Soulive Hosts Royal Family Affair 3-Day Festival In August

In celebration of its 13th year as a band, the preeminent soul funk trio Soulive has announced the inaugural Royal Family Affair -- a three-day music festival from August 12-14 set in the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont.  In the last decade, Soulive has toured the globe playing with some of the world's most celebrated musicians from The Rolling Stones to Dave Matthews, from Stevie Wonder to Joshua Redman.  Now, as has become customary with their acclaimed Bowlive and Royal Family Ball blowouts, Soulive brings all of their diverse friends together for a weekend long event.

Joining Soulive at the Royal Family Affair are future funk luminaries Chromeo, electronic powerhouse Big Gigantic, fellow Royal Family Records label-mates Lettuce, Break Science, Crushed Velvet & The Velveteers and Eric Krasno & Chapter 2 and modern day funk legends Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk and Karl Denson. Additional highlights include a special one-time only performance by a power trio consisting of organist John Medeski, saxophonist Skerik and drummer Adam Deitch, as well as sets by Zach Deputy, Paper Diamond, John Brown's Body, The Pimps of Joytime, The London Souls and Jennifer Hartswick. Additional guests will be announced shortly.

Along with performances taking place on two stages and a late-night venue, the Royal Family Affair will offer a series of intimate clinics and musical workshops with the many luminaries performing at the festival.  These up close and personal meetings with the artists will take place in large indoor studios set up with musical gear.  They'll provide a fascinating window into the creative process for musicians and fans alike.  Confirmed events include a guitar seminar with Eric Krasno, a percussion clinic with Alan Evans and Adam Deitch, a horn clinic with The Shady Horns and a composition/songwriting workshop with Neal Evans.

The Royal Family Affair will take place at the Stratton Mountain Ski Resort in Bondville, VT. One of the best-known skiing locations in the Northeast, Stratton is easily accessible from NYC, Boston, Western Massachusetts, Albany and Burlington.  The event will take place at the base of the mountain with picturesque views and a lively village featuring restaurants, bars and retail stores. Festival attendees are encouraged to stay at any of the extremely affordable lodging properties right on site. All lodging is within walking distance of the stages and rates start as low as $39 per person per night.

Beyond the great music, Stratton Mountain offers a huge variety of activities for outdoor enthusiasts. Play tennis, go hiking or kayaking, or ride the gondola to the summit - you'll enjoy views only the highest peak in Vermont's Green Mountain range can provide.  In the village, Long Trail and Wolavers will offer free daily tastings of a wide variety of fine local micro-brews, and the wide variety of local restaurants will offer affordable, fresh and tasty local cuisine.

Single day ($29.50 - $34.50) and 3-day ($89.50) festival passes will be available on May 24, 2011 at 10am EST through the Royal Family Affair website (www.royalfamilyaffair.com). For those looking for a VIP experience, two tiers of VIP packages are available, offering benefits ranging from exclusive viewing areas, complementary beverages, a meet & greet with the performers and backstage access. VIP packages start at $199.

Soulive's Al Evans Unearths Crushed Velvet

 Royal Family Records has announced the May 24 release of the long lost 1970s' motion picture soundtrack The Big One by Crushed Velvet & The Velveteers. This never-before-issued soul music gem was recently unearthed by Soulive drummer Alan Evans when a family friend in Buffalo, NY put him in touch with the movie's director Cleo McBride. A 1974 Shaft-meets-007 Blaxploitation production, The Big One never made it to the big screen as the film was reported to have been destroyed in a fire soon after completion. The soundtrack recordings remained dormant until Evans was recruited to mix the original sessions and release it through Soulive's record company Royal Family Records. The Brooklyn-based label will release the soundtrack as both a free mp3 album download and on limited edition vinyl.

The track listing is:

1. The Big One (Main Theme)

2. Thunderbird

3. Felecia's Love Theme

4. Detroit Slim

5. The Lay Down

6. Memphis Stomp

7. London Black (pts. 1,2,3)

8. Big Chase

9. The Big One (End Theme)

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More about Crushed Velvet & The Velveteers…

In the late 60s and early 70s, Buffalo, NY was a well-known hotspot for funk and soul music. One of the stand-outs on the scene was a guitarist and vocalist who went by the name Crushed Velvet. He backed many of Buffalo's finest musicians and was the first call most national hit-makers would make when needing to assemble a local band for Buffalo dates. Inspired to start his own band, he assembled Crushed Velvet and the Velveteers. They hit the scene hard bringing a tight new sound to "The Queen City." The response was so overwhelming that it quickly became clear the next logical step was to set their sites on New York City. As plans were being made for a move to the Big Apple, Crushed Velvet got a call from an old band-mate turned filmmaker Cleo McBride. Cleo had recently been given his first big break to direct a film called The Big One. This was not going to be a run of the mill Blaxploitation movie, but a film to turn the industry on its head. The main character was to be the first African-American spy hero, chasing down "the man" across the world.  Crushed Velvet believed this could be the band's ticket to the top, so plans for NYC were shelved. Instead, they began recording the album of their lives.  After nearly a year of writing and recording, the soundtrack was near completion. It was around this time that Crushed Velvet received the devastating news that would shatter those dreams. On March 23, 1974, the home of Cleo McBride was burned to the ground along with all of the master film reels for The Big One.

