Lauren Mitchell returns to Side Door with a new band, a new attitude, AND a new look!

One of our Palladium Side Door faves – Lauren Mitchell – is returning this Saturday night with a new band and some new songs and a new “do!”.

 

Because she’s in the Side Door – our great listening room – she’s also trying something else new. She will open the show with a set of acoustic blues and gospel, followed by her electric mix of great R & B. Lauren is a larger than life character with a big powerful voice, but I think she’s really got a knack for delivering the quiet tunes as well. This should be fun.

 

Tickets for this show are going fast, which is what happens when Lauren comes to town. To get yours, call our box office at 727 822-3590 or follow this link.

 

It’s been a while since Lauren was here, so I chatted with her this week about what we can expect this time around:

 

Palladium Paul: I see a bunch of new faces in your band. Tell me about the current incarnation of your band?

 

Lauren Mitchell: Yes you do! This past year has been a year of many changes for me, personally and  professionally.  The most noticeable of which is that I’m now a blonde! Actually, to be serious … It was time for things to change for me in a rather big way.

 

In December of  2015 I got married, so that was kind of huge, to say the least. Over the last six months, I’ve changed, I’ve evolved and so has the band. Art reflects life, after all … or is it the other way around?  For the first time since I started this project, I’m working with guys who are taller (and … ahem … younger …) than me! So that’s kind of a trip.

 

Now … about those guys … I met my guitarist, Jose Ramirez, in January of this year literally the day after my long time guitarist had given me his notice.  Jose had just moved to the United States from his native Costa Rica and had only been in this country for three days!  My show happened to be the first one he attended.  It was definitely a cosmic coincidence. We hit it off and I invited him to sit in with me a couple weeks after that at a show for an audition.  Needless to say, he played his face off (which is just what he does), and I offered him the position a day or two later. We’re a great match musically and have a lot of fun together on and off stage.

I was fortunate enough to meet up with my rhythm section a few years ago in Tallahassee, but the timing wasn’t right for us to work together.  Kevan McCann, my bassist, stayed in touch with me and continued to tell me how much he would like to work together. His persistence paid off and, when it made sense, in February of 2016, I brought him on board.  He’s been a real asset to the team.  Not only is he a very talented bassist, he helps me with some of the background vocals, he is playing my husband’s father’s old 1972 Fender Precision Bass (how’s THAT for keeping it in the family?) and he managed to bring his dear friend and, our new drummer, James Lewis to the project as well.

 

It’s a rare thing these days to find a rhythm section that has worked together for as long as these two guys have. They bring a lot of wonderful energy to the stage.  It’s a real pleasure working with all of these gentlemen, and I am sure the audience will be able to tell how much we all enjoy what we do.

 

 Paul: How’s this plugged/unplugged show going to work? What are some numbers we’ll hear in each set? 

 

Lauren: Well, I don’t want to give everything away before the show, but the idea is that the blues started on the back porches, in the mess halls, and in people’s homes in the south.  It didn’t have to be “fancy”, just good music and good fun. So we decided to use that energy, for the “unplugged” set, and make the music work for us that way.  We wanted to do something different and really try to evoke that feeling of being in a funky, old-school, back-woods joint on a Saturday night. It’s the blues, ya know?

 

We’ve re-worked some of our favorite songs for the audience.  Some originals, some covers, but the one thing they all have in common is that “juke-joint” kind of feel.   And to be fair, we’ve also included a little bit of Gospel, because I’m a big believer in the fact that the two styles go hand in hand.

 

Now, if we stay with the history of the music, those same cats who were playing on back porches unplugged, eventually found their way out of the country and into the city … and to the electric amplifiers where they plugged in … so that’s the idea.  We’re gonna take it back to the juke joint, and the church, for the first part of the night, and then plug it in & give you OUR sound.  Our modern take on what the blues is to us, with mostly original music and a few fun covers thrown in.

 

We also chose to play an acoustic set at The Side Door because of the environment there.  People LISTEN.  That affords us, as musicians, the opportunity to bring the volume down, and show another side of who we are, and what we can do.  Personally, I think it’s something very special and intimate, that you won’t see or hear in a nightclub or on a festival stage.  I know we are all really excited to present that part of the show.

 

 

Paul:  What’s coming up for Lauren Mitchell musically?

 

Lauren: We’re still working on getting the next album out.  I’m really hoping to have it done by the end of the year, but we shall see.  In the meantime, Jose and I have been working on writing some new material together, and the band is doing a great job of starting to bring those songs to life.  I’d expect that we’ll be adding a few new original tunes to the mix in the coming months.

 

It’s been a lot of fun writing with Jose, and his take on what we do is very unique.  He’s a traditionalist when it comes to the blues, and I’m more “out-of-the-box”, very creative, so we’ve been having a good time working with those elements and bringing them together. I know the sound is going to keep on growing, and with all of these talented and dedicated guys behind me, I know we can do something amazing.

 

 

Paul:  Do a lot of your male fans know you are now a married lady?

 

Lauren: I would assume so … I’m not too worried about it though.  I am here to sing and  I hope that THAT’S why people are coming to see the show. 🙂