HT faves The Ryan Montbleau Band and ALO’s co-headlining tour came to a close in Boston on Sunday and as with all shows on the run, there was collaboration between the two acts involved. Last week we told you about the bands cover of Graceland and today we’ll hip you to ALO and Montbleau’s cover of one of the best songs ever written.

[Photo by Andrew Blackstein]

Starting last week ALO and Montbleau started collaborating on a cover of This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) by Talking Heads. The California-bred act and the Boston-bred singer continued to tackle the tune at each of their last gigs together including the Sunday night finale in Boston. Montbleau and ALO’s Zach Gill share lead vocals and their cover ends in a pretty cool doo-wop breakdown.

We couldn’t find a complete version on YouTube, but if you pair the two clips that follow together, you’ll get the idea. Plus, we’ve got audio of the whole tune. Check it out…

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Back on Dec. 1st the Rex Foundation threw a benefit at The Fillmore in San Francisco to honor the memory of former Grateful Dead manager Jon McIntire. Members of ALO kicked off the memorable night of music, followed by a Bob Weir solo acoustic set and a performance by The Mickey Hart Band with Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools. Today, a compilation of tracks culled from that night dubbed “A Buck Dancer’s Choice” is available for download at nugs.net and iTunes, and on CD at nugs.net .

Here’s the tracklisting and more information on the compilation:

Disc One: Opening Set features ALO members Lebo, Steve Adams and Dave Brogan with Lesley Grant, joined by Bob Weir for Tracks 4 and 5, followed by Set 2 of Bob Weir Solo Acoustic for Tracks 6-9, and on Tracks 10-11, the first two songs of the 3rd Set featuring the Mickey Hart Band, with Mickey Hart, Dave Schools, Crystal Monee Hall, Joe Bagale, Ben Yonas, Sikiru Adepoju, Inx Herman, and Gawain Matthews.

1. Listen To The River 6:38 (Dan Lebowitz) 2. Easy 4:37 (David Brogan) 3. Falling Dominoes 5:24 (Steve Adams, David Brogan, Zach Gill, Dan Lebowitz) 4. Me And My Uncle 5:24 (John Phillips) 5. Dark Star 9:25 (Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Ron McKernan, Mickey Hart) 6. Loose Lucy 8:25 (Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia) 7. Playin’ In The Band 8:20 (Robert Hunter, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart) 8. Peggy-O (Traditional, Arranged by the Grateful Dead) 9. Black Throated Wind 8:02 (Bob Weir, John Perry Barlow) 10. Samson and Delilah 7:16 (Traditional, Arranged by Bob Weir) 11. Cut The Deck 9:25 (Robert Hunter, Mickey Hart, Cliff Goldmacher, Ben Yonas)

Disc Two: Mickey Hart Band, with Bob Weir joining in on Tracks 1 and 2.

1. China Cat Sunflower 8:03 (Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia) 2. I Know You Rider 12:21 (Traditional, Arranged by the Grateful Dead) 3. Heartbeat Of The Sun 18:21 (Mickey Hart, Ben Yonas, Crystal Monee Hall, Sikiru Adepoju, Giovanni Hidalgo, Zakir Hussain) 4. Jersey Shore 6:03 (Mickey Hart, Andre Pesis, Dave Schools, Ben Yonas) 5.Franklin’s Tower 9:10 (Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann) 6. Time Never Ends 8:31 (Mickey Hart, Ben Yonas, Crystal Monee Hal, Tim Hockenberry) 7. Not Fade Away 7:53 (Charles Hardin & Norman Petty) 8. band intros 1:15 9. Brokedown Palace 7:41 (Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia)

You can stream the entire album below…

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American Babies, ALO & Ryan Montbleau Band @ Highline Balllroom – April 24

Words and Photos: Andrew Blackstein

The Ryan Montbleau Band, ALO and American Babies entered the Highline Ballroom on April 24th with an apparent excitement to be playing before a New York City audience. This Wednesday night gig saw the American Babies open the bill. Led by Tommy Hamilton’s insightful songwriting approach, the Babies showcased a vibrant mesh of thick drum driven improvisation that displayed David Butler’s versatility. The 55-minute opening slot allowed guitarists Nick Bockrath and Hamilton to feed off each others’ parts with great energy and precision. The Babies are working on a studio record that will be out this fall, the new tunes should be a welcome addition to their already impressive live show.

