Root Redemption (formerly UBb)

Artist Information

Biography

Hailing from Gainesville, Florida, 2010 Independent Music Awards Blues Song of the Year and 2010 IMA Vox Pop People's Choice Award winner the Root Redemption (formerly Used Blues band) has been reinventing traditional blues forms since 2000. After a few personnel changes the resulting line up (Alan Yeatter, guitar/vocals; Gus Olmos, harmonica; Rick Wagner, drums, Steve Roper, bass) has done just that on their first album, fusing the electric blues formula with rock, soul and traditional delta sounds to create a unique and yet evocative debut not to be missed.

The title track, "Deep Down in Florida", is a raucous homage to blues giant Muddy Waters and a playful tip of the hat to the band's stomping grounds. From there the album careens into more soulful territory with the searing R&B lament "Fix Me Up", followed by the Otis Redding-influenced confessional "Don't You Go". The band next digs deeper to produce the superstitious, haunting delta-esque "Palm Reader Blues" (winner of the Blues Song of the Year at the 2009 Independent Music Awards) before changing things up yet again with the bouncy Chicago-style harmonica rollick "Gator Stomp". "Guess I'll Hit the Road" and "I Told You" find Used Blues sounding very much at home in the Texas house-rocker style, complete with blistering guitars, growling vocals, howling harps and rock steady rhythms. The band slows things back down for the soul-searching 12 bar guitar showcase "No Place in the World". The angst-ridden "That's How Much" hints at jazzier leanings while still maintaining the band's emotional edginess, while the bittersweet "One for My Love" picks things up again, mixing Motown and reggae into the bluesy milieu. The listener will hear the echo of Led Zeppelin in the intense "No Color but Gray", and with the plaintive acoustic version of "No Place in the World" the band wraps it up where it all started; slide guitar and vocal, the blues, as vital as ever in the hands of the Root Redemption.

Instrumentation

Rick Wagner - Drums
Agustin Olmos - Harmonica
Alan Yeatter - Guitar & Vocals
Steve Roper - Bass

Discography

Deep Down in Florida-2009

Audio

• Fix Me Up
  Listen  
• I Told You
  Listen  
• Palm Reader Blues
  Listen  
• No Place in the World (Reprise)
  Listen  
• That's How Much
  Listen  
• No Place in the World
  Listen  
• Don't You Go
  Listen  
• One For My Love
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Palm Reader Blues
• That's How Much
• No Place in the World
• Don't You Go

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Gainesville's Used Blues band captures Best Blues Song award [+ Show ]
  

  By Dave Schlenker Staff writer Gainesville's Used Blues band captured the Best Blues Song awar...By Dave Schlenker
  Staff writer
  
  
  Gainesville's Used Blues band captured the Best Blues Song award at the ninth annual Independent Music Awards this week. The band won for its song “Palm Reader Blues” from its CD “Deep Down in Florida,” released last year and recorded at Gainesville's Taylor Made Music.
  Thousands of musicians from around the world sent in entries for 50 IMA categories, including album, song, music video and design categories. Judges included Tom Waits, The Black Keys, Ricky Skaggs, Pete Wentz, Mark Hoppus, Aimee Mann, The Apples in Stereo, David Garrett, Suzanne Vega, Judy Collins, Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward.
  This was the first time the band had entered the IMA contest, said guitarist Alan Yeatter, who lives in Marion County.
  “The IMAs celebrate artists who follow their own muse and the true music fans who support them,” noted Martin Folkman, IMA executive director.
  Used Blues band — or UBb, as they also are known — is scheduled to perform at Tin Cup's Tavern in downtown Ocala on February 10.
  

