Moonalice
Moonalice is an established psychedelic rootsrock band of seasoned musicians mixing a variety of genres with extended musical improvisations. Moonalice was the brainchild of the great producer “T Bone” Burnett in 2007, who wanted to create a band with a San Francisco sixties sound. Moonalice plays mostly original material mixed with choice covers, and during their extended freeform jams the band moves as one, drawing from many musical genres honed from years of experience playing with various major acts.
Each band member has mile-long credits: Roger McNamee (Doobie Decibel System, Flying Other Brothers), Pete Sears (Rod Stewart, Jefferson Starship, Hot Tuna, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Los Lobos, Dr. John, John Lee Hooker), Barry Sless (Kingfish, Phil Lesh & Friends), and John Molo (Bruce Hornsby, John Fogerty). The foursome of friends are tuneful wordsmiths with a hopeful old-school outlook and focused approach to well-crafted musicianship and connection. The instrumental side of Moonalice’s repertoire includes Captain Trips–style guitaristics, which run through many tracks—particularly those that recapture the special history of these not-forgotten times. Pedal steel guitar, drums, keyboards, guitars, bass, and choice vocals are pretty much shared all around.
Moonalice’s collective styles call to mind The Grateful Dead, of course, plus The Band, Dylan, Petty, The Byrds, etc., and prove Moonalice to be even more of a song band than a jam band. Moonalice’s hit single “It’s 4:20 Somewhere” has been downloaded over 4.6 million times. You can download it at their website. Their live shows around the Bay Area are sure to please, each with an original art poster created by a well-known artist (High 5 has cover art by the renowned Stanley Mouse), and all concerts are broadcast live in HD at MoonAlice.com.
—LLOYD BARDE (LLOYDBARDE.COM)