ACOUSTIC FUNK, PUNK, WHO WOULDA' THUNK?

Afro-Celtic meets the down-under. That may aptly describe the performance by two Chico favorites – the Laura Love Band and Fruit, at Laxson Auditorium on October 15, 2002. 

Opening will be the Laura Love Band, a long-time Chico favorite with a huge following.  Shortly thereafter, Fruit will take the stage.  There two groups are slightly similar, both performing upbeat, hard driving, rhythm based music.  Love is more acoustic, funk, Celtic, earthy, while Fruit blows you away with their rockin’ arsenal of horns and electric guitar, more punk than funk. 

A longtime Chico favorite, Seattle singer-songwriter Laura Love and the Laura Love Band have developed a loyal following through their novel blend of African and Celtic music styles (“Afro-Celtic,” Laura calls it).  Laura is an incredible singer/songwriter/bassist who for a while referred to her sound as “funkabilly.” When her first critically acclaimed release came out, the label ‘Afro-Celtic’ was given to her by and astute critic and it stuck like crazy glue.  But when it comes to categories, Love and her band defy them all.

The Laura Love Band brings James Brown funk to elderly bluegrass fans and they love it.  She cries out traditional spirituals to cynical atheists and they sing along.  She raves about her big butt to conservative Christians and they holler for more.  She serves up high and lone-some bluegrass to the pierced and tattooed and they can’t get enough.

Love’s blend of soul, pop, spirituals, traditional blues, ska and country, along with her social and environmental concerns, her heartbreaking lyrics and her natural with and stage presence have made Love a favorite with Chico audiences.  Upon hearing Love for the first time, people seem to be struck by “that voice,” which she uses to ornament her songs with profusion of sounds ranging from nonsense words to yodels to things that defy ready categorization.  Her infectious funk and world-beat-influenced songs as well as her exuberant, uninhibitited stage presence is what Love has achieved notice for.

Love has been touring with her band since 1990 and has performed to great acclaim at most of the prominent music festivals in North America.  Over the past decade she has released eight CDs and enjoyed endless praise from radio, print, and electronic media.

Australian pop sensation, Fruit are on their way to becoming one of the hottest new music exports from Down Under.  With three main female vocalists/songwriters, the sound (reminiscent of Indigo Girls, Ani Di-Franco & Chrissie Hynde) is a heart thumping, hard hitting, foot stomping romp.  Best described as acoustic pop, Fruit’s electric set also touches funk, blues, rock, and groove.  Of outrageous appeal however, are the strength of vocals and the use of hard-hitting harmony.

The Fruit lineup crackles with creative energy and brute musical force.  In performance, Mel Watson, a multi-instrumentalist, works her way through half a dozen wind instruments (flute, trumpet, saxophones among them), plays guitar and periodically pulls a harmonica from her pocket.  Susie Keynes, another of the group’s songwriters, plays acoustic and electric guitar as she belts out funk, jazz, and pure pop riffs. 

Sam Lohs also writes, plays guitar, and sings, providing the clearest, sweetest sound of Fruit’s strong female voices.

Classically trained percussionist Catherine Oates gave up her drum set and now plays bass for the band, and (male) Yanya Boston serves as a one-man rhythm section.  With such musical diversity in its ranks, Fruit makes music that is eclectic, to say the least, defying genrefication and clever, comparisons: It’s reggae, jazz, funk, rock, pop – it’s just plain good.

Fruit, has already achieved a certain level of fame in Chico.  After playing here in 2001, the Chico News and Review reported, “Chico, California’s infatuation with Adelaide, Australia’s Fruit turned into a full-fledged love affair last Tuesday at the sold-out Sierra Nevada Brewery ‘Big Room.’  The 3 ½ hour, two-set performance had the crowd up out of its chairs rocking and bopping on the dance floor.  The Sierra Nevada gig, the last on their American Tour, was almost will-powered to Chico by the band’s fans after Fruit performances were the talk of the California World Music Fest in July”

Fruit travels the world year round playing events, festivals and clubs from the intimate to the extravagant.  In the last three years, they have performed more than 300 international shows, including the Edinburgh Fringe, the WOMAD circuit and multiple U.S. festivals.  They hold the record of selling the most CDs by any one band at a WOMAD festival (580 CDs) and the Bethlehem MusikFest (611 CDs).  All of this is an incredible achievement for a band from Southern Australia that has been together only since 1995.

Thrilled to bring Laura Love Band and Fruit to the North Valley are local sponsors: Point radio, Chico News & Review, NCN, KHSL TV 12 and KNVN TV 24, Butte College, and KCHO radio.

Advance tickets are $10 for CSU, Chico and Butte College students, $12 for children and other students, $15 for seniors, $18 for adults and $22 for premium tickets (all seating is reserved).  Tickets are available at the University Box Office (898-6333) or at the following outlets: Terrace Pharmacy on Longfellow Ave, Cal Java in the Raleys Center on Skyway, and at the House of Color in Paradise. Tickets purchased at the door are $2 extra.  For disability related accommodations call 898-4325.

Chico Performances is a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing high quality dance, music and theatre to the residents of the North Valley.

Laura Love Band and Fruit are presented by Chico Performances and is supported, in part, by grants from the California Arts Council, a state agency; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; Western States Arts Federation; and the City of Chico and its Arts Commission.

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