Take a heaping helping of jazz, mix it with pop, blues, funk, Motown and a dash of folk, and you have Lake Street Dive.
The band Rolling Stone labeled as “jazz-pop whatever,” has been delighting audiences with its eclectic brand of music since forming in 2004 when they were all students studying jazz at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
They bring their danceable hits such as “Hypotheticals,” “Good Kisser,” “Bad Self Portraits” and more to the Freeman Arts Pavilion June 21.
Lead singer Rachael Price helped form the band with Mike “McDuck” Olson on guitar, Bridget Kearney on bass and Mike Calabrese on drums. Keyboardist Akie Bermiss joined the band in 2017 and guitarist James Cornelison became a member last year after Mr. Olson left the group.
In a phone interview Tuesday afternoon before the band’s show in Middletown, New York, Ms. Price, primarily a jazz and blues singer, said although the members were studying jazz, they didn’t want to be a straight-ahead jazz band.
“We didn’t want to play jazz at all. We wanted to have an improvisational element but definitely not jazz. I think we were sort of reacting to being at a jazz school. So I was wanting to involve this improvisational element that we were learning about but not with jazz songs as well,” Ms. Price said.
“That’s not to say that jazz doesn’t have songs but with like singer-songwritery songs — just like verse-chorus songs about our feelings. So that’s kind of how it started out. And it was pretty weird. And it was quite avant garde but I think it did kind of lay a foundation for how we play today,” she said.
Their genre-breaking music comes from a specific source, Ms. Price said.
“First and foremost, there is mutual love amongst the band members for The Beatles, which I also would describe as a genre-less band. They’re one thing or the other if you go from record to record, and I think that we really aspire to have that range of diversity of influences and styles in our music,” she said.
Their most recent album “Obviously,” released in March of 2021, hit No. 3 on the U.S. Folk Albums chart, No. 6 on the Alternative Albums chart and No. 7 on the Top Rock Albums chart.
The album’s songs address topics such as climate change, womanhood, female empowerment and failed relationships. But all have a danceable beat and Ms. Price said she loves singing them in concert.
“I think this album is maybe one of the only albums that on a setlist, we’ve done every single song. There’s usually a few that we find don’t work live or we can’t quite figure out. But this album, it’s just really very playable. So we’re doing a mix of songs from the new record and we’re throwing in older songs to mix up the setlist. But it’s hard to leave any of these new songs off,” she said.
“Hypotheticals,” the breakout hit from the album, written by Ms. Kearney, is a blend of jazz, pop and soul. It tells the story of the beginning of a relationship and the hopefulness that comes from such things. Ms. Price said she thinks it will become a mainstay of their concert setlist for years to come.
“I don’t see us getting tired of ‘Hypotheticals’ anytime soon. Neither do I see the crowd getting sick of it. It really encapsulates everything that we are going for. It’s fun. It’s danceable. It’s very hooky. It’s super funky. It’s just like what we’re trying to do,” she said.
“Obviously” was supposed to come out in the fall 2020 but was delayed due to COVID until March 2021.
“At first it was disappointing and then I think we sort of settled into the worldwide singular experience of COVID. And it was kind of a relief to not have to be doing an album sort of campaign, sort of trying to grab people’s attention and be like ‘Please listen to our record’ while we were all dealing with the various stresses of COVID. So once we decided to wait, I think we were all pretty relieved.” she said.
Brooklyn-based Lake Street Dive embarked on a tour last fall where many of the venues, such as Freeman, had pod seating, which kept people in their own area. This current tour, which started late last month, is a bit a refreshing change, Ms. Price said.
“With the last tour, every day felt like a victory over the fall of 2021 because there were just so many protocols and questions about how to deal with the spread of COVID. And now you know, we’ve been through this for two years. So yeah, it does feel a bit more on the periphery and just a little bit less tenuous,” she said.
Lake Street Dive attracted the eyes and ears of music fans through their early cover versions of songs like Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back” and Hall and Oates’ “Rich Girl.” They also put out a video dressed in Halloween costumes every year doing a cover song.
