G. Love looking blue
G. Love, a solid bluesman with 30 years of performing live has crossed over from his hometown of Philadelphia into the electronic space of NFTs with the release of Philadelphia Mississippi. G. Love formerly toured with his band Special Sauce, but for this summer it’s a one man show as the opening act as he takes his family along and out on the road.
G. Love began recording in 1993 and has now released 13 albums plus two compilation albums and seven additional bootlegs, demos, and outtake recordings.
Love hit the radar with Rodeo Clowns a decade ago. This song was written by Jack Johnson before Johnson’s career as a performer took off. Love’s performance of that song holds up yet today:
Jack Johnson and G. Love – Rodeo Clowns – YouTube
Love’s current catalogue of music remains relevant and current. Love From Philly on his newest release the Philadelphia Mississippi album touches on modern infusions into blues-based music.
Philadelphia Mississippi is a contemporary blues album about making a pilgrimage from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Cold Water Mississippi in service of the hill country blues. The album is about the new generation of blues men and women who are carrying forward their culture. It is the follow up to G. Love’s 2020 Grammy nominated release The Juice.
G. Love has five people on the road alongside him now: his wife, their 6-, 2- and 1-year old children and his tour manager. The tour kicked off in Mesa Arizona where G. Love performed in 110-degree heat on stage. On this tour he’s playing solo acoustic with the whole family on the bus. Love is playing thirty-minute sets, opening an amphitheater tour for OAR AR (Of A Revolution) and Dispatch. Within that thirty minutes, G. Love has flexibility to mix up the set list. As a result, every night is different.
Love says: “Music is all about making a connection and bringing a community together.” He questions what can you do with them? He asks: “What is the greatest experience he can give those people and make a connection?”
Meanwhile, in conjunction with Josh Katz and the YellowHeart team’s transformative NFT ticketing platform, G. Love has authorized 1,000 NFTs (non-fungible tokens) which provide a limited-edition vinyl copy of Philadelphia Mississippi along with the chance to win vinyl test pressings, plus a four-pack of tickets and an artist meet and greet with G. Love. There is even the prospect of winning a G. Love house concert in the backyard of your home.
This collection follows 10,000-piece NFT collection for Juice Gang in collaboration with Andres Soler and his initial NFT release which was the first tour poster released in NFT form.
Love likes the way in which NFTs are open on the internet and provide a mechanism of authentication, whether that be for a collectible such as a watch or for tickets to the next G. Love show. The NFT conveys the history of ownership, with the current possessor of the NFT being the party with the capacity to exercise any residual rights.
G. Love worked closely with YellowHeart to bring the NFT out. He sees NFTs as transformative as Napster was twenty years ago. Web3 is a disruptive force for the record business as power shifts to artists to control their own destiny. G. Love is trying to help move people into new tech: blockchain, crypto currency and NFTs.
Love sees the NFT space is a DIY (Do It Yourself) space, new tech in Web 3 and navigating through the wild, wild West. It is also a new way for artists to make money as they now have a separate capacity to distribute product through Web 3, and the residual benefit of a percentage of the trade any time an NFT resells. Also, when an artist makes the initial sale of an NFT, they retain as much as 90% of the proceeds where when they sell an album through traditional distribution their percentage may be as low as 14%.
With a project like the Philadelphia Mississippi NFT release G. Love has two separate tiers of distribution: the old school terrestrial door and store model of sales in which most of the proceeds goes to fund the process, and the YellowHeart model of using technology to get the music to the fans.
It’s always fun to spend time with G. Love. Our conversation is here in video and audio podcast formats:
Any fan of music has to recognize the difference between the new and quickly gone trendy artists, and those who have dedicated their life to the road. G. Love is the real deal. He’s been working the circuit for a lifetime, and that’s the way you become a craftsman. Really, the story of the American road warrior is that of a musician and an instrument, plus time and miles. That’s G. Love, and he’s welcome everywhere singing the blues. With his deep catalogue of song options, Love always makes the experience unique. This is that rare situation where the blues create a happy space and G. Love is the curator. Grab a drink and let the blues wash over you. You’re in good hands.
