Features

Summer Stars: Rubblebucket

Our Summer Stars series features a variety of groups out there making the rounds on the festival circuit. Today it’s Rubblebucket who just performed at Wakarusa and now its on to Bonnaroo. Here’s a link to all of our Summer Star pieces which we will post over the coming weeks.

Starting in 2008 as an offshoot of John Brown’s Body’s horn section, Rubblebucket emerged from the Boston music scene as a funky force to be reckoned with. Now calling Brooklyn, N.Y. home, the 8-piece band, consisting of Alex Toth on trumpet, Adam Dotson on trombone, Ian Hersey on guitar, Darby Wolf on keyboards, Dave Cole on drums, Craig Myers on percussion, and frontwoman Kalmia Traver on vocals and saxophones, has just released a CD/DVD Live in Chicago and will be spending the summer hitting the festival circuit in support of it.

The move to Brooklyn catalyzed Rubblebucket’s current success. “I saw New York as a final destination for many years,” says Traver. “When we got to New York, it felt like we were just turning up the burner to full blast. There are so many resources there to achieve what we wanted.”

Bearing the not-so-subtle influences of Talking Heads and Brazilian Girls—Traver feels like she “might be the biggest fan of Brazilian Girls ever”—Rubblebucket enhances their thick grooves with styles as disparate as 20th century classical, modern pop and R&B, while always trying to stay fresh and contemporary.

In particular, their approach to horn parts is rooted in the nature of the compositions themselves and classical-based orchestration, rather than, say, in the horn lines of such luminaries as the JB’s or Fela Kuti’s ensembles.

After spending the spring crossing the country on a tour that originated with the band’s first appearance at the SXSW music conference, Travers says they intend to spend some time completing songs that they tracked at Brooklyn’s Excello Studios and are finishing up in their own home studio—hopefully for an early summer release. Once summer hits, they’ll be in festival mode, hitting numerous events including jamband mainstays Wakarusa, Camp Bisco and Bonnaroo, among others.

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Summer pastime that people should try: Swimming in rivers.

Favorite summertime food: Watermelon—even better, homemade watermelon popsicles.

In the forest versus beach debate, I choose: The forest as long as there’s a body of water near. River in the woods is absolutely my hands down favorite hang.
(All responses from Kalmia Traver)