'Good Thang' marks the brand new single release from Alan Evans side-project Crushed Velvet & The Velveteers.
Last year proved to be such an incredibly busy period for Alan Evans - with the release of the Alan Evans Trio (Ae3) project, 'The Wild Root', the continual cultivation of Vintage League Music, the release of Crowd Company's third album 'Lowdown' boasting production by Evans and work in the early part of the year as part of funk & soul super group Matador! Soul Sounds through Color Red Records... he'd certainly be forgiven for taking some time off in 2020 but it seems that the tirelessly prolific artist is still bursting with musical treats.
With the passion for great quality music always at the forefront, the revered drummer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and studio wizard continually demonstrates his surreal ability to tailor his sound when channelling it into the variety of side projects that he invests in. And Vintage League Music proves to be the perfect playground for the proverbial mad scientist. Not long removed since the debut single release of The 7 Day Weekend's 'Mango Moonrise' - the lo-fi experimental project pairing Evans with Ae3 keyboardist Kris Yunker; swiftly followed by the release of recent VLM signees in the BT ALC Big Band debuting their single 'Bring Forth Change' through their epic 17-strong collection of musicians who each recorded their parts for the song separately from their respective quarantine hold-ups leaving Evans with the (un)enviable task of piecing all the puzzle pieces together before laying down his own drum parts and introducing vocals by Nigel Hall as well.
The latest run of releases is capped off with Evans revisiting his own "Crushed Velvet" alter ego alongside his band "The Velveteers". Harking back to a project originally released in 2011, Crushed Velvet & The Velveteers laid claim to having recorded the soundtrack to a "Shaft-meets-007 blaxploitation film" entitled 'The Big One' - folklore would go on to explain that although the actual movie was destroyed in a fire, the soundtrack lived on thus serving as the world's first introduction to the funky collective.
And if we had to wait nearly ten years for Crushed Velvet to resurface, well, it was worth it!
With Evans tackling bass, drums and guitar, 'Good Thang' sees an all-star line-up assembled for this colossal return to centre stage: as well as featuring BT ALC heads, Alex Lee-Clark (trumpet) and Brain Thomas (trombone), the song reconnects Evans with Matador! Soul Sounds collaborator and Color Red recording artist, Kim Dawson, who delivers with her typically awe-inspiring vocal.
With the promise of an album due later in the year, Crushed Velvet & The Velveteers have returned from the shadows to reassert their presence this time amidst Vintage League Music's already-thriving year. There's a slim chance that Alan Evans will rest on his laurels and perhaps take a well-deserved break but it's highly unlikely so make sure you're keeping up with these incredible releases.
For more info on Vintage League Music, please click here, and to purchase your copy of 'Good Thang', please click here.
The Blue-in-Green:PODCAST was incredibly lucky to have played host to Alan Evans to discuss each of the above projects as well as Vintage League Music and Soulive so you can catch the episode in full here:
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