{"id":41855,"date":"2023-10-11T09:11:28","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T13:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=41855"},"modified":"2023-10-11T09:11:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-11T13:11:29","slug":"on-stage-extra-the-friendship-commanders-ready-to-rock-mid-atlantic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=41855","title":{"rendered":"On Stage Extra: The Friendship Commanders ready to rock Mid-Atlantic"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

The Friendship Commanders<\/p><\/div>\n

Commander may have been sent into exile in Delaware, but the Commanders are currently out in full force in the Mid- Atlantic region \u2013 the Friendship Commanders, that is.<\/p>\n

The Friendship Commanders, a heavy rock duo from Nashville featuring guitarist\/singer\/songwriter Buick Audra and drummer Jerry Roe, are touring in support of their new album, \u201cMASS,\u201d with shows this week in Philadelphia on October 11, Pittsburgh on October 12 and Baltimore on October 13. The show in Philly tonight will be at Century (1350 South 29th Street, Philadelphia).<\/p>\n

At the end of September, Friendship Commanders<\/a>\u00a0 released their highly anticipated third album, \u201cMASS,\u201d\u00a0on Trimming The Shield, along with an essay collection by Audra. The album arrived following the release of recent acclaimed singles\u00a0\u201cBlue,\u201d \u201cFail,\u201d \u201cHigh Sun, and \u201cVampire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMASS\u201d\u00a0is a concept record about memory, language, and the state of Massachusetts. The project was written after the suicide of songwriter Marc Orleans, Audra\u2019s longtime friend. The 10-track body of work presents a series of true stories, snapshots of experiences that Audra lived through and has come back to address.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m from a splintered family,\u201d said Audra, during a phone interview last week from her home in Nashville. \u201cWe moved around a lot, and we moved to Massachusetts a lot. The last time was when I was 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had some really wild experiences \u2013 like being bullied by my \u2018best friend\u2019 and having the music scene see it. She put herself in a position where she had an abusive foothold. She enacted a bully scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got out of it in my early 20s. I wrote about it on one of the songs from the new album, \u2018Vampire.\u2019 I am an abuse survivor from childhood. I didn\u2019t know what it was back then.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was living in Belmont, which is next to Cambridge. A lot takes place there. I got into the music scene. I grew up in angular rock \u2013 loud, noisy, dirty rock scene. Massachusetts is a really strange state in a lot of ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMass\u201d is a word that means \u201ca coherent, typically large body of matter with no definite shape,\u201d \u201ca large number of people or objects crowded together,\u201d and, for Catholics, \u201cthe celebration of the Eucharist.\u201d<\/p>\n

All those meaning and more can be found in \u201cMASS.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis album is really a personal story,\u201d said Audra. \u201cI wanted to make it more about my experience there. I told this story for myself. It informed a lot. It was worth saying out loud. Human nature is bizarre.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Audra, \u201cI was in a position to look back on my time in Massachusetts, a place I\u2019m not from, but was moved to several times throughout my adolescence, and where I lived for some of my early adulthood. What I found, was new awareness and vocabulary around events that had once confused and injured me — and some that have shaped me to this day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never expected to make this work, but after Marc died, this was where my mind went, and I just let it run. I had blocked some of it out, but once I started to write music about it, it all showed up. My bandmate Jerry Roe and I co-produced the album with\u00a0Kurt Ballou, and it was recorded and mixed by Kurt at his God City Studio in Salem, Massachusetts. It was intense to return to Massachusetts to make the record there, but we think it was the perfect choice — sonically and personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orleans\u2019 death hit hard for Audra, who spent much of her younger life in Miami, Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Marc died, I was grieving his death,\u201d said Audra. \u201cI looked back at the time. \u2018MASS\u2019 applied to the state, to an assembly of people moving the same way, to people getting into sets of behavior, to Catholic Mass. Massachusetts was the most Catholic place in America. Coming from Miami, it was a very strange cultural whiplash.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story of the album is a Massachusetts story. It took place there. It\u2019s there the whole time. The whole album is really a map of learning where you don\u2019t belong. When I was younger, I didn\u2019t understand what a healthy relationship meant.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the project is autobiographical, it invites the listener to ask themselves about what they understand of their past, and how that knowledge colors their present.<\/p>\n

The album\u2019s sequence is designed to carry the narratives. The opening track, \u201cBlue,\u201d sets the table for the whole project by rejecting the idea that staying\u2014whether in a relationship or a place\u2014is the superior move. It also promises that if someone is living in a chapter they don\u2019t know how to leave, they will.<\/p>\n

