ABSOLUTELY PRIMO ROCK 'N' ROLL ON SOPHOMORE OUTING
 new album |
Blues & Lasers combines raw/droning Delta blues and 60s/70s classic rock with more modern elements like effects pedals, blips and bleeps and Pro-Tools editing. The group is the brainchild of guitarist-singer-songwriters Scott Tournet and Benny Yurco, who also play in Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. The band's second album, After All We're Only Human, arrives in May, but JamBase got an advance listen and can assure you its pure rock gold, dipping into a thick vintage vibe but without sounding like a recreation of any ancestor in particular, though possessing the muscle and flair of greats like Deep Purple, Rory Gallagher and the James Gang.
Captured live to a two-track tape machine set up in the middle of an empty club in downtown Burlington, VT, After All We're Only Human has a "full, natural, dirty tape sound" (as described by Tournet) that they manipulated and tweaked in a most post-Radiohead fashion. The final results are roll-the-windows-down-and-crank-it, amp rattling goodness that will stir every air guitar instinct in you.
Blues & Lasers will be playing CD release shows at Bearsville Theater in Bearsville, NY, on May 7, Brooklyn Bowl in NYC on May 8th, and Club Metronome in Burlington, VT on May 9.
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Blues and Lasers
By: borsodas
Artist: blues and lasers
The return of Gregg Allman's health and The Allman Brothers 40th anniversary combined with the Phish and the Dead reunions is creating a perfect storm for a rock and roll revival in America. The blues are a key component to rock and are finally getting the recognition blues deserves right here in the music capital of the world. The Allman Brothers 40th anniversary is shaking the foundation of American pop culture, and bands like Blues and Lasers are riding their way in on the wave of good music coming into the city. I was lucky enough to catch the Blues and Lasers official post-Allman Brothers show and these are my thoughts.
Blues and Lasers are made up partially of the backing band behind Grace Potter. Grace Potter and the Nocturnal and consists of GPN lead guitarist Scott Tournet, Benny Yurco on lead and rhythm guitar, Matt Burr and Steve Sharron on drums and their new bass player, John Rogone. Rogone is a Vermont area session musician that replaced former Blues and Lasers bassists Bryan Dondero who first stepped down from Blues and Lasers and, in just the past week, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals as well. Dondero leaving GPN resulted in the last three shows of their tour being cancelled. Despite this fact I was told at the concert that the split was "very happy" and there are no hard feelings. Bryan is multi talented and has chosen to go work in the engineering and producing side of music. This good-natured sentiment is also reflected on a statement released on the GPN website.
Read the rest on hidden track this weekend
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Written by: Chad Berndtson
Published: March 05, 2009
The B List: Ten Shows to Sweeten Your Allman Brothers @ The Beacon Run
Maybe you’ve heard: The Allman Brothers Band take hold of New York City this month for 15 allegedly guest-dappled shows at the Beacon Theater starting Monday. Folks, as Butch Trucks was happy to explain, they’re going to be barnburners. (And shit, they’re not even the most hotly anticipated jamband event this month.)
Over the years, it’s become fashionable for both individual Brothers or other artists (especially potential sit-in guests) to throw their own shows on top of a Beacon gig or too - a late night post-party, a headline spot on a Beacon offnight, anything that might capitalize on that hot ABB Beacon March Madness vibe and attract a few concertgoers (Beacon or not) who wanted a piece of it.
Well, if you’re like me, you like to make long, full, multi-show nights out of your musical endeavors whenever possible (and affordable). So, for this week’s B-List, we’re taking a look at 10 Beacon sweeteners: post-ABB or off-night gigs (official or not) where you’d be likely to find some connection to the Allmans or just a hell of a spot to nightcap after four hours at 74th and Broadway.