[All Photos by Andrew Blackstein]

After a quick turnaround, California’s ALO was greeted by many audience members who shared their recent Jam Cruise vacation. Overhearing a dozen different requests to “get back on the boat” or “I can’t wait ’till next year’s Jam Cruise” proved that the power of music and a shared experience can long after be recalled for present pleasure. ALO shined on this night from the opening notes of Maria to their cover of Prince’s 1999. Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz’s acoustic guitar work has the ability to range from a Grateful Dead styled funk, to a Beach Boys infused rhythm. Zach Gill and Steve Adams sported smiles as they took turns on lead vocals. Having the first few rows of fans singing along probably helped those smiles move wider as well.

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HT faves the Ryan Montbleau Band and ALO are currently on the road together for an eight-show tour that visited the Highline Ballroom in New York City last night. We had a feeling these groups would collaborate on stage and we haven’t been disappointed. At the first few shows the entire Ryan Montbleau Band has guested with ALO to cover Paul Simon’s Graceland.

On this version from last Friday night in Minneapolis, taped by Cliff Morse, Montbleau and ALO’s Zach Gill duet on the vocals, while Lebo adds tasteful pedal steel flourishes. Both bands aren’t afraid of improvisation, so a call-and-response segment turns into a furious jam. Take a listen…

California’s Animal Liberation Orchestra, aka ALO, were one of the band’s that impressed me most on last month’s Jam Cruise 11. I’ve been waiting for official videos of their sets and others to appear online. Today, a clip of ALO performing Plastic Bubble, a catchy tune they’ve performed on Jam Cruise 7 and Jam Cruise 9 as well, was uploaded to the JamCruiseTV YouTube channel.

Watch as ALO plays Plastic Bubble on the Pool Deck during Jam Cruise 11…

In what we think is a fantastic fit, two HT faves, California’s ALO and the Ryan Montbleau Band out of Boston, will hit the road together for a two-week co-bill tour of the Northeast and Midwest this April. All in all, the groups will play eight shows together as well as a few select headlining shows of their own.

The tour kicks off on April 18th in Milwaukee and runs through a April 27th date in Philadelphia. Along the way, the two bands will hit Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore, NYC and Syracuse. Both groups play a mix of funk, roots and rock music and we’re expecting/hoping for many sit-ins.

ALO + Ryan Montbleau Band Tour Dates:

4/18 — Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI
4/19 — Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, MN
4/20 — Double Door, Chicago, IL
4/21 — Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH
4/23 — 8 x 10, Baltimore, MD
4/24 — Highline Ballroom, New York, NY
4/25 — Westcott Theater, Syracuse, NY
4/26 — Some Kind of Jam 8, Schuylkill Haven, PA*
4/26 – Putnam Den, Saratoga Springs, NY^
4/27 — The Blockley, Philadelphia, PA
4/28 — Brighton Music Hall, Brighton, MA*

* ALO without Ryan Montbleau Band

^ Ryan Montbleau Band without ALO

The ninth annual Mountain Jam Music Festival will take place at Hunter Mountain, New York from June 6th to June 9th. Today, the event organizers have announced the initial lineup for MJ9. Widespread Panic will play two sets at this year’s fest. Also, HT faves ALO will make the trip east for Mountain Jam, while The Avett Brothers will come up from North Carolina for MJ9. Phil Lesh and Friends will perform two sets at the fest as will host Warren Haynes and his Gov’t Mule outfit.

Other acts set to play the event, according to John Barry, are Primus, Soulive with The Shady Horns, Gary Clark Jr., Dispatch, Jackie Greene, Amy Helm and more.