After the fire, all that remained was the shock and allegations of an entire community.  Cleo McBride was the first to claim that the government was at fault for the destruction of his work because of its positive and powerful depiction of a "black man as a strong, worldly hero."  With no film to accompany the music and an overall paranoia associated with anything having to do with The Big One, the soundtrack was shelved. Crushed Velvet broke up the band and disappeared from the Buffalo music scene.

In 2010, Soulive drummer Alan Evans was contacted by a family friend who'd been in touch with Cleo McBride. Aware that Evans, a Buffalo-native, had achieved a great deal of success in the music industry and was also operating his own recording studio PlayonBrother, they shared the story of The Big One and Crushed Velvet & The Velveteers, hoping he'd listen to the tapes. Intrigued by the story, Evans agreed and what he found was pure soul music gold. He took to the task of mixing the recordings and preparing them for worldwide release through Soulive's label Royal Family Records.

THE BIG ONE, the original motion picture soundtrack by CRUSHED VELVET & THE VELVETEERS is available May 24 as a free mp3 album download and on limited edition vinyl through Royal Family Records.

http://www.royalfamilyrecords.com

New Soulive CD with Bonus DVD in Stores Today

2009 has been a busy year for Soulive. The New York-based funk-powerhouse trio formed its own record label, Royal Family Records, released it's latest studio endeavor, UP HERE, which has been available as a download and will now be available on CD with a bonus live DVD July 7. The band has toured nationally this past Spring, launched their own festival, the Royal Family Get Down, and will hit the road again this Fall.

The physical release of UP HERE includes a bonus DVD of footage filmed live at the Blue Note in Tokyo in Summer 2008. UP HERE is the debut release on Royal Family Records. The album was recorded in Soulive drummer Alan Evan's Play on Brother Studio in Hatfield, MA in Fall 2008. "This is the Soulive album I've always wanted to record - I've been hearing it in my head for years," says Evans, who also tracked and mixed the record.

The record's opening track "Upright" immediately sets the tone with an undeniable groove featuring Neal Evans on an old upright piano. The band then offers up a few nods to the old-school: "For Granted" is a tip of the hat to Grant Green, featuring guitarist Eric Krasno's licks reminiscent of classic early solos on Get Down and Turn it Out. Guest vocalist Nigel Hall tears it up on the retro-soul number "Too Much," and Krasno makes his guitar sing like D'Angelo on the laid-back grind of "Put On Yo Pajamas." The entire record features tight horn arrangements from long-time Soulive collaborators and friends, Sam Kininger and Ryan Zoidis.

Soulive's fall tour begins on September 12 at their own festival, The Royal Family Get Down. The line up features Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Charlie Hunter Trio, Nigel Hall and Soulive's own headlining set with special guest John Scofield. Soulive then heads west for a run of dates anchored by stops at the Monterey Jazz Festival and four nights at Yoshi's in Oakland and San Francisco. The fall tour will then head back east for a series of Northeast dates including the Bowery Ballroom in NYC and Burlington's Higher Ground.

SOULIVE TOURDATES
July 31 - Celebrate Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY
Aug 6 - Sunset Concerts Festival - Washington DC *w/ Derek Trucks Band
Aug 7 - Innsbrook Pavilion - Glen Allen, VA
Aug 8 - The Jewish Mother, Virginia Beach, VA
Sept 12 - Royal Family Get Down - Northampton, MA
Sept 17 - The El Rey Theater - Los Angeles, CA
Sept 18 - The Hopmonk Tavern - Sebastapol, CA
Sept 19 - Monterey Jazz Festival - Monterey, CA
Sept 22 - Yoshi's - Oakland, CA
Sept 23 - Yoshi's - Oakland, CA
Sept 24 - Yoshi's - San Francisco, CA
Sept 25 - Yoshi's - San Francisco, CA
Sept 26 - Puerto Vallarta Jazz Festival, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Oct 14 - The Note - Westchester, PA
Oct 15 - The Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
Oct 16 - The Westcott Theater - Syracuse, NY
Oct 17 - Higher Ground - Burlington, VT
Oct 22 - Water Street Music Hall - Rochester, NY
Oct 23 - Revolution Hall - Troy, NY
Oct 24 - The Port City Music Hall - Portland, ME