Rich Lerner & the Groove Push On Thru

I get sent a lot of really great music that I know I'll never hear on the radio. The reason is because the basic musical styles of this music isn't exactly what you'd call "NOW". A good, no, really GREAT, case in point is the Greensboro, North Carolina band Rich Lerner & the Groove. Their new CD, Push On Thru is recommended for the fans of Tom Petty, The Band and the Grateful Dead. In other words, for old guys like me (Old Guys Rule!).

 

Get Push On Thru HERE. 

 

At first I was reminded of the Grateful Dead's Terrapin Station album, side one with Estimated Prophet and Samson & Delilah which have a funky, New Orleans Creole sound and tight as all hell. The CD then continues on with various styles including a Tom Waits style Film Noire theme song, Hard Rock and Blues and touches of Country. Usually I get annoyed with bands that try to have "something for everyone" but when it's a veteran southern bar band that has produced their own annual Groove Jam Music Festival (https://freethemusic.us/groove-jam-festival/) to benefit their local homeless shelter and food bank that's been running since 2012 you realize the conglomeration of styles is what makes their style.

Guitarist and lead vocalist Rich Lerner's Groove bandmates include Sammy Smith also on guitar & vocals, Craig Pannell on bass and vocals, Sam Seawell on drums, Steve Taub on keyboards and Bob Sykes who plays pedal steel and guitar. Who plays the sax I wonder? The impeccable production deserves mention as well as it was recorded and mixed by Benjy Johnson at Earthtones Recording Studio and mastered by Ty Tabor. It was produced by the band and Benjy Johnson.

 

Yep, they're not newbies, that's fer sure.

Rich Lerner and The Groove have released four albums on their own Freethemusic label and played live in the North Carolina area for years. In the 90s, Rich recorded and released four solo albums on the Rockduster label so what we have here are seasoned musicians, not a group of kids and it shows both in their influences and in their playing abilities (and in their press photos). Two of the band's special events included a show of Grateful Dead songs called "Night of the Grateful Groove" and a show of Rolling Stones songs called "Exile on Groove Street". Why they would want you to know that I really don't understand but I suppose if you've been a cover band for so long you might feel a little self conscious of your own songs. I would suggest a band not use their own original CD to promote the Grateful Dead or the Rolling Stones, they really don't need your help.

 

Here's Rich doing Bob Dylan.

They claim the band has a large and constantly rotating repertoire so that no two shows are ever the same but does that mean they augment their own material with a lot of cover tunes? There's nothing wrong with that unless the crowd starts yelling for more Rolling Stone's songs while you're playing your original tunes. They also claim that a part of the band's identity is in giving back to the local community in the form of their annual Groove Jam Music Festival to benefit the local homeless shelter and food bank. That's being a "big fish in a small pond" combined with "give a man a fish and he eats for a day but teach a man to fish and he eats every day", if you know what I mean by all the fish metaphors.