Listen to “Shakedown Street” HERE | Watch the Lyric Video HERE
Closing yet another year stacked with tour dates, festival plays, and continual music releases, psychedelic funk maestros Lettuce will release their rendition of 1978 Grateful Dead classic “Shakedown Street” ahead of the band’s upcoming performance at Dead Ahead in Riviera Cancún, Mexico. Summoning the atmosphere and vibrancy of lot gatherings prior to Grateful Dead concerts that would come to be known as “Shakedown Street,” named after the song, the group has released a lyric video of vintage footage showcasing the spirit and community that continues to extend throughout the music scene today. The video was created by Sunbronx and can be viewed HERE.
Coming out of the vault from a recording session in 2015, the track possesses a laid-back, in-the-pocket groove locked in by the rhythm section of Adam Deitch (drums) and Erick “Jesus” Coomes (bass), the unmistakable interlocking horn work between Ryan Zoidis (saxophone) and Sam Kininger (saxophone), and an astute balance of reverberant guitar picking and tasteful wah leads from Adam “Shmeans” Smirnoff and Eric Krasno making Lettuce’s take on “Shakedown Street” unmistakable them. Coomes is also featured on vocals throughout the track. Speaking to the band’s arrangement, Deitch details, “It’s Shakedown Street mixed with Frenchmen Street. There’s a New Orleans feel on there that we felt worked well with the melody. Erick ‘Jesus’ Coomes did a great job channeling Jerry on the vocals.”
Being versed in the vast catalog of The Grateful Dead, Coomes elaborates on the band’s decision to cover the song, “Whenever Shakedown comes on the whole crowd goes crazy and it’s one of the biggest dance songs in their catalog. Since Lettuce specializes in dance and funk music we thought we would do our best to make you bust a move and get into the groove. Enjoy!”
To celebrate the release and gear up for Dead Ahead, Coomes will be guest DJ-ing on Sirius’ Grateful Dead Channel sharing his favorite Grateful Dead songs. Listeners can tune in during the dates and times below and on-demand on the Sirius app:
Tues 12/12 @ 10 am ET
Thur 12/14 @ Midnight ET
Fri 12/15 @ 5 pm ET
Sun 12/17 @ 9 am ET
Following Dead Ahead, Lettuce will embark on their month-long VIBE tour that comes off the heels of the band’s first digital release of their 48-minute improvisational album VIBE which was previously only available on a limited run of vinyl. The full list of tour dates can be found HERE.
For more information and to learn more, please visit lettucefunk.com.