READ ON for Chad’s list of ten must-catch Allmans-related shows…
Theoretically, most any other gig happening in NYC in March could be potentially appealing to an ABB fan (you’re a music fan, brah, you have broad tastes, we get that). So, for the purposes of a neater, tidier B-list, we stuck to officially described ABB post-parties and the more obvious choices. In chronological order, Beacon sweeteners happening during the Beacon run (March 9-28):
6. Blues & Lasers
Where and When: Sullivan Hall (West Village), Saturday, March 21 (midnight)
How Much: TBD
What: Hot, roadhouse-ready blues and rock from members of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (including guitarist Scott Tournet) and their Burlington, Vt.-based pals.
Potential For An ABB Sit-In: Medium. Warren Haynes knows the personnel, having had Grace & the Nocturnals as a tour-length opener for the Mule in 2007, so he’d probably be the guy.
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February 2009
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals with Blues and Lasers.
By Krista K
Have you heard of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals? I had once. knew she was a blonde with powerful vocal chords and a decent backing band. On December 15th, I was to learn a lot more.
The show took place at a small venue called “The Independent” in San Francisco, around the Embarcadero District. It’s highly reminiscent of the old venue “The Gaslighter” in Gilroy. The venue contains a lovely fully stocked bar in the back and seating on either side, with giant stage up front. I was fortunate enough to get a seat as I got there early, but the place started filling up fast, and within ten minutes it was standing room only. The crowd was mixed, college students, hippies in sandals and tye-dye, aging rockers, parents (including mine ha!), and me in my cheetah print leggings and leather jacket. It was neat to see such a meeting of the the tribes, such a variety of people, all talking and socializing, drinking and waiting for the opening band, “Blues and Lasers.” I had no clue what to expect from band with this name. I knew they were from Vermont and made up most of Grace Potter’s backing band, so I was intrigued. Were they going to play the blues B.B King style and give us a Jefferson Starship or Poison-like light show? The lights dimmed and my question was answered very quickly. The first thing I see is no lasers and five good looking’ guys. I’m happy so far. The guys picked up their instruments, got the light show going (yes!) and the party started. Their songs were full of swank, swagger and reminded me a bit of older Aerosmith or Hawkwind. The thing I love about the blues is the emotion that comes with it, whether it’s libidinous or sad. No wonder this genre has been around so long and continues to evolve, sustain and mutate into bands like what I was hearing. The more they played, the more I got into it. Every song was a hip-shaker. More than once the band breaks into a beautiful harmonious melody, stunning the crowd. The guitars were bluesy and spacey at the same time. Everyone was moving. Every instrument sounded beautiful and every song contained just enough blues that I felt something so powerful, but it wasn’t sad. And just like every good band should, they came out with an overly impressive encore. After the set was over, I was blown away. Could it get better than this? I had the privilege to take a minute or two to speak to drummer Steve Sharon and ask him a few questions about this mind-blowing band. Here’s what he had to say. It was pitch black and Grace was set to go on in a few minutes, so I made it quick.
KK: First off, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I enjoyed the set. I’m highly curious about your influences…
Steve Sharon: Oh man, the Black Keys, Led Zepplin, Frank Zappa, J.R. Kimbrough and the Allman Brothers. There are a lot, but those are what I can think of right now.
KK: Zappa is a necessity. How did you find your way to Blues and Lasers?
SS: I knew Scott from Grace Potter’s band, and went to college with him in Vermont.
KK: Why do you play? What keeps you passionate about Blues and Lasers?
SS: I love that we’re trying hard to replace what rock and roll should be, as opposed to the pop rock that’s around now.
KK: Definitely, it’s not the same.
SS: The Jonas Brothers are NOT rock n’ roll!
KK: I’m quoting you on that. Thanks for your time and talent!
