Direct Current Direct Current

Two hours of Popa Chubby at the top. This unforgettable concert was filmed on March 27 2004. Popa plays songs from his three latest albums, and demonstrates that his charisma and strong stage presence have a lot to do with his current popularity. His playing bridges the gap between the blues, funk and rock, and even flirts with jazz and country.

#KingButch—hashtag proudly attached—is the title of Butcher Brown’s soon-to-be top-trending album, the eighth in the band’s up-from-the-roots legacy, and their first with Concord Records, on the Concord Jazz imprint. The 13 tracks collectively represent a bold step forward for the 5-piece group from Richmond, Virginia. Remaining true to the group’s heady fusion of contemporary hip-hop, ‘70s fusion, ‘60s jazz and funk—even echoes of Southern rock and marching band music show up—#KingButch is a powerfully original statement that reaches across divisions of genre, generation, ethnicity, and geography. Significantly, the new recording also reveals a side of Butcher Brown that’s been developing and is now in full-flower: a song-crafting, studio maturity on a par with their national reputation as an explosive live act.

Fantasy inspires, fantasy opens doors, fantasy allows changes of perspective: "With fantasy, you can shape a completely new world language-wise, intellectually and musically. The composer creates the basic framework; we musicians fill this with our interpretation and aspire to take the listeners with us into this wonderful and fantastic world of music“, says Georg Arzberger. "All the works on this album are so-called 'Romantic character pieces'; they were inspired by poetry, experiences in nature or simply the current emotional state of the composer. So for me, finding each individual 'language' and the corresponding musical message of the pieces is the main goal of our album“, says Julian Riem.

This EP builds on Bob Margolin's current success with all acoustic music. 2019's 'This Guitar and Tonight' won a Blues Music Award for Best Acoustic Album. The new all-original songs take on the Coronavirus, isolation, and the halt of live music. He shares missing shows and friends, fear for the world, outrage, grief, new coping skills and new ways to present his music. He plays slide guitar on a 1930s Gibson and one on a National steel guitar. He embraces both traditional styles and new explorations, home recorded direct and again, no sugar added.