Skip Duglas
Birmingham, Alabama, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2001 | SELF
Music
Press
Change Together is the newest album from alt-southern-kick-ass-rock group, skip duglas.
After the rush of releasing the self titled EP, Rudy disappeared deep into the Mississippi Delta for an inspirational journey through the heart and soul of the delta blues. Knocking the item off his bucket list was just an added bonus.
Driving through the warm humid delta air, corn fields as far as I could see, windows down and listening to blues artists Son House and Robert Johnson, I found Robert Johnson’s grave, among other “legendary” sites, it turned into an experience of profound epic proportion.
Back to reality, motivated, and full of creative energy, songwriting began. Then it was time to get the original members of skip duglas back together in a north Georgia cabin to reconnect, fight bears, and record what would become Change Together.
You can learn more about their Georgia adventures in our recent interview.
Setting up gear, instruments, and microphones all over the cabin, the crew set out on a mission to capture the moment and the essence of the cabin as well as the spirit of creation and human connections through music.
In my opinion, they succeeded…greatly. Change Together is as organic as it is polished.
Think Incubus crossed with the Foo Fighters but Mike Posner as the lead. The southern rock and blues influences add unique flavors to the traditional alt-rock elements of the group’s music.
“Change Together” treads upon completely organic ground, inspired by the old delta blues recordings, life and growing up, we made an attempt to return to a time where music was accepted as being played by real people; we wanted capture the “human” element.
I’ve listened to the album several times before writing this and still hasn’t gotten old. Two thumbs up over here; make sure you crank it up to 11 though.
Read more at http://www.midtnmusic.com/change-together-by-skip-duglas/#VeWIzP2lrRO6LLEb.99 - Middle Tennessee Music
9
Our overall verdict "Excellent"
Here’s a twist for you; I’m going to talk about how much Skip Duglas’ Change Together reminds me of so many other artists, but I’m not going to do it negatively. This album includes all the trademarks of some of rock radio’s biggest successes. The mix of so many influential features is done so beautifully that it would be nearly impossible to bash it, and I’m not even going to try.
Very rarely does a pop rock album wake me up and grab my attention as immediately as did this one. Opening track “El Camino” swings into action like Spiderman, with a mean set of riffs and some tasty vocals sprinkled over top. Think Maroon 5’s It Won’t Be Soon Before Long. Like that album, Change Together leaves no room for auxiliary bullshit, concentrating instead on hooks and punches. Musically, the band delivers an exceptionally tight performance. It is stressed in their website blurb that they wanted to capture the live experience without too much studio magic, at which they’ve done a stellar job.
What’s that been, two paragraphs? Okay, good. Let’s now talk about Incubus. More specifically, let’s talk about how unfair it is to tell me that you drew inspiration from one of my favourite band’s riff-heavy and fist pumping third album, Morning View, and then throw me a curve ball and show me something more akin to their lighthearted and rhythmically spastic fifth album, Light Grenades. Singer Rick does an exceptional job of channelling Brandon Boyd’s smooth vocals and melodic creativity without sacrificing any of his own personality as an artist. This kind of tribute-without-ripoff is a rare thing, so, kudos to you, Rick.
The positive comparisons to other blockbuster artists don’t stop there. This album is the perfect combination of Incubus’ quirkiness, Weezer’s happy-go-lucky swing, Green Day’s sheer melodic sensibility, with a dash of the Foo Fighters’ snarling sincerity.
I will throw a shout out to drummer Jeremy for keeping things interesting. And I will continue by saying that if you don’t like Incubus, Green Day, Weezer, Maroon 5 or the Foo Fights, then you probably won’t like this album…but, then you’re probably lying to yourself.
I could go on and on talking about everything this album does right, but there wouldn’t really be any point because a hit is a hit, and, as far as I’m concerned, that’s what we have here. - Bucketlist Music Reviews
Discography
- "Change Together" LP (2014)
- Radio Singles: El Camino, Lullaby, Make It, Thank Fiona, Bones
- "Skip Duglas" EP (2012)
- Radio Singles, "Pawn Shop (Superstar)"; "A Day With James";
- "Defanin (deafening)"
Photos
Bio
Over the last summer, after the rush of releasing and promoting the self titled Ep, excitement of playing shows and heartbreak of losing band members, I withdrew deep into the Mississippi Delta, a lifelong bucket list item, more like a journey of sorts; I went looking for inspiration in one of the most inspirational places, the home of the delta blues. The region is notorious for drawing artists to one of the most influential places of modern music as we know it. Driving through the warm humid delta air, corn fields as far as I could see, windows down and listening to blues artists Son House and Robert Johnson was an experience in itself. Until I found the Crossroads and Robert Johnson's grave. I stood there, in a small church graveyard under the oak tree he was buried beneath and read the words inscribed from a handwritten note he penned on his death bed. It turned into an experience of profound proportion.
Getting back to reality completely refreshed and inspired, I began writing new songs, sending them as they came to Rick; Rick and I had the idea to reconnect with the original members of skip duglas, rent a secluded cabin in the mountains of north Georgia and make an experience out of recording the new material. In two short months we were there. In the huge vaulted ceiling great-room we set up the drums and recorded live. We tried new production techniques and captured the natural reverb and sound of the cabin. We worked around the clock for a week; If a take had the vibe but had mistakes, we kept it. We watched football, sat out on the balcony listening to music and grilled out for every meal. We survived bears, sleep deprivation, and a caffeine induced trip to the emergency room, yet this album proved to be our greatest and most coherent work to date.
"Change Together" treads upon completely organic ground, inspired by the old delta blues recordings, life and growing up, we made an attempt to capture the "human" element. One of our favorite albums is "MorningView" by Incubus. The organic feel and what you hear is what you get tone of that album has always been captivating.
The basic tracks were recorded in the moment, live, we had mic's set up capturing the sound of the cabin itself, in hopes that listeners could experience the atmosphere in which we spent day and night hanging out, writing and working on music, and enjoying the experience of just being a part of something special. This album is not "perfect" by any means, there is no Beat Detective and very little pitch correction, but it is perfect to us. We've poured our hearts into this album and hope we capture yours with it.
-Rudy - See more at: http://www.skipduglas.com/
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