After my chat and a good laugh with Steve Sharon, I grabbed a drink and settled in for Grace Potter. Grace opened with a growl and a pack of bluesy, howling guitars. She was clad in a short black skirt, tall fringed boots, a clingy tank top, a cowboy belt and two of the shiniest hugest silver necklaces I’ve seen. I’m already inspired. Her hair is blonde with blunt bangs, to her shoulders, and from second one of the show, you know she’s in charge. The first number she purrs, “I don’t need no sugar,” tossing that blonde mane around like a headbanger out of control. The feeling here is lots of heartbreak and tons of slink and a heaping dose of swagger. She calmly sits at the piano next and coos “c’mon…treat me right.” seconds later screaming “TREAT ME RIGHT!!” This woman has seen her share of heartbreak, bad relationships and maybe just plain bad luck. “Give me Love, please…” she almost demands in the next number. Song by song, she reveals her indiscretions and vulnerability, peeling back each layer, letting us all see her as she is. Song by song she also has a band member bring up a different vintage guitar so she can shred along with her tunes. “I’m a no good mother, I’m a no good wife.” she confesses one moment, seconds later begging “Hey St. Peter, open up those pearly gates.” I think he will, based on this performance alone. It’s almost ethereal. Grace Potter looks and sings like a rock and roll angel if I’ve ever seen or heard one.
This is someone who took their incidents and accidents and turned them into precious numbers like the aforementioned. She takes us through all her emotions, with her voice as your guide. But she doesn’t just leave it there. Just when I thought the show as over, she got on her knees and started banging the bass drum, chanting and howling. To top it all off, she transitions into a killer cover of Steve Millers ‘Big Ol’ Jet Airliner’ and rocks the house for the final song. The crowd went wild. This show blew me away. Both bands delivered beyond belief. There’s a new queen of rock in town, and her name is Grace Potter. I’ll leave you with a quote from one of Grace’s best songs, which she dedicated to a struggling friend,
“This too, my friend shall pass, so play every show like it’s your last.”
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Jambands.com
The Nocturnals’ Mule: A Howling Blend of Blues & Lasers
David Schultz
2009-02-22
Down in the basement of New York City’s Sullivan Hall, Scott Tournet, the motivating force behind Blues & Lasers, is rummaging through his belongings looking for anything on which he can create a set list. Instead of listening to the Nate Wilson Group tearing it up one floor above, the dressing room is overwhelmed by the pulsing bass from the adjacent dance club. Even more troubling, the beer cooler is empty. From the looks of things, you would be hard pressed to discern that within the next 24 hours Tournet and two of his Blues & Lasers band mates, Bryan Dondero & Matt Burr, would be playing at one of Washington D.C.’s inaugural events in their other guise as Grace Potter’s Nocturnals. Far from disapproving of the Spartan accommodations, Tournet seems to enjoy the experience of returning to the clubs, hungry to prove himself with a new band. As he relates his thoughts to guitarist Benny Yurco, drummer Steve Sharon and Dondero, he plots out the set list on a paper plate. As Burr is absent from the meeting, they good naturedly come up with a backup plan for “Take You Down” in case Burr doesn’t notice the tempo shift they plan on implementing. If the ease with which this seemingly new band relates to each other may appear too good to be true: it’s because it is, Blues and Lasers may not have many shows under their belt but the five Vermont based musicians have a lot of experience playing together in various iterations.
Blues & Lasers evolved from the remnants of The Scott Tournet Band. “It started with the last song I wrote for the band,” explains Tournet, referring to “22 Times,” the growling burst of electrified Delta blues that kicks off Blues & Lasers. “When I played that one, it was a whole other thing from what we had been doing, which was a little softer. It felt really comfortable playing it live,” recalls Tournet. With the seeds of Blues & Lasers sown in the summer of 2007, it took a while for Tournet to bring the concept to fruition. “As the Tournet band, I spearheaded it and it was pretty much all of my tunes,” he says. “I’m trying to turn it into more of a band.”
“It was rather sudden in concept, and gradual because of our endless touring schedule with GPN,” explains Dondero of Tournet’s epiphany. “I remember Scott with a big shit eating grin on his face saying that he had a new idea, a new concept for a band. It was actually kind of an old idea that he and some of our friends came up with years ago after a dirty impromptu jam - which probably sounded like blues with lasers,” relates Dondero giving some insight into the group’s name. “After Scott described his idea to me, I laughed my ass off and said, ‘I'm so in.’ The band formed at a perfect time for me as I had just acquired a Theremin and a Moog LP synth. I was definitely ready to make some lasers.” Theremin? Does that qualify as blues or lasers? “Interestingly, the Theremin was around since the 30's, so perhaps it did influence Robert Johnson is his later life, post soul selling of course,” clarifies Dondero.
