Tag: Matthew Stubbs and the Antiguas

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Matthew Stubbs Teams Up with Pat Faherty, Charlie Musselwhite, and Luther Dickinson on a Boogie Blues Number

Last year, I wrote a bit about the Boston-based bandleader, songwriter, composer and guitarist Matthew Stubbs. Stubbs has spent the past 11 years as a member of Charlie Musselwhite’s backing band, and he’s played in the backings bands for a number of other blues legends including of John Hammond, James cotton, Junior Watson and James Harman. Stubbs has also released two solo instrumental albums 2008’s Soulbender released through Vizztone Records and 2010’s Medford and Main released through Chicago, IL-based Blue Bella Records that drew from the  Memphis, TN soul/blues sound. And as you may recall, Stubbs formed his own band The Antiguas, a Duane Eddy, Link Wray, and Booker T meets garage rock, B movie soundtracks and Afrobeat-inspired act that features Just Lopes (organ), Chris Rivelli (drums) and Marc Hickox (bass). 

The Boston-based composer, songwriter and guitarist’s latest musical project GA-20 is a collaboration with his longtime friend Pat Faherty. Formed last year, the project is centered around the duo’s mutual love of traditional blues, R&B, 50s and 60s and their love of the work of Lazy Lester, J.B. Lenoir, Earl Hooker, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Junior Wells. Feeling a void in contemporary music, the duo set out to write, record and perform a modernized version of the blues — with the same sort of passion and earnestness on stage and in the studio of the genre’s heyday.

GA-20’s full-length debut is slated for release later this summer through Karma Chief Records, and the album’s latest single is the shuffling, “Naggin’ On My Mind.” Indebted to Earl Hooker and John Lee Hooker, the track features the imitable and explosive harmonica playing of Charlie Musselwhite, and from North Mississippi All Stars’ Luther Dickinson — and is built around a looping 12 bar blues, a slide guitar solo and a stomping rhythm. Simply put, it’s blues the way I love it — a boozy boogie stomp. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Currently comprised of founding duo Soulive‘s Alan Evans (drums) and The New Mastersounds’ Eddie Roberts (guitar), along with Chris Spies (keys), Kevin Scott (bass), who’s a member of Jimmy Herring‘s backing band, Adyron de Leon (vocals) and Pimps of Joytime’s Kimberly Dawson, Matador! Soul Sounds can trace their origins to when Evans and Roberts were touring together with their respective main gigs, and as Roberts explains in press notes, “The idea came about one night while we were drinking wine in a bar in DC, when I turned to Alan and asked ‘can we start a band together?’ Alan obviously shared the same sentiment, as we are here today launching the debut album!”

Interestingly, the band is loosely centered around the concept of Spanish bullfighting. A common American misconception of bullfighting is that it’s the feat off one man versus one bull; but rather, bullfighting is largely a team effort in which the matter is backed by his cuadrilla, his team, his corner — and its actually much more like boxing. Additionally, the band’s name is partially a nod at Grant Green’s Matador, which both Evans and Roberts had liked immensely. Sonically, Matador! Soul Sounds approach draws from its founders shared musical passions including jazz, funk and soul, but in a subtly different fashion than the individual band leader’s previous work.

The act’s latest single  “Theme for a Private Investigator” finds the act drawing from crispy, Southern fried funk, soul and blues in a way that may remind some listeners of Matthew Stubbs and the Antiguas, as Matador! Soul Sounds nods at the work of Booker T and the MG’s, as well as Muscle Shoals and The Meters while possessing an incredibly cinematic, 70s TV theme song like quality; in fact, you can probably picture the show’s protagonist and his wise-cracking sidekick strutting to their badass car, fighting bad guys, saving the girl and what not to the song, and it makes perfect sense.

The All-Star act’s full-length debut Get Ready is slated for release next week — both digitally and on vinyl, and they’ll be embarking on a national tour to support the album, which will include a March 17, 2018 stop at Brooklyn Bowl. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.
Tour Dates
3/15 @ Rex Theatre – Pittsburgh, PA – tix
3/16 @ Union Stage – Washington, DC – tix
3/17 @ [Pacifico Presents] Brooklyn Bowl – Brooklyn, NY – tix
3/18 @ Fairfield Theatre Company – Fairfield, CT – tix
3/19 @ Brighton Music Hall – Boston, MA – tix
3/21 @ The Ardmore Music Hall – Ardmore, PA – tix
3/22 @ Martyr’s – Chicago, IL – tix – tix
3/23 @ Cervantes’ Other Side – Denver, CO – tix
3/24 @ Fox Theatre – Boulder, CO – tix
3/26 @ Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA – tix
3/28 @ Jack London Revue – Portland, OR – tix
3/29 @ Nectar Lounge – Seattle, WA – tix

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Matthew Stubbs and the Antiguas Release Surreal and Psychedelic Visuals for “Bastille Day”

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few months, I’ve written a couple of posts on the Boston, MA-based guitarist and songwriter/composer and bandleader Matthew Stubbs. And as you may recall, Stubbs, has split his time as a member of Charlie Musselwhite’s touring band and as a solo artist, who has released two solo, instrumental albums — 2008’s Soulbender released through Vizztone Records and 2010’s Medford and Main released through Chicago, IL-based Blue Bella Records that drew from the  Memphis, TN soul/blues sound. In 2016 Stubbs added bandleader to his resume, with his backing band The Antiguas, which feature Just Lopes (organ), Chris Rivelli (drums) and Marc Hickox (bass)  — and while continuing with the instrumental composition approach of his previously released work, his newest project is influenced by the work of Duane Eddy, Link Wray, and Booker T but meshed with elements of garage rock, B movie soundtracks and Afrobeat, while focusing on putting the energy and vibe of their live sets on wax.

The band’s self-titled debut was released earlier and this year, and as you may recall album singles “Death Grip” and ” Unwinder,” possessed a decidedly retro feel, bringing to mind late 60s and early 70s B movie soumdtracks, complete with a tight groove —with Death Grip” being inspired by the wild, chase scenes in the cult, car racing movies of the 70s while “Unwinder,” found Stubbs and his Antiguas drawing from 60s psych rock and surfer rock and blues, complete with an organ sequence that brings to mind The Castaways’“Liar Liar.” The album’s latest single “Bastille Day” is a greasy and downright funky track that draws from the blues, Afrobeat, dub and rock within what sounds to my ears like a 12 bar blues — and while expanding upon the sound that has caught attention, the composition will further Stubbs’ reputation for crafting slick and trippy hooks.

Directed and edited by Jack LeMay, the recently released video was shot at the Yawkey T stop in the Boston area, and stars Stubbs, waiting for a train when he encounters the absolutely radiant Monishita Ray, dressed in traditional Indian garb. The video turns into a psychedelic experience when the two look into each other — and the rest of the video splits between following Ray as she dances around the train station, Stubbs’ and company’s rehearsal space and other industrial-like locales, adding a surreal sense of beauty to everything in her path, and Stubbs playing the song’s main riff, before getting even trippier.