Rainbow Body Debuts With Ross James and Oteil Burbridge Bringing the Low End
The new supergroup Rainbow Body has released its self-titled debut album, and it’s a banger. The band includes Taylor and Griff Goldsmith of Dawes, Eric Krasno of Lettuce and Soulive, Rick Mitarotonda of Goose, bassist Ross James of Phil Lesh & the Terrapin Family Band, and Adam MacDougall of Chris Robinson Brotherhood and Circles Around the Sun. As if that’s not enough firepower, the group recorded the album at Flóki Studios in Northern Iceland, with Oteil Burbridge appearing on half the tracks.
Talking with Relix, Krasno says the project started as imagining “Allman Brothers harmony, but with jazzier chords and the best lyricist we know.” The songs get jammy and focus on guitar harmony, but he adds that the magic is in each member’s character.
“But then we have all these other voices. Griff’s one of the most creative drummers ever, so anytime we feed him anything, he makes it new. I think Ross is an unsung bass player. I mean, Oteil is obviously Oteil, but Ross does this Phil meets Allen Woody kind of thing that’s pure rock-and-roll,” he said. “Then MacDougall is just a wizard. He’s like Mickey Mouse after he gets his powers in Fantasia. That’s Adam MacDougall to me, where all these different things start dancing together. So it was little bits of all that.”
Hear that Lesh-meets-Woody approach with James’s bass line on “Strange Memory”:
Rainbow Body is out now on CD, vinyl and as a digital download (Apple Music, and Amazon Music).
Rainbow Body Track List:
- Strange Memory
- I Don’t Know What to Do with My Hands
- From Mirror Lake (feat. Oteil Burbridge)
- Jalü (feat. Oteil Burbridge)
- Review of Millie Fulbright’s Debut Album “Courtside”
- Blade Runner on the Big Screen
- So Many Words (feat. Oteil Burbridge and Nicki Bluhm)
- Kicking Over the Traces (feat. Oteil Burbridge)
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