“It wasn’t softer and it wasn’t harder,” recalls Sharon, who has known Tournet from their days together at Goddard College. “It wasn’t entirely Delta blues, it was more 70s style rock and roll. We were starting to get a Southerny quality to the music.” The new direction was going to require that the band transform a little from the traditional band set up of the Tournet band. “Scott wanted to keep playing with me and Bryan,” explains Sharon. “We were concerned about whether we wanted to have another drummer in the band and whether I would be comfortable playing with anyone else? Plus, we were also looking for a guitar player and trying to figure out what to do there.”
With Blues & Lasers, Tournet set out to recreate a forgotten style of rock and roll, to revive an era when guitarists like Roy Buchanan had free reign to intensely explore areas of the blues and classic rock. In order to find likeminded musicians, Tournet didn’t have to search long or travel far. To find Dondero and Burr, he only had to look to the back of the Nocturnals’ tour bus, for Sharon, he only had to ask his roommate and to find Yurco, he just had to explore the fertile and burgeoning musical scene in Vermont, which at times has a little Haight Ashbury feel with numerous musicians living in close proximity and eager to help each other out. “I like it,” says Yurco of the thought of there being a slice of the communal sixties still thriving in his neck of the woods. “I never thought of it that way. It’s too cold,” he laughs. “All those band are really different too, doing their own thing.”
Many will come see Blues & Lasers on the strength of Tournet & The Nocturnals’ reputation. However, they will leave with a newfound amazement for Benny Yurco. As if he stepped out of a cartoon, Yurco is a lightning rod for calamity and the friendly and benignly mischievous guitarist always seems to be at the center of some swirl of activity. Whenever he’s out of sight, you worry what type of trouble he may get himself into. Once he’s on stage though, you don’t have to worry about him. An able foil for Tournet, his ability to nimbly zip through various styles seems to push and inspire Tournet to up his game. Yurco’s a fine songsmith as well, his “Fallen Friend” and “Sue Me” perfect Blues & Lasers vehicles.
Tournet and Sharon both point to Yurco’s involvement with Blues & Lasers as a benchmark, even if no one is quite clear how they actually met. “You know how you met me,” Yurco tells Tournet, who reacts with a bemused expression on being chided by Yurco. “I met you at Albertson when I came down to see you guys play, because you were hot as shit. I asked you about your Fender Telecaster. That’s where I met Bryan, I think you blew out my amplifier,” he says, pausing for a second. “It was at the Bernie Sanders benefit,” continues Yurco. “And I blew out your amp before I even met you,” finishes Tournet, now recalling the incident.
“I get a call, ‘Dude, Scott Tournet just blew your amp up,’” an animated Yurco recalls, bringing a big smile to Tournet’s face. “I’m sure you said, ‘Ah, I’ve got to be in a band with that guy,’” jokes Tournet. “That was basically our first introduction to each other,” continues Yurco. “Scott blowing out my amplifier and then not remembering it.” Yurco then bursts out laughing. “That’s all right, I had more work done than I needed on it anyway,” he says of the repairs Tournet paid for.
Like all good stories, Tournet remembers everything completely different. He recalls meeting Yurco just before New Year’s, going at Yurco’s insistence to see him play at Vermont’s Higher Ground. Yurco proceeded to tear the house down, playing terrifically but apparently very loudly. “The house manager came in and totally scolded you and then shut the room down,” Tournet tells Yurco of the night.
With Yurco lurking in the collective unconscious, the thought of his inclusion with Blues & Lasers met with immediate approval. Yurco, who was in New York at the time, leapt at the opportunity. “When I got the call, I came all the way up [to Vermont],” he recalls. “I met them over at Club Metronome and wailed out a few tunes.” Rather than tread circumspectly with the lineup, Tournet sensed he had something. “We played around, did maybe one show and then we recorded.”
