Mixing rock n’ roll with punk rock energy, horn
drenched soul, jazz precision, Brooklyn band’s high-energy show already
selling-out NYC rooms.
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The Rad
Trads (L-R): John Fatum, Alden
Harris-McCoy, Patrick Sargent, Mike Harlen, Michael Fatum. Photo by John
Carges.
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The Rad
Trads – “Goin’ To California” Tour
02/06/2019: San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
02/08/2019: Arcata, CA @ Humboldt Brews
02/09/2019: Sebastopol, CA @ Hopmonk Tavern
02/11/2019: Santa Cruz, CA @ Kuumbwa Jazz Center
02/12/2019: Los Angeles, CA @ The Hotel Cafe
02/14/2019:
Sacramento, CA @ Torch Club
02/15/2019: San Jose, CA @ The Art Boutiki (San Jose Jazz Festival)
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American
Songwriter calls “Good Luck Unto
Ya” by The Rad Trads a “funky
kiss-off track with a killer guitar solo and plenty of horns.” The song leads off On Tap, the latest album
by The Rad Trads, out now on Hornblow Recordings. Listen to On Tap here.
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The gentlemen comprising the Brooklyn-based five-piece
The Rad Trads distinguish themselves
in ways few bands can. Already drawing lines around the block at home, the
globe-trotting group’s singular take on rock n roll mixes punk rock energy,
horn drenched soul, and jazz precision, all with a lighthearted but sincere
delivery. It’s a sound and show that is gaining steam world over as The Rad Trads continue to tour in
support of On Tap, out now from Hornblow
Recordings. Listen to On
Tap here.
Challenging but humorous, at times The Rad Trads bring to mind Springsteen and his “Big Man” Clarence Clemons, Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks-era vocal style, and Wilco’s epic guitar breakdowns. All of this sonic goodness is only
upstaged by the fact that the guys in The
Rad Trads manage to exist as five distinct songwriters and singers in a
band that still sounds powerfully egoless, familial, and cohesive. And none of
them even planned on being vocalists!
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The Rad
Trads will launch a string of west
coast dates on Feb. 6th!
See above for full itinerary. Contact Josh Bloom
at Fanatic for more info
and/or guest list.
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More about
The Rad Trads
Meeting at New York University in 2012 as
conservatory-trained instrumentalists looking to play with NYC’s best
musicians, twin brothers John (Drums,
Vocals) and Michael Fatum (Trumpet,
Vocals), Michael Harlen (Bass,
Vocals), Alden Harris-McCoy (Guitar,
Vocals), and Patrick Sargent (Keys,
Saxophone, Vocals) were, at that time, just “a bunch of buds looking to play
the bars and drink for free,” according to John
Fatum. “The Rad Trads started off
with a bastardized jazz repertoire that was modified, on stage, into whatever
seemed to get the audience moving.” The band quickly developed a loyal
connection with its audiences. Michael
Fatum agrees: “It felt amazing.”
It was at this time that each band member’s individual
forays into original songwriting began, coinciding with the discovery that what
its followers were enjoying most was the band members’ personal connections
with each other. This, even more than the music itself, was making crowds come
back for more. As the band’s live sets began to be filled more and more with
original songs which all stuck to the “if you write it, you sing it” formula,
the fans remained enthusiastically engaged.
With all of that energy flying around, The Rad Trads could have simply been
perceived as just a party band, but the band’s booking agent realized that with
those expert chops, there might also be a niche within the jazz festival scene
for The Rad Trads, and he was right.
Harlen explains, “It turns out that
every jazz festival in the world needed a fun band to hold down the late night
parties, and so we went to Europe for the first time.”
This initial excursion has turned into nearly ten
trips to Europe for The Rad Trads,
in addition to performances on four continents, in 15 countries, 41 states, and
as of this writing, a string of dates in China. The diverse list of artists
that the band has performed with in that time includes Lake Street Dive, Charles
Bradley, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, and The Lone Bellow, among others. “We’ve loved every second of
traveling and seeing the world,” John
Fatum says.
Fatum is the composer and vocalist of “On Tap” album opener “Good Luck Unto Ya,”
a soaring anthem with wall of sound-level overdubs, recently described by American Songwriter as a “funky
kiss-off track with a killer guitar solo and plenty of horns.” It’s a stunning
way to jump start the record, and for the uninitiated, will quickly bring to
mind visions of what The Rad Trads’
race-out-of-the-gate live show must be like.
The album is bookended by closing number “Wishing Well,”
which is, incredibly, the first song that Sargent
ever wrote. “We played the song live for almost a year before recording it, so
it had a chance to evolve organically before being put to tape,” he explains to
MAGNET Magazine, which in its
full-throated praise of The Rad Trads,
also asserts, “We’ve been racking our brains trying to think of another band
that has five leader singers, but we couldn’t come up with any.”
Obviously, while the songs on On Tap are exceedingly
original, the band’s story is, too. Or maybe surviving the story is what’s most
fascinating. As a group comprised of conservatory trained instrumentalists, it’s
actually five individual writers and singers that glue The Rad Trads together, the sound of five artists that have found a
common voice.
“Our unconventional process keeps The Rad Trads fresh for us, always,” Harris-McCoy explains. “The fact that our egos have not taken us
down is somewhat of a modern miracle!”
On Tap
by The Rad Trads is out now from Hornblow Recordings. Look out for new
music videos for album tracks “My Place”
and “Thumbtack,” coming soon. The Rad Trads will continue to tour
throughout 2019.
Members of The
Rad Trads are available for interviews. Contact Josh
Bloom at Fanatic for
more information.
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The Rad Trads
On
Tap
Out Now
(Hornblow Recordings)
Track Listing:
1.Good Luck Unto Ya (VIDEO)
2.Manhattan Bridge Serenade
3.Key Club
4.My Place
5.Thumbtack
6.Sarge’s Boogaloo
7.Vada Via
8.Little Pie Blues
9.Wishing Well (VIDEO)
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The Rad Trads Links
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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion
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