Robert Randolph & the Family Band set show
Concert in Clifton Park on Saturday
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. >> Celebrating the release of its new album, “Got Soul,” Robert Randolph & the Family Band will be coming through the Capital Region this weekend on the Got Soul Spring Tour.
Often called the “Jimi Hendrix of the pedal steel guitar,” and named one of the greatest guitarists worldwide, Randolph is credited with revolutionizing the role of his chosen instrument.
On the heels of “Got Soul,” which was released in February, Robert Randolph & the Family Band will perform Saturday at Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park. Doors open at 7 p.m. and music will begin at 8 p.m. with supporting act Luke Wade.
At this local show, he will debut to local audiences what he’s been busy working on since his last visit to the area.
The group’s fifth studio album, “Got Soul” takes stock of Randolph’s past as a church musician in New Jersey even as it pushes the band forward into new places, he said in a press release.
“The music takes me back into the roots of who I am, where I came from. It’s got an upbeat, positive church/gospel/rock/ bluesy vibe to it. I’m like a rock and roll preacher on Got Soul,” he said in the release.
The name of the album, drawn from the title track and the song into which it segues, “She Got Soul,” is Randolph’s way of saying that people all need to reconnect with who they really are.
“People like Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, Elvis and the Stones, they were all in tune with their soul,” Randolph said in the release. “When you’re digging deep in your soul, you can always find originality. People got soul everywhere.”
There’s certainly no shortage of originality on “Got Soul.” Produced by multiple Grammy nominee Matt Pierson, the 12-song set runs the gamut from the aforementioned gospel-informed numbers to deep, funky grooves to incendiary rock-and-soul jams.
The hauntingly exquisite “Heaven’s Calling” features Randolph on solo steel while guest vocalists Anthony Hamilton and Darius Rucker lend their golden pipes to “She Got Soul” and “Love Do What It Do,” respectively. “I Thank You,” the ‘60s Sam & Dave R&B smash, is completely reimagined in the hands of the Family Band and Snarky Puppy’s very own Cory Henry.
The band’s intentions when creating Got Soul were simple, Randolph said the in release.
“We just wanted something that was very raw and sounded good,” he said in the release.
More information on Robert Randolph & the Family Band and its upcoming local performance is available at www.robertrandolph.net.