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Jennell Lester

Grass Roots Family Reunion

            The Grass Roots Record Company (don’t call it a ‘Label’), formed in 2006 by Marc Snegg, has a unique approach to everything they do.  The company brings together artists and business people with vision and potential, to create art.  Amazing, isn’t it?  A record company that’s exists simply to create “art for its own sake.”  Let's all reflect, together, for a long, silent moment.

            The ingenuity of Grass Roots Record Company is exemplified in its recently released compilation “The Grass Roots Family Album.”  While other companies are pulling their favorite existing tracks from albums they’ve released, the Grass Roots Family came together (literally) to record an entire album.  While still a compilation in the sense that each track features a different artist or band, the album retains a unique home spun quality that makes the listener feel as if they’re a part of the family.  Recorded over a mere two weeks in Nevada City, California, the Grass Roots Family Album was also recorded entirely live.  Bands gathered together in the same room and everything: straight to tape.  The energy the audience felt between the players was singular in it’s palpability. 

 

            Most of the artists featured on the compilation, and supported by the record company, hail from Nevada City - those who don’t are connected to the city in another way.  Whether they moved away, came back and maybe moved away again, they share between them this one simple fact.  They are all from the same place.  Nature vs. nurture arguments aside, there’s something unifying about growing up in the same town.  That common history provides a foundation that is nearly unshakeable.  This foundation is the perfect place to set your mic.

            In support of the Grass Roots Family Album, Grass Roots Record Company put together the “Grass Roots Record Co.’s Songwriters Revue.”  This tour combines the talents of Alela Diane, Lee Bob Watson, Mariee Sioux, Casual Fog, Alina Estelle Hardin and Benjamin Oak Goodman.  In the middle of their West Coast Tour, the Grass Roots Songwriters made a special stop at Amoeba San Francisco. Outshining our typical in-store by providing THREE individual performers, the Grass Roots Family did not disappoint. 

Mariee Sioux kicked things off with her acoustic guitar and sweet as honey vocals.  The gentle voice slips through the crowd, gently squeezing everyone in a familiar hug. Her acoustic versions of Wizard Flurry Home, Two Tongues at One Time, and Old Magic melt the heart and warm the soul.  In between Mariee Sioux’s performance and Lee Bob Watson’s set, Grass Roots founder Marc Snegg made a quick appearance, introducing artists and explaining the new album and tour.  Lee Bob Watson started out his three song set alone singing Landfill, but quickly invited other members of the Family onto the stage.  For Aficionado and Rosalina’s Arms, Lee Bob invited his extended Family onto the stage to fill out the acoustic sounds.  Lee Bob was followed by Alela Diane, playing Lady Divine and White as Diamonds before she also invited Family on stage with her.  How lucky are we to have six individual performers for the price of . . . FREE!