The allstar group has been tearing it to sold out audiences at shows all over the country. Friday night, they return to hallowed ground with a performance on the corner of Tchoupitoulas and Napoleon. Read on for a chance to win a pair of tickets.
Ever since forming in the wake of the breakup of the Radiators in June 2011, the New Orleans Suspects have been solidifying a sound that draws from the influences of each of its members.
There are some videos of the band in action circulating on the web, but only a couple manage to truly capture what this band is all about. Here they are opening a show in Atlanta with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band classic, “Blackbird Special.”
Longtime Neville Brothers drummer, “Mean” Willie Green provides the funk foundation. The bassist Reggie Scanlan, who played with New Orleans icons Professor Longhair and James Booker before his three-decade tenure with the Radiators, keeps the groove locked down. Speaking of groovers, the keyboardist and singer CR Gruver delivers deep soul on both the keys and the vocal pipes. Jake Eckert is a guitarist extraordinaire who logs time with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and has grown into a front man with stellar vocals as well. The secret weapon in the band is the saxophonist Kevin Harris. His skills, honed in the DDBB, allow the band to stretch its sound into the musical ether.
To win tickets leave a comment about one of the musicians in the band. Three winners will be chosen at random at noon on Friday, 3/16 and the names with be on the guest list.