Here’s the full initial lineup announcement…

Phil Lesh & Friends (2 sets), Widespread Panic (2 sets), Gov’t Mule (2 sets), Primus, The Avett Brothers, Dispatch, Gary Clark Jr., Soulive w/ Shady Horns, Deer Tick, Jackie Greene, Rubblebucket, ALO, Amy Helm, Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers, The Revivalists, David Wax Museum, SIMO

Early-bird tickets go on sale this Saturday, Jan. 19th, at 10AM ET via the event’s website.

UPDATE: One of our readers asked who would be performing with Phil Lesh as part of the Phil and Friends lineup for Mountain Jam and the event organizers were kind enough to fill us in via Twitter. Lesh will be joined by guitarists Warren Haynes, John Scofield, drummer Joe Russo and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti.

PL&F: #WarrenHaynes, #JohnScofield, #JoeRusso, #JeffChimenti RT: @bjroddy @hidden_track Any word on the Phil and Friends lineup?

Wednesday, January 16, 2013 6:03 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@MountainJam

Mountain Jam

Ever since the MSC Poesia returned to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday morning, our pal Steve of CheeseHead Productions has been uploading footage from Jam Cruise 11 to YouTube at a fast and furious pace. One of the high points of each evening was the solo atrium piano sets featuring keyboardists such as Ivan Neville, Kyle Hollingsworth and Nigel Hall. On Thursday night Zach Gill of ALO took the honors and delivered an exceptional 90-minute, curfew-busting set.

Among the tunes Gill performed was a version of Handy Man from his 2008 solo album Stuff that featured Joel Cummins on Umphrey’s McGee sharing the piano with Zach. Check out Steve’s video of this performance, extra points if you can spot me…

Zach Gill w/ Joel Cummins – Handy Man

• Jam Cruise 11 Journals: Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five Pt. 1

Later, Gill covered Purple Rain with the help of Cummins…

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Back in September HT faves ALO made their Farm Aid debut during the 2012 edition of the long-running series of benefit concerts at HersheyPark Stadium in Hershey, Penn. The Californians were only given three songs, but they made each one count. All three tunes – Dead Still Dance, Speed of Dreams and Storms and Hurricanes were from their fantastic new(ish) album Sounds Like This.

Yesterday, pro-shot clips of all three songs surfaced on Farm Aid’s YouTube channel…

ALO @ Farm Aid 2012 – Dead Still Dance, Speed of Dreams, Storms & Hurricanes

Earlier this month one of the many creative workshops that took place at the High Sierra Music Festival was a tribute to Levon Helm dubbed “The Ramble Gramble” in which bassist Steve Adams of ALO brought together a number of his musical friends to tackle classics from The Band’s live repertoire. We’ve been on the look out for footage from The Ramble Gramble and finally hit pay dirt thanks to YouTuber Elk Solana.

1. Rag Mama Rag 

Railroad Earth drummer Carey Harmon handles vocals on this chestnut off The Brown Album, while his band mate John Skehan contributes the song’s signature mandolin licks. Other contributors to this Rag Mama Rag include ALO guitarist Lebo on pedal steel, Bonnie Paine of Elephant Revival on washboard, Tim Carbone and Andy Goessling of RRE on fiddle and sax respectively, Steve Adams of ALO on bass, Tea Leaf Green’s Trevor Garrod on keys and ALO drummer Dave Brogan on the second drum kit.

2. Ophelia

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The long-running annual benefit concert Farm Aid will come to Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Penn. on Sept. 22. This year’s event will feature board members Dave Matthews (performing with Tim Reynolds), Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson. In addition, Jack Johnson, ALO, Pegi Young & the Survivors and Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real will round out the lineup.

The first Farm Aid took place in 1985 and over the years the foundation has raised over $40 million to benefit family farmers across the country. Tickets for Farm Aid 2012 will go on sale Friday, July 13, at 10 AM EDT and will be available at www.livenation.com, www.ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster outlets, GIANT Center Box Office, or by phone at 800-745-3000.

