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Review of the United Front
When you mix a half cup of Prince, a half cup of James Brown, a third of a cup of Ween, two tablespoons of the Beatles, and a dash of Michael McDonald you will have yourself a happy and delicious after taste when you leave a performance by the United Front. I've been to many United Front shows and have enjoyed them all. On Sunday, October 22, I went to the Alley Cat in Nashville to see the United Front play a terrific show. It was a cold night and the building the band played in had no heat because it was under construction, but the United Front fans are not bothered by a simple inconvenience such as "nipply" weather. The United Front did indeed warm, mine, and the rest of the audience's bodies with their soulful portrayal of rock and roll. The number of audience in attendance was not too big but not too small, probably due to the chilliness of the weather; the crowd enjoyed the show immensely.
The United Front consists of six multi-talented musicians. They have a Percussionist, Darren Tidwell, and a Drummer, Brad Cummings. Darren Tidwell also sings lead vocal on some songs and back up vocal on others. Darren is also quite talented when sitting behind a full drum set. Brad Cummings is very entertaining to watch because he has an energy that is slightly similar to a Terry Bozzio performance, although Brad's drum set is less obnoxious than Bozzio's, which allows people to actually see him play. There are three guitar players, Pete Cummings, Chet Roberts, and Zack Wilson. The three guitar players switch back and forth from playing lead guitar on various songs and all of these gentlemen can play keyboards as well as sing lead and back up vocal. They have a very talented bass player who goes by the name of James Grau. James' timing seemed to be right on through out the entire performance, he's like a clock. Although it is hard to declare a front man since three of the musicians sing lead on certain songs, I would consider Zack Wilson the front man. Zack is one of the most entertaining front men around the Nashville area. He is charismatic, passionate, a great guitarist, keyboardist, percussionist, and has a slight warmness that is present in Michael McDonald performances' complemented with the energy and funk of a Prince/James Brown performance.
The United Front has a big funk influence with songs like "Silk Chocolate" and "Insecurity." One will notice a huge Ween influence in almost all of their songs but mostly "Loose the weight," "Sunny Pie," and "Apples." It is easy to understand a Beatles influence when you hear the band play an incredible version of "Lady Madonna." And for a soulful ending, The United Front likes to do a version of "That's the way God planned it" with an energetic James Brown gospel type ending to the song. One can assure themselves that when attending a United Front show, anything can happen (minus the possiblility of death). Audience members, including myself, will not hesitate to let loose and dance like there is no tomorrow when attending a United Front show. All in all, I think Black Label Empire has found a great talent that will some day make a lot of money in the music industry. - Dan Davis/ MTSU Paper
Discography
LP - Initiation -2005
LP - Shade of Beige- 2008
Songs can be heard on our Myspace page. www.myspace.com/unitedfrontmusic. Or at CD Baby
http://cdbaby.com/cd/unitedfront
WRVU 91.1fm in Nashville and Revolution 97.1fm in Bowling Green KY regularly played multiple tracks from the Initiation LP. Namely "Apples" and "Sunny Pie".
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Bio
United Front is a six-piece band from Nashville TN whose style ranges from acid funk to swamp pop and crash lands into their own brand of face-melting space twang. They write, engineer, and produce their own recordings out of home sound shops. Other tunes are cut with a feel as if United Front is actually there in your house drinking all of your beer.
The members of United Front have a unique musical kinship that has kept them making music together for the past five years. Their live show is full of kinetic energy that leaves audience members sweating and pointing to the stage in disbelief. United Front has also played bills with acts as diverse as Vanilla Ice to Nashville Pussy.
The vocal duties in the band switch mainly between Zack Wilson, Darren Tidwell, and Chet Roberts. Zack has been writing and recording songs since he was 11 years old on a reel-to reel four track. He is self-taught and has been playing in bands as a singer, bass player or drummer ever since. Chet Roberts is also a self-taught virtuoso on guitar and vocals. He has been writing since his time as a teenager playing in garage bands. His ear for sonic perfection has led him to also be an engineer on Music Row. Darren was schooled in drums and percussion at the prestigious Nashville Jazz Workshop. His father is an acclaimed jazz trumpeter (Paul McCartney & J.J. Cale) and his mother is a renowned session vocalist. (She even sings back up on “God Bless The USA”.)
Guitarist/ Blues Shaman Pete Cummings began his career in the mid 70’s playing with Elvis Presley and Tanya Tucker. He was a prodigy at guitar by the time he hit 10 years old. Most recently you can hear his work outside of United Front on records by Silver Jews, Charlie Louvin, and Bill Miller. The rhythm section is held down by drummer Brad Cummings and bass player James Grau. Brad started playing at eight years old. His strength at such a young age propelled him into session and road work right out of high school. James learned bass by ear at a very early age and was able to master a deep sticky style that made him stand out immediately. He has recently recorded with Munich, Germany based funk artists, Poets of Rhythm.
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