• Used Blues Band rolls out new songs [+ Show ]
  

  Used Blues Band rolls out new songs at Backstage Lounge SPECIAL TO THE SUN By Dante Lima ...Used Blues Band rolls out new songs at Backstage Lounge
  
  SPECIAL TO THE SUN
  
  By Dante Lima
  
  Published: Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 6:01 a.m.
  Last Modified: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 1:53 p.m.
  Fresh off of last Sunday’s performance at the North Central Florida Blues Society’s First Annual Blues Challenge, The Used Blues Band will take the stage on Saturday at Backstage Lounge armed with a new set of blues songs ready to get people movin’ and shakin.’
  --
  This is a band that continually impresses me with their varied and delicate interpretations of blues dialects, and it all stems from bassist Butch Wises’ motto of the blues. When I spoke to him Sunday night he told me he lives by Willie Dixon’s quote, “The blues is the root and everything else is the fruit.” Used Blues is not trying to be a cover band, although at one point they were.=2 0They are trying to take what they’ve learned from their heroes Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Bo Diddley, and adapt it to a sound that is built for a modern audience and that goal finally came to fruition with their latest studio recording “Deep Down in Florida.”
  Early in the album, guitarist Alan Yeatter shows that he can write hooky, mid-tempo blues songs in the style of a Robert Cray with tracks like “Fix Me Up” and “Don’t You Go.” These songs including “That’s How Much” venture far from the 12-bar blues shuffle and give each member in the band a chance to throw an ingredient into the boiling pot whether it’s a sparse lick from Yeatter, a dash of harmonica from Gus Almos or a metronomic hi-hat rhythm from Richard Wagner.
  The album has a nice flow to it, never getting too rowdy but never getting boring either. It’s not an album born from the juke joint, although the members have certainly been there once or twice, instead it’s a collection of songs from the heads of a some devout blues fans trying to make a difference in local blues music. The Used Blues Band plays with a pious, almost idyllic reverence for the blues of yore, but they won’t be chained to it. Joining them Saturday night will be Satellite District and Coming Undone.

• A truly diverse blues band [+ Show ]
  

  A truly diverse blues band from Florida author: Rob Richardson If you love the blues - Stevie Ray...A truly diverse blues band from Florida
  author: Rob Richardson
  If you love the blues - Stevie Ray Vaughan, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Satan And Adam, you name it - you need to check this out. If you just kinda like the blues - into more like Led Zeppelin or Eric Clapton then there's still plenty here you'll like. Unlike some blues albums where every song sounds the same, this one goes from a tasty Muddy Waters cover to a dark Zeppelin sound to the Mississippi Delta and then to upbeat SRV joints. And I don't even know how to describe That's How Much - it's just damn good. And it all works - these cats are versatile. This is one of the best blues albums I have heard in the last few years. If you check out the samples and there's nothing here you like, well then enjoy the new Britney Spears.

• Praise from recording artist Ben Prestage [+ Show ]
  

  Great CD! author: Ben Prestage Terrific mix of original material. Soulful songwriting performed b...Great CD!
  author: Ben Prestage
  Terrific mix of original material. Soulful songwriting performed by a solid band.

• Used Blues @ 1982, February 5, 2009 [+ Show ]
  

  Another band working with and blending the traditions of American music are Gainesville's Used Blues...Another band working with and blending the traditions of American music are Gainesville's Used Blues Band, who will be playing 1982 Bar on Wednesday.
  
  These guys come as advertised. They play every style of blues you could want (Delta, Texas, Piedmont, Chicago) and strive to make standards their own with alternating vocals, tempo changes and call and response techniques. Spontaneity is always the mark of artists who are aware, not just awake on stage. Used Blues Band impressed me with their range of blues selections, but blues buff or not, they are enjoyable and worth a listen.
  

Setlist

The Sky's Crying
Fix Me Up
Don't You Go
Palm Reader Blues
Gator Stomp
Pride and Joy
No Place in the World
I Told You
That's How Much
One for My Love
No Color but Gray
No Place in the World (reprise)
Hootchie Cootchie Man
Hip Shake
I'm Ready
Rich Man's Woman
River Hip Mama
Whammer Jammer
Boom-Boom
Honest I Do
Wait/Pack Fair and Square
Baby Please Don't Go
She May Be Your Woman
Who's Been Talking

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