The Bonnaroo YouTube Channel continues to grow with more videos from this month’s festival added to the official page nearly every day. We’re quite fond of ALO around these parts and we’re happy to see the latest addition to the Bonnaroo Channel comes from the California natives. One of the band’s best albums was 2007′s Roses & Clovers, thanks in part to the hearty dose of rock and soul found on the LP’s opening track – Maria. Check out ALO’s performance of the tune at Bonnaroo 2012…

ALO – Maria

Life’s been pretty good for ALO lately.

They are celebrating the recent release of their fourth album on Brushfire Records, Sounds Like This, were named by Rolling Stone Magazine as a SXSW “Can’t Miss Act” and have scores of appearances scheduled this summer at the country’s top festivals including Bonnaroo, High Sierra (one of their personal favorites) and Gathering of the Vibes. After kicking off the tour on Wednesday night at Brooklyn Bowl, ALO brought their act to Boston to help support the new album. On Thursday afternoon, not only did they do an intimate in-store performance at Life is good’s flagship store on Newbury Street and follow it up with a full electric show at Brighton’s Music Hall, it was also announced that they had been tapped to perform at this fall’s Life is good Festival in Canton, Mass. ALO performed at 2009′s Life is good Festival at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, but this will be their first performance at Boston’s only multi-day music festival.

Formed over 20 years ago in California, Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO) have continued to evolve their signature sound which wraps funk, Americana, jam-band, acoustic and imaginative lyrics into a deliriously infectious live show. ALO consists of Steve Adams on Bass, Dave Brogan on percussion, Zach Gill on keys & ukulele and Lebo on guitar and pedal steel. All members add vocals to the great vibe and sound that is so distinctly theirs.

Sounds Like This was purposely put together and recorded to capture the live essence of a concert which typically finds the audience wrapped up and part of the show. Audience interaction, sing along, clapping and participation have long been hallmarks of an ALO show. In a post-set interview, Zach said that in creating the album, he wanted to close his eyes and imagine every song being performed live on New Year’s Eve at the Fillmore. The album fluidly moves from song to song with tracks that seamlessly blend funk, vocal harmonies, catchy lyrics and straight out rock & roll. Mission accomplished.

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Over the past few weeks ALO’s new album, Sounds Like This, which hits stores and online retailers today, has been getting more play on my iPhone than any other new LP. The group has a distinctive sound that combines all the genres that I love – classic rock, jam, indie, pop and Americana – to create a signature style that has developed over decades of performing and recording together.

ALO will return to Brooklyn Bowl tomorrow for a rare New York City gig. In honor of the band’s upcoming visit to the Big Apple and today’s release of Sounds Like This, let’s take a look at a video containing an acoustic version of the SLT track Storms & Hurricanes…

ALO – Storms & Hurricanes (Acoustic)

Now that’s it’s been just about a month since Jam Cruise 9 returned to land, I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on all the music I witnessed. While I was familiar with most of the bands aboard the MSC Poesia, there were a number of acts who were new to me. For this week’s B List, I made a list of the 10 bands I hadn’t seen live before the trip who impressed me the most.

Yes, it’s ridiculous that I hadn’t seen a few of these bands, but now that I have, I won’t miss them again the next time they come around.

10. Big Gigantic

[All photos by Chad Smith]

Colorado’s Big Gigantic features drummer Jeremy Salken and producer/saxophonist Dominic Lalli coming together to forge an inventive sound that’s equal parts electronic and rock. You can’t help but dance to the ridiculously high-energy beats and grooves the pair provides. BG’s Zebra Bar set was otherworldly, not only for the work of Salken and Lalli, but also for sit-ins by the likes of Brock Butler, Eric Krasno and Joel Cummins.

• Previously on HT: All Aboard, Knee Deep In It, Letter to 16-Year-Old ScottyB, Nourished Soul, Day Four – Part 1, My Jam Cruise Debut, Jam Cruise 9 Videos, Day Four – Part 2, Photo Gallery – The People

READ ON for more of this week’s B List…