The next track is \u201cFail,\u201d an anthem about inadvertently failing who we love wherein Audra openly grieves the death of Orleans. \u201cHigh Sun\u201d takes the listener back to some of the events that turned Massachusetts into a dark place for her, including two episodes where she was mistreated by peers while onlookers did nothing. \u201cVampire\u201d kicks against the grip of a dominant personality. \u201cStill Life\u201d echoes what Buick was told when she spoke up about imbalances she witnessed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe Were Here\u201d names the fear Audra long carried as a result of her Boston years: that she was unlovable. \u201cDistortion\u201d lists the things she felt she had to say about herself and her story to blend in with everyone else, always feeling that being different was a problem. \u201cA Retraction\u201d stands up to apathetic former friends while stating that if she ever told them she loved them, she didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cMove\u201d reminds the listener that they are always allowed to leave. And at the end of the album, the music falls away for \u201cDissonance,\u201d a spoken piece about the many things she hoped the listener was able to hear and see during the course of the record.
\nThe artwork for \u201cMASS\u201d and its related singles was done by Audra using the cyanotype printing method, a choice chosen to illustrate how her memories have been colored by trauma, all blue. A limited edition of hand-numbered and signed cyanotype prints will be made available with the album, as well as an essay collection by Audra. \u201cMASS: Essays on Memory, Language, & the State of Massachusetts\u201d is prose that further explores the narratives and themes of the music.<\/p>\n

Roe said, \u201cI met Buick after nearly all of the events, times, and places that inspired this album took place, but I’ve come to know the stories intimately and it felt very special to\u00a0bring these songs about them to life. Musically, I’ve never felt more at home. This new body of work combines all of the things I love most. It’s heavy, very melodic, intensely emotional, and somehow simultaneously fun and heartbreaking. Very proud of what we all made together from Buick’s work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Audra and Roe are from musical families.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely am,\u201d said Roe, who grew up in Nashville. \u201cEveryone in my family played. It seems like I was born playing music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Audra said, \u201cWe\u2019re both from highly musical families. I grew up playing in the school band and singing in choirs. I\u2019m a self-taught guitar player. I never had a guitar lesson. I went to art school instead of music school and didn\u2019t start playing guitar until I was 20.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together, they now make great music \u2013 brutally honest music.\u201d
\nVideo link for Friendship Commanders — https:\/\/youtu.be\/VWNpxgLZekU<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at Century on October 11, which has Clamfight and El Dingo as opening acts, will start at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tickets are $10.<\/p>\n

Another attractive concert on October 11 will take place at the Brooklyn Bowl (1009 Canal Street, Philadelphia, www.brooklynbowl.com\/philadelphia<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"\"

Christone \u201cKingfish\u201d Ingram<\/p><\/div>\n

Grammy Award-winning guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Christone \u201cKingfish\u201d Ingram<\/a>\u00a0will celebrate\u00a0his third Alligator Records release,\u00a0\u201cLive In London,\u201d\u00a0with a live performance at Brooklyn Bowl in Philadelphia on October 11.<\/p>\n

The album was recorded on June 6, 2023, in front of a sweaty, sold-out, standing-room-only crowd at the famous UK club, The Garage.\u00a0\u201cLive In London\u201d\u00a0is the guitar-driven live album\u00a0Kingfish\u2019s diehard fans around the world have been clamoring for since they first watched him perform as a teenager on YouTube.<\/p>\n

According to Ingram, \u201cThis album is a short lifetime in the making. I\u2019ve long had an interest in recording a live album and I finally felt the timing was right. Not only do I have a deeper catalog of music to choose from, but I also have been extensively touring with my band, both of which truly made recording a live album seamless. Sprinkle in the opportunity to perform in a city I love, it\u2019s all a no-brainer and something that makes me deeply proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the concert,\u00a0Ingram\u2019s command over his instrument is more than impressive. He remains in the moment, at times raining down incendiary solos, other times picking poignant, blues-drenched licks, but always playing deeply from his heart. Along with his versatile, tight-knit band \u2013 bassist Paul Rogers, drummer Christopher Black and keyboardist Deshawn Alexander \u2013 he brings intensity and honesty to each song, moving the audience from hushed disbelief to spontaneous, extended ovations.<\/p>\n

\u201cLive In London\u201d features the internationally recognized guitar prodigy and vocalist performing 17 songs, with tracks including material from both of his previous studio albums, 2019\u2019s GRAMMY-nominated debut,\u00a0\u201cKingfish,\u201d and 2021\u2019s GRAMMY-winning\u00a0\u201c662.\u201d\u00a0Live In London\u00a0also includes two potent, new original songs,\u00a0\u201cMidnight Heat\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cMississippi Night,\u201d as well as a blistering version of Michael \u201cIron Man\u201d Burks\u2019\u00a0\u201cEmpty Promises.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Ingram last played in the area — Upper Merion Concerts Under the Stars series \u2013 in June, he was still touring in support of \u201c662.\u201d\u00a0 The tour — \u201cChristone\u00a0\u201cKingfish\u201d Ingram Presents\u00a0662: Juke Joint Live\u201d \u2013 took the 24-year-old guitarist, vocalist and songwriter across the U.S. and Europe.<\/p>\n

Many blues guitarists have been playing for decades. Ingram\u2019s guitar playing gives listeners the impression that he too has been at it for decades. In reality, he is barely two decades old. He was born in Mississippi in January 1999 and has been exposed to the blues since he was a toddler.<\/p>\n