Ironically, in order to come up with something new and exciting, Blues & Lasers mines a genre that has unquestionably spawned our culture’s most successful music, revitalizing the long dormant energy of the Delta blues with two guitars, two drums and one Bryan Dondero. Five songs stretched out over forty-five minutes, the self-titled Blues & Lasers, joyously resurrects the blues-based rock and roll that populated AOR radio in the Seventies. The songs have a juju swagger; birthed from tortured blues singers who had haunted souls and bad intentions – the back door men who had hell hounds on their trail. Raucous Delta blues, Blues & Lasers recreates the sweaty juke joint feel of the dirty south with rave-ups like “WNWGD” and “Rooster,” the purposeful strident “Who Do You Think You Are” and the colossal closer, “Devil Wrapped Around Me,” a wild concoction of voodoo blues, psychedelic Floyd which has a “Love Sick” derived organ break courtesy of Ms. Potter.
Sounding like it was recorded in a packed, sweaty club, Blues & Lasers was captured in an empty Club Metronome over a couple lengthy sessions. “It was kind of like day camp. You set up all your shit, take breaks every hour or two, go smoke a cigarette, go on the street and watch the girls walk by,” Tournet relates fondly. “The whole thing was very relaxed,” adds Yurco. “It was definitely a little Blues & Lasers fraternity over those three days.” “Sex, drugs & rock and roll,” proclaims Tournet. He then pauses, looks at Yurco and they both seem to remember that for the most part it was their group of guys then adds “well minus the sex,” he clarifies. “And minus the bus,” adds Yurco.
The open, hollow room gave the album the exact sound they wanted. “They were generous enough to let us pitch a tent in there for a couple days,” explains Yurco. “We had our good friend Ben Collette, a local Burlington engineer who’s worked with Trey Anastasio, come in and set up the mikes and we had the stage and the entire room all to ourselves. There’s nothing like being together and actually being on the same page rather than going back and trying to find where everyone started their paragraph. One the benefits of recording live, rather than track by track, is that you’re working as a team. There was no going back and seeing if you could get a better guitar solo. It is what it was,” Yurco concludes.
“I wanted it to sound like a Junior Kimbrough record,” relates Tournet. “The whole point of it was to capture a band playing well together and not stressing about things like microphones. It was about working on the songs for hours and getting them right instead of capturing the best moments and putting it together later. The worse thing that was going to happen was that good music was going to happen. I wanted to make it less about the recording and more about playing good music.” As if to prove the point, a brief discussion then ensues over whether “WNWGD” would sound better if sung through a megaphone (it might) and whether one could be found on short notice (it could not). “It doesn’t matter if the microphones are good if you’re not playing good music,” says Tournet. “The focus is on what’s really real and the energy,” follows up Yurco.
When thinking of the master purveyors of the Delta blues, most roads don’t lead to Vermont. The issue makes Sharon laugh heartily “We’ve been listening to that music our whole lives and we respect it,” he says, stressing respect. “Whether it was given to us or we discovered it on our own, we respect it and we understand it and we’ve all been down and broken-hearted and that music helps you get over it. It’s a passion,” he says. Tournet is more practical with his explanation of how Vermonters can get the blues. “CDs, man. YouTube,” he says with a grin. “Check out The Black Keys: a couple of white dudes from the suburbs of Akron, Ohio and look at what they can do,” notes Tournet. “Look at 10 Years After,” chimes in Yurco.
Echoing back to the days when bands like The Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead utilized two drummers, Blues & Lasers gets a double burst from Sharon & Burr. The two have different styles and the interaction works well. “I think we help each other become better drummers,” explains Sharon. “By playing with me, I think that helps him and by extension the Nocturnals and vice versa, he helps me stay in a groove. Matt’s got great ideas, great songs and he’s an awesome person. We had a long intensive rehearsals and a long intensive recording process. I’m watching him; he’s watching me. I’m grooving with him; he’s grooving with me. If he has an idea and I hear it, I go with it,” Sharon is finding the experience rewarding and enjoys finding a simpatico with another drummer. “You’re giving each other space to breathe as long as you can stay on the beat and still be flamboyant at the same time.”
