100 Bands in 100 Days Presented by Verity Credit Union — Day 73: Blue Lotus
Music fans of the Pacific Northwest, hello and welcome back to our third annual year-end daily countdown, 100 Bands in 100 Days, where every day until December 31st, we’re showcasing a new band or artist you have to know about, presented by Verity Credit Union. Follow the #100Bands100Days hashtag on Twitter to stay on top of all the bands featured and make sure to follow Verity on Twitter as well. Some days the featured act could be an established and locally-adored northwest-based musician that perhaps you haven’t been turned onto yet, and other times they could be a band with a small following that just hasn’t had their deserved time in the sun yet. Either way, we’re fairly confident you can come away from this daily segment with plenty of new favorites. Today’s musical offering is a band called Blue Lotus that calls Eugene home.
Digging into the catalog of today’s band it won’t take long to figure out who has been the biggest influence on this band. Instantly you are reminded of deep grooves of The Grateful Dead and not far off are the legendary jams of The Allman Brothers. Once Blue Lotus gets locked in, they stay in the pocket and treat the listener to one hook-filled song after another.
From the band’s bio:
Featured as part of Relix Magazine’s “Bands on the Rise” in 2012 and 2013; and awarded “Best New Act”, “Favorite Female Performer”, “Best Instrumentalist” and “Favorite Local Band” by the Wow Hall in Eugene OR in 2014. This award winning group is winning hearts across the country with their unique fusion of blues, rock, jazz and american roots music.
Formed in 2010 after a chance encounter at the Oregon Country Fair, singer/songwriter Brandelyn Rose and young guitar prodigy Felix Blades sparked a unique and collaborative friendship that has attracted other talented artists including Jacob Bertsch on bass guitar, Andrew Miller on drums and a cast of rotating special guests on keyboards. Blue Lotus features original songs that take you from rock and roll to spaced out intergalactic madness. Rooted in rock and blues, and experimenting with elements of bluegrass, jazz and funk, the band fuses styles to create a high energy, fun and danceable melodic hybrid.
In 2011 the group released it’s first full length album Blue Lotus which features 10 original songs. At the time the group had been together for only about six months. In 2012 came the release of their second album also self titled, which included five studio tracks and five live tracks. As the excitement about the band continued to grow, Blue Lotus went on to release a third album titled A Thousand Other Things which included 12 studio length, “radio friendly” tracks. In 2014 the band did a limited release EP featuring three more original previously unrecorded songs. The band released it’s fifth and “favorite” album Across the Canyon in July 2015. Recorded by Ninkasi Brewing studios in Eugene OR, the album provides five full length studio tracks and two full length live tracks. The fans love the long extended jams, so “I think we need to give that to them”, quotes Brandelyn Rose, the group’s founding member. The group now has upwards of 40 original songs.
If you are looking for a band that can get in the pocket and seemingly stay there endlessly, delivering grove after groove….give this band a listen!
(You can check out Blue Lotus on Facebook and you can listen to them at Soundcloud and/or stream “Too Many Times” below)
Submissions for 100 Bands in 100 Days 2016 is now closed. If you’d like to see the whole list of bands we’ve featured, click HERE.