In addition to the Grammy nomination (his second in two years),\u00a0\u201c662\u201d\u00a0was named the #1 Best Blues Album of 2021 by UK tastemaker magazine,\u00a0MOJO.\u00a0Rolling Stone\u00a0declared, \u201cKingfish\u00a0is one of the most exciting young guitarists in years, with a sound that encompasses B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and Prince.\u201d
\nUpon its July 2021 release,\u00a0\u201c662\u201d\u00a0debuted at #1 on the\u00a0Billboard\u00a0Blues Chart, and it’s remained on the chart ever since. \u201c662\u201d\u00a0was recorded in Nashville and co-written and produced by Grammy-winner Tom Hambridge. It features 13 songs (and one previously released bonus track) displaying many sides of Ingram\u2019s personality, as well as his one-of-a-kind guitar and vocal skills. Ingram\u2019s debut,\u00a0\u201cKingfish,\u201d was named the #1 Best Blues Album of 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been out here on the road for a while,\u201d said Ingram, during a phone interview \u201cEverything is going great. I\u2019ve been selling out shows everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ingram describes \u201c662\u201d\u00a0(the number is northern Mississippi\u2019s telephone area code) as \u201ca\u00a0presentation of my life in and away from the Delta.\u201d\u00a0The album overflows with hard-hitting original songs, jaw-dropping guitar work and deep, soul-possessed vocals.\u00a0Ingram recently won the 2021\u00a0Living Blues\u00a0Award for Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar).<\/p>\n

He also won two 2021 Blues Music Awards (for Guitarist of The Year and Contemporary Blues Male Artist of The Year) in addition to the five he won last year.\u00a0In February 2021, Ingram guest hosted Spotify\u2019s popular\u00a0\u201cIn The Name Of The Blues\u201d\u00a0playlist, which featured him talking about and sharing some of his favorite songs.<\/p>\n

\u201c662\u201d\u00a0was co-written and produced by Grammy-winner Tom Hambridge. It features 13 songs displaying many sides of Ingram\u2019s dynamic personality, as well as his one-of-a-kind guitar and vocal skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually recorded \u2018662\u2019 during the pandemic,\u201d said Ingram. \u201cWe spent a full week at Ocean Way Studio in Nashville, which was the same studio I used for my first album. We had writing sessions on Zoom from May through September and then went in the studio two weeks later.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt went pretty smooth. I learned a lot from making my first record. It helped having Tom produce both of my albums. He knows how to pull things out of me.\u00a0The new album shows my growth. It was two years since my first record, and I had a lot of things happen in my life. My mom passed away. Then there was COVID.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to make a personal record. I wanted to show a different side. People know me for edgy and hardness, but I also have a soul and R&B vibe.\u00a0We had 20 songs going into the studio and recorded them all. We used 13 and we\u2019ll use the other songs later.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ingram grew up with the blues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI come from Clarksdale, Mississippi \u2013 the Mecca of blues,\u201d said Ingram.\u00a0\u201cI remember seeing the PBS documentary on Muddy Waters when I was pretty young. And I lived next door to a blues band. I was exposed to the blues a lot as a young child.\u00a0I actually started as a bass player. My first paid gig playing bass was with the All Night Long Blues Band. I was 11 at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for Ingram to switch from bass to lead guitar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was playing bass, but I always wanted to play guitar,\u201d said Ingram. \u201cBut, when I was young, my fingers were too big for guitar.\u00a0I started with a cheap Sears & Roebuck guitar. An Epiphone 335 was my first real guitar.\u00a0I got it for Christmas when I was in middle school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was 14-15, I played guitar for a local band. I just wanted to do something different. I wanted to put my own thing together. I wanted to play guitar. Playing guitar was original.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ingram explained the origin of his nickname.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mentor from the Delta Museum gave kids nicknames,\u201d said Ingram. \u201cHe called me Kingfish. He said Kingfish who was a character on the \u2018Amos \u2018n\u2019Andy Show.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest influences were Albert King, Little Milton, B.B. King, Son House, Freddie King and Skip James. I was also influenced by Ernie Isley, Jimi Hendrix, Prince and George Benson.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though I was influenced by Jimi and Prince, I never had an actual intent to merge rock and blues. I just want to experiment and see what I come up with. I just like to create stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking the guitar sing \u2013 that\u2019s when playing with substance comes into play. I love playing originals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLive In London\u201d\u00a0is now available at all streaming and download services and can be experienced in Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos at Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and Qobuz. The album will be released as a 2-CD set and a 2-LP set on October 13. Both the CD and LP will include encore performances as bonus tracks.<\/p>\n

Video link for Christone \u201cKingfish\u201d Ingram \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/1JKTwgujXlA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at Brooklyn Bowl on October 11 will start at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Ticket prices range from $27.50-$55.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Commander may have been sent into exile in Delaware, but the Commanders are currently out in full force in the Mid- Atlantic region \u2013 the Friendship Commanders, that is. The Friendship Commanders, a heavy rock duo from Nashville featuring guitarist\/singer\/songwriter Buick Audra and drummer Jerry Roe, are touring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7529],"tags":[11472,6518,14435],"class_list":["post-41855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-christone-kingfish-ingram","tag-featured","tag-the-friendship-commanders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41855"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41856,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41855\/revisions\/41856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}