There’s a harder side to Grace Potter & The Nocturnals that didn’t entirely make it onto their 2007 release, This Is Somewhere. On stage, it would manifest itself in songs like “Over Again,” “Every Mile” and “Bella Donna.” With Blues & Lasers, does Tournet now have an outlet for some of the rock and roll aggression that can build up? “On some levels but not in a bad way,” he says. The worlds aren’t colliding though. “I don't know that Blues & Lasers has had a direct influence on GPN other than the line of shows we did as double-headers,” says Dondero. “Well . . . .I guess since it was easier leaving my Moog keyboard on stage after the Blues & Lasers set, I started using that in the GPN set a bit. Blues & Lasers provides Scott, Matt and I with an outlet to play longer, more experimental music. Though GPN has been known have bouts of experimentation and extended improv, there is less pressure for Blues & Lasers to do ‘songs’ which is fun.” It’s a sentiment echoed by Tournet. “There’s one riff that I wrote for “Watching You” that I use in “Who Do You Think You Are,” just a little bit slower,” he explains. “It’s like that thing songwriters will do where they write two or three songs that aren’t exactly alike but they have the same kind of trademark quality to them.”
More than a diversion, Tournet delighted in Blues & Lasers’ recent jaunt to New York City, a trip they will make again on March 21, when they return to Sullivan Hall for a post-Allman Brothers Band set. However, taking Blues & Lasers out for an extending tour on their own, presents a different set of problems. “It’s not a matter of desire but rather a factor of time, energy and being careful not to spread yourself too thin,” confesses Tournet. In fact, shortly after the Blues & Lasers set at Sullivan Hall, Dondero gracefully bowed out of Blues & Lasers citing the strain that the time commitments that two bands places upon your private life and other ongoing projects. [Vermont musician John Rogone has since stepped into the breach.] Tournet recognizes the practicalities: he has ambitious expectations for Blues & Laser but they are tempered, mainly by his love for his other band and acknowledgment for how much he, Potter, Dondero and Burr have accomplished in a relatively short period of time. “Ideally, I’d like to see this become my Gov’t Mule to Grace Potter & The Nocturnals’ Allman Brothers Band.”
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JamBase.com
Blues and Lasers
January 16, 2009
Blues and Lasers is a band formed in late 2007 from Burlington, VT. Their sound focuses on the tradition and roots of delta blues and rock & roll music contrasted with an experimental edge (i.e. the lasers). Blues and Lasers is comprised of Scott Tournet (vocals, lead guitar, harmonica) Matt Burr (drums), and Bryan Dondero (bass, Moog, Theramin) of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Benny Yurco (vocals, lead guitar) of the Turkey Bouillon Mafia, and local Burlington drummer Steve Sharon. While drawing obvious comparisons to the Allman Brothers for their use of two drummers and dueling lead guitars, B & L have forged a sound all their own that is both recognizable and new. "We wanted something heavier, bluesier, and riskier," states Tournet. "The force of Led Zeppelin, the swampy groove of the Delta Blues, the guitars of the late '60's and '70's, juxtaposed with the sounds of our generation... like blips and bleeps and weird noises and feedback swirling around."
While much of 2008 was spent dedicated to Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, B & L still found the time to put out their self-titled debut Blues & Lasers in late August. The album was recorded live in a vacant club in downtown Burlington in two days. They decided to test their philosophy of old vs. new as they recorded to a 2 track tape machine with room mics, while simultaneously multi-tracking all the instruments to Pro-Tools. After the two day session they spent a couple weeks in the studio and went a little OK Computer on what they had previously recorded during the two day session. It turned into a 5 song, 40 minute monster complete with inspired improvisation, arranged sections, and sheets of sound.
Blues and Lasers perform Saturday night (1/17) at Sullivan Hall in New York City.
You can purchase the album for download at http://www.bluesandlasers.com/tunes.cfm.
