. The outlandish crew is again hitting the states with their own psychedelic punk Euro tunes. With many members of the band still homeless, their passion for music is all they have that’s paving the way for their voices to be heard.

The six-piece band of family and friends brings a unique show built to please the crowd in the only way they know how, by being themselves. With the loose cannon live performances of front man Lias Saoudi, the band brings a show worth seeing.

Concert Guide Live caught up with Saoudi to cypher through his heavy English accent and find out what it’s like being part of a Fat White Family.

Concert Guide Live: How’d the band start?

LIAS: We used to play in a room above a pub in Brixton. We would play bar gigs with nobody. We’d use drugs ‘n stuff. It was experimentalism.

CGL: Who’s your biggest influence?

LIAS: Mark E. Smith from The Fall. He was a bad singer but I like his philosophy. He’s always new. I like to do that as well, you know. It’s hard though. A lot of bands will come back and play their old stuff which I think goes against punk rock itself.

CGL: I hear you smeared peanut butter on yourself during a show. What else do you smear yourself in?

LIAS: Peanut butter! I don’t remember that. But I like to go full GG Allin. I dress myself in all kinds of weird stuff from the rider that [the venue] supplies us with, all the food or whatever we order. I like to wear stuff from there.

CGL: Will you ever go full nude?

LIAS: Yeah sometimes. Sometimes people enjoy it, I think.

CGL: Do you like when fans get involved, like getting on stage and stuff like that?

LIAS: Sometimes, depends on how bad of a mood I’m in. Sometimes I want to break peoples’ faces, which is surprising for how feeble I really am. I can be moody.

CGL: What’s your favorite thing a fan has done at a show?

LIAS: A woman met her husband a few years back at one of our shows. He passed, and she came to scatter his ashes at our show six months ago. I had no idea ‘til after the show when she told us. She told us when they lowered his casket they played “Bomb Disneyland”. That was really cool.

CGL: That’s pretty awesome. Doesn’t get more loyal than that. What’s life like in between tours?

LIAS: In London the prices keep going up and up. You know how that goes. Most of the band is homeless so it makes things quite difficult.

CGL: What gets you going before a show?

LIAS: Panic and fear. Craps. I get the runs and usually spend a lot of time on the toilet before a show. Maybe a few drinks. No coke before a show. I like Irish ballads. Like Brendan Behan’s “The Auld Triangle”.

CGL: What’s your favorite country you’ve played?

LIAS: Favorite country is probably Scotland. The crowds are just really good. And also the West Coast, like Portland, San Francisco, LA, San Diego. And not just because I’m here I really think the crowds are really good. They are all really laid back. There’s a lot of space cadets. I’m sort of a space cadet myself, so I like it.

CGL: What’s your favorite venue?

LIAS: Probably the Troubadour in LA. I did really good acid there. I had three fingers in my ass. I don’t remember much of that show really.

CGL: What can we expect to see at your next shows?

LIAS: Well, songs from our record and some unexpected things as well. I guess the feeling of that day. It’ll be fresh in California. We usually start on the other side, the East Coast and go west and usually want to break up by then. But we’re starting in California so it’ll be a fresh start.

CGL: Well good luck and thanks for the chat!

Either there’s something in those Florida oranges, or something in Travis Clark’s bright orange hair, whatever it is, We The Kings has something special to bring to their fans, and that’s exactly what they’ll do at House of Blues Anaheim Apr. 8

Hailing from the sunshine state of Florida, We The Kings have been sending out their melodic emo-rock tunes to the music world ever since their 2007 self-titled debut album. Their sixth and most recent album Strange Love, carries on with their still evolving style.

Concert Guide Live caught up with drummer, Coley O’Toole, to get a little peak at what life is like from his shoes.

CONCERT GUIDE LIVE: What is your favorite song to play live as a band?
COLEY O’TOOLE: Every song gives me different feelings when we play them live, but my favorite songs to play and rock out to are “Skyway Avenue” and “All Again For You”.

CGL: What is your most memorable bonding experience as a band you’ve had while on tour?
CO: Honestly, we bond everyday. Everyone truly gets along like we’ve been friends for 100 years. The laughing that happens when we are in the same room is the kind that adds years to your life. So many wonderful memories– but we’ve also been through some heartbreaking stuff together and it’s only made us stronger as brothers and as a band.

CGL: Do you guys hangout together when not on tour? What do you do together?
CO: If I didn’t live in Connecticut you bet your ass I’d be hanging out with my dudes.

CGL: If you never fell into music, where do you see yourself career-wise?
CO: A teacher of some sort or owning a farm-to-table style deli.

CGL: Are any of you single at the moment?
CO: 4 out of the 5 of us are taken by magnificent women.

CGL: Would you like your kids to be in bands?
CO: Yes, he almost had no choice. Haha, I mean with all the instruments here at my house it’s pretty hard to avoid. Hopefully all our kids will eventually play in a band together.

CGL: What one person in the world would you guys like to play a personal show for?
CO: I’d have to say Prince only because I’m curious to see what he’d do or be wearing.

CGL: Where was the first place that you guys played live and how old were you?
CO: The first time I played live in a band was at a 6th grade Spring Arts Festival. We played “Smells Like Teen Spirit” without vocals and an original song without vocals. It was awesome. That feeling has never gone away.

CGL: How is backstage life for We the Kings?
CO: It’s pretty calm and tranquil until the bottle of Jameson arrives.

CGL: What’s your favorite board game of all time?
CO: Scrabble, been whooping ass with it since ’92– truth.

CGL: Any words of wisdom from We the Kings to the We the Kings fans?
CO: Believe in yourself and work hard for things you wish to achieve. Never take anything for granted and be grateful for each day that passes. Most importantly, live in the now and have fun doing it.

California’s drought has nearly wiped out the last few years of winter, but what better way to celebrate than with a Summer Is Forever II tour? The bands Best Coast and Wavves have teamed up to bring the sequel to their 2011 coast-to-coast tour and are bringing Cherry Glazerr along for the ride. The tour will crash land at the House of Blues Anaheim Mar 5.

Best Coast released their most sophisticated bunch of songs last year in their self-explanatory album California Nights. Singer, Bethany Cosentino, draws most of her inspiration during warm California nights, expressing her personal experiences, from good to bad, of what L.A. has to offer. From the palm trees and beaches, to the sleepless spirit-crushing dark nights, she lays it all on the table with her details of the highs and lows of relationships from the big city in their finest, most psychedelic album yet.

Wavves will pulsate your spirits back to where they need to be with their blend of messy distortion and drug-influenced lyrics that are surprisingly well-kempt, and not to mention charming enough to burn a hole in the dance floor. They are paving the way with a path littered full of beach-like rock rhythms that could fit a modern, more hard-core, Endless Summer soundtrack. The four-piece band’s newest album V is out now. Just look for a cartoon man in a black cape standing over a few blood-spilled chalices.

Cherry Glazerr is happy to knock your socks off with their own psychedelic rock charm and melodic rhythms. The band was created in 2012 after singer Clementine Creevy’s bedroom recordings found their way to the great outdoors under their original band name, Clembutt. Backed by Burger Records, and a song about a grilled cheese, their second and most recent album, Haxel Princess, is here to quench your musical appetite.

Whether you are looking for inspiration or perspiration, you’ll have options for both. Come feast your eyes and ears on what this tripod of bands has to offer at the Fonda Theatre Mar. 3, the Observatory North Park Mar. 4, or HOB Anaheim Mar. 5