They continue the cover songs on their current tour doing tunes by such artists as Shania Twain, Carole King and even The Pointer Sisters.
“It’s been a pretty amazing gateway into the original songs. Certainly, that’s how we took off was from that video of ‘I Want You Back.’ And I think what was lucky about that video taking off the way it did is that when people found it, then they had all of these originals to discover after the fact,” she said.
“We love doing covers. It’s always a good learning experience for us. And there are just so many great songs out there. Like, why deny yourself the exquisite experience of playing great songs?”
Lake Street Dive plays the Freeman Arts Pavilion in Selbyville June 21 at 7 p.m. with special guest Lucie Silvas. For tickets and more information, visit here.
June Jam Saturday
As we told you last week, the annual charity music festival June Jam is set for Saturday at the G&R Campground in Houston.
The day will feature Triple Rail Turn, JJ Rupp, Storm Over Seattle, Fuzzbox Piranha, The Joey Fulkerson Band and more.
Tickets will be sold at the gate for $45 for adults and $5 for children younger than 12. Camping opportunities are sold out.
The day will also include raffles, 50/50s and vendors. Gates open between 10:30 and 11 a.m. with the music starting at noon.
For information, visit here or call 302-284-JUNE.
More Firefly artists
Speaking of music festivals, an additional batch of acts was added to the bill of the Firefly Music Festival set for September in Dover.
They include Firefly veterans Haim along with Seven Lions, T-Pain, Isaiah Rashad, Lsdream, Max, Briston Maroney, Pale Waves, Grayscale, Magic City Hippies, Jagwar Twin, Nightly, Wreckno, Disco Lines, The 502s, Sea Girls, Michigander, Lo Moon, Ivy Sole, Scarypoolparty, Oh He Dead, Zingara, Canabliss, Doss, Speaker Honey, and Heyz.
The festival is set for Sept. 22-25 at the Woodlands of Dover. Halsey headlines Thursday, My Chemical Romance Friday, Green Day Saturday and Dua Lipa Sunday.
Artists previously announced on the bill include Weezer, The Kid Laroi, Big Sean and Avril Lavigne.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Firefly, the festival is running a contest where those who have purchased a weekend pass (GA, VIP, or Super VIP) before July 1 are automatically entered for a chance to win:
Upgrade to Super VIP weekend passes (maximum two) for 2022. If the winner already has Super VIP passes, they will receive two additional Super VIP passes;
Two lifetime Super VIP passes to Firefly;
One $1,000 gift card for travel and supplies; and
One Firefly 10th anniversary poster.
To purchase tickets, visit here.
Separation Day
The festivities for Historic New Castle’s Separation Day weekend get underway Friday with a kickoff party from 6 to 9:30 p.m. on Delaware Street at The Wharf featuring What the Funk, a seven-piece funk/soul/R&B band. There will also be craft beer and food trucks with bartender tips benefiting Goodwill Volunteer Fire Department. Admission is free.
On Saturday, the Separation Day Parade will march down the streets of historic New Castle beginning at noon. Re-enactors, bands and classic cars participate in this parade, which proceeds along Delaware Street into Courthouse Square.
Immediately following the parade, the Separation Day Festival gets underway in Battery Park. The festival is free and will feature a Vintage Market, live music, vendors, kids rides, food trucks and a beer garden. The lineup for the stage is:
Blues Reincarnation Project (2-3:30 p.m.)
Blue Cat Blues (4-5:30 p.m.)
Jimmy Pritchard Band (6-7:15 p.m.)
Big Package (8-9:30 p.m.)
Admission is free but rides for kids will have a charge. The festival culminates with fireworks over the Delaware River beginning at approximately 9:30 p.m.
Separation Day is the annual celebration of Delaware’s independence from Pennsylvania and the British Crown. 2022 marks the 246th anniversary of arguably one of the longest-running traditions in the state.
Now Showing
New this weekend in theaters is the long-awaited “Jurassic World Dominion” and the thriller “Crimes of the Future.”
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