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State of Mind Magazine
Musicians'/Music Industry Folks' Favorite Moments of 2008
by State of Mind Staff
January 6, 2009
Happy new year‚ everybody! 2009 is the year..... We'll let you fill that one in. But before we look ahead‚ let's look back. We asked some musicians/music industry folks for their favorite music moments of '08‚ and present that to you here. And in a few days we will be releasing the State of Mind staff picks for best of '08 as well as a short film we did featuring a bunch of music lovers talking about their favorite albums of the year.
Read on (Blues and Lasers' own Bryan Dondero is featured on Page 3)...
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Decent Community
Blues and Lasers is Our Decent Jam of the Week
Posted on January 6, 2009 by tubesteak
This week The Community would like to highlight a boner-inducing band from the crust-filled state of Vermont — the soon-to-be legendary Blues and Lasers. These bastards emit a massive sound, calling to mind a Zeppelinish, Black Keys-ish, Derek and the Dominoes-ish ragged and dirty blues/rock style you’d think was blasting from the speakers of a 1972 Plymouth Duster. An immense articulation of a long since gone sound — their jam is a very much welcomed return to an era of of candid, pretenseless rock and mother fuckin’ roll.
Blues and Lasers consists of bastards from Grace Potter’s Nocturnals and Burlington’s Turkey Boullion Mafia, two of Vermont’s more notable musical outfits of the past five years or so. And while minor elements of their primary band’s sound naturally surface at times, Blues and Lasers apparent intentions are unique in the same manner as a soft-core Cinemax flick with full frontal nudity. You’re watching to see bush — or in this case of the Lasers, listneing to hear pure, skinned-to-the-bone jams.
While three members of Blues and Lasers have been touring extensively with Grace Potter’s band, it’s The Community’s sincere hope that we’ll get to see more of the Lasers in the near future. Perhaps a short run around the Northeast is in order? Anyway, you can give these decent bastards a listen here, purchase their album here, and check out their tour dates here. Hope you enjoy our decent jam of the week.
Decent Community
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Sunday, December 28, 2008
The Yearvolution: 2008 In Review
By: David Schultz
Mostly owing to December’s drastically reduced release schedule, most writers turn their creativity towards quantifying and evaluating the best and the brightest albums of the previous year. No matter how persuasively anyone tries to present their list as a scientific undertaking, it really is a purely subjective endeavor. Rather than add to the quagmire and confuse Donald Rumsfeld with Earvolution’s Albums of the Year, the following are the albums that will most likely be the ones we think of when we look back at 2008. Like them, love them or hate them, we’ll likely remember them.
Blues & Lasers: Blues & Lasers
The most outstanding classic rock album of the year has its roots in the granola filled mountains of Vermont. In the five songs that stretch out over the album's forty-five minutes, Scott Tournet leads Blues & Lasers through a Delta blues odyssey ripped from the Seventies AOR era. Evolving out of the Scott Tournet Band, Blues & Lasers has Tournet and his fellow Nocturnals Bryan Dondero and Matt Burr teaming up with Vermont’s Benny Yurco and Steve Sharon to unleash a grandiose dose of juke joint heat and revive a genre that has long been MIA.
Visit Earvolution here to read their entire article.
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Brent Hallenbeck, Music journalist, The Burlington Freepress Aug. 19th 2008 Review:
The Nocturnals followed a band that they had no problem lining up to be their opening act. Blues & Lasers is the Nocturnals sans Grace Potter: guitarist Scott Tournet, drummer Matt Burr and bass player Bryan Dondero with an extra drummer (Steve Sharon) and guitarist (Benny Yurco) thrown in.
I got down to Waterfront Park just in time to hear Blues & Lasers playing "Whole New Way of Going Down," my favorite song off their new self-titled CD that they recorded last fall at Club Metronome. It's smokin', bluesy rock that's hard hard hard and fast fast fast. Tournet and Yurco are maybe the two best rock guitarist in Burlington, so if you put them together in one package its bound to heat up.
For more on that article www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article
Click the Image below to see pictures of B & L @ The Burlington Waterfront, Aug 16th 2008
Photos by A.M. Saddler.
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