Tuesday, October 12, 2010
My band Biscuits and Gravy is performing once again this Thursday Oct. 14th at 12th & Porter. This is our second time opening up for the Nappy Roots, we already know they gon kill it and yall know BAG is gonna do the same! Check out this video with some EXCLUSIVE (clusive clusive clusive) footage of the band rehearsing "Super High" by Rick Ross and Ne-Yo. Hopefully this'll get yall excited for Thursday and all that the band has in store
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZUVQ79KqFM
Click here for tickets
Also, click here to download our free EP
PEACE
Labels: 12th and porter, biscuits and gravy, nappy roots
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Alot of ppl been askin questions bout my band The Legendary Biscuits and Gravy. For those that arent familiar with them, they are the reason I've have a name for myself in Nashville period and have the opportunities forwarded to me that I do now.
Seems like for a while now we have been on hiatus. There is no other way to look at it. Our buzz has sorta died down, we dont even have a CD, EP or anything to show for, and even our local popularity is beginning to fade.
Why??? Well its a long story. But despite everything that has happend, i still remain so optimistic in my bands future. My solo stuff is always something I can go as far as I choose and venture and do whatever, but BAG is my heart
Just a quick history of my band>>>
Back in high school, beginning late Sophomore year, i started takin my music more serious and started recording and doin small shows like churches or school events. Then I started interning at Rocketown my senior year, but my solo stuff never did quite take off like I wanted to. I started my first band "Improv, Lyrics, and Life" with some friends at my high school. After a few talent shows wins and church performances tho, the group broke up. My second band tho, started with just me and some friends on keys messing around at my internship at Rocketown after school. And what started out as just something to kill time, became The Legendary Biscuits and Gravy.
We went from Rocketown open mic nights for metro students, quickly to Cafe Coco monthly open mic events makin $200+ a night off tips. It was crazy. Even though this may seem like nothing, it was alot for me to take in. Cuz as a teen i used to think the hardest thing was gettin a show at a local venue for a semi-packed crowed just to hear my songs. And all of a sudden, me and my friends were the new buzz and talk of the town. Young kids from ages 12-17 playin everything from jazz and old school r&b to hip hop and funk. And people were eatin it up.
In the few months since we started we went from playin lil old Kijiji's (remember that place on Jefferson St lol) to Cafe Coco, then to Gibson Showcase for a local television taping. Everybody locally was showing us love. The Tennesean, all the local music papers. It was crazy. People were blowin our myspace up, tryna book us for weddings, banquets, everything u could think of. I swear we were freakin local celebrities! "Arent u in that band Biscuits and Gravy?? Yea I saw yall in the paper!" It was crazy!!
As great as it was tho, it was happening way too fast for us to comprehend. Our buzz was growing faster than we were maturing mentally and even musically. In all honesty we were a glorified Jam band. And we could play the hell out of covers. But besides that, our overall musicality and my lyricism werent advancing enough to meet the demands of the bigger audiences we were being exposed to. A year after BAG started, we had already played every major local venue twice over, but maybe only had 3 or 4 new songs to add to our catalog.
The funny thing about BAG is that we go thru phases. All of that was phase 1. From 2006 to the end of 2007. We went on a Lovenoise tour in a couple of surrounding states in the summer of 2007. It seemed like things were really taking off, but they werent. I dont think thats anyones fault, but I can speak for the whole band and say we started takin opportunities like tours and being so well known locally for granted after a while. We expected a certain level of recognition but yet didnt put in work to keep it or advance that recognition. So what happened was, we got stuck. Stuck in Nashville. Stuck in out mindsets of us EXPECTING to get signed or something, but not really working towards it like we should have.
So it depressed us.
It slowed down our progress even more. Practices were canceled more often. I started focusin on my solo stuff more than the band cuz it was just at a weird stage. I needed to be on stage more and we werent performing as much as we used to. More priorities were taking place of the band, which is necessary, but there should have been a better balance. I was in my freshman yr of college by then and I started flunking. A few other members did too. So our buzz sort of staled off
2008 began phase 2 for BAG. This was the transitional phase. We were all a lil older and could really look at things in perspective and see mistakes we made and what we could have done better to get the band where we all wanted to be, which was to a label or some opportunity to launch us regionally, nationally, internationally, etc etc. The shows kept coming, we stayed meeting key people, execs, producers, we always do big name shows, or open up for big artist. But the difference this time around, is that we realize those shows really dont amount to as much as we used to think. Who cares we opened up at a Kanye West after party, who cares we did the Nappy Roots show, Jazzy Jeff, met this person, that person, etc. What my band members and I have learned from the past 3 yrs in the band is the way the industry works, and its more complicated than we thought. I remember when we met Kanye we were just so positive that if he heard a SECOND of us playing he would sign us immediately. LOL well he was there when we played, but he didnt pay any attention hahaha.
In the same vein, an industry person can tell us a million things and get all our hopes up about what he or she will do for us and how big we'll be, but in the end dont follow thru with any of it. So it has taught us to not be satisfied for doin a big show or meeting a industry exec or somebody famous. Its just another notch on our belts. But we have learned to have tough skin. Thats the main thing. No matter what, keep improving, keep practicing, keep writing, keep perfecting our craft. Cuz even when we do get signed, its just another chapter in our careers. There is never a reason to be content and settle with our current skill level or popularity.
So this begins phase 3, which I believe begins this week. The band is on the verge of a HUGE comeback. New songs, new image, new level of hype, overall new mindset. And Im soooo excited to see where this phase leads us, because Im confident we are headed in the right direction. So look out for us yall, we are bout to hit yall SOOOOO FREAKIN HAARRRRDDD!!!!!
For real... the world is not ready!!!
My Band - D12
PEACE
Labels: biscuits and gravy, kanye west, nappy roots, rocketown
Monday, April 6, 2009
However, I never complain. It all serves towards the purpose of my ultimate goal, which is to make it in the music industry, make money, be popular, get groupies, fancy cars, and big chains from Jacob the Jeweler to signify my new socio-economic status lol. So in the meantime I never complain. I know my rewards will come in the long run. But every so often theres a sneak peek of my future success, and this weekend was one of those times
My band Biscuits and Gravy had 3 shows on Saturday alone, one at a Hip Hop block party at Vanderbilt University, another at USN high school, and the final opening up for platinum selling southern rap group Nappy Roots.
I dont particularly like opening up for bigger artist. They always leave and go back to their hotel room after the sound check. They usually are just too "above" holdin conversation with the niggaz that open up for them! and they never make it back in time to see me perform anyway. So initially I never gave any thought to the Nappy Roots show. I pretty much figured that I knew what to expect, and to not get my hopes up in anyway because i would get let down of i thought they were all cool as hell and would see us perform
Well... they didnt see us perform lol. They came to the green room backstage right after our set, drunk and weeded up. I just sat in the back listening to my ipod ready to go home. "Them niggaz cant do nothing for me anyway, they aint been big since they first album anyway." LOL I swear to yall that was my only thought at the time.
One of my band's managers' Bryce grew up in Bowling Green, KY with alot of the members of the group, so he asked them to give us some personal advice about making it in the industry. Big V started out talkin about how there are no friends in the industry, only business, even with smiling faces. Then Fishscales mentioned how he learned to never write without inspiration because that is when he is at his best, which gets harder when they have to make deadlines. Clutch talked about how he still feels young cuz everything happened so fast once they started getting popular, touring, etc etc. He said it felt like he never really got a chance to sit back and soak all of it in while it was happening, and its gone for now.
These niggaz was real as hell. I had a new found respect for all of em.
The band sat and listened attentively, responding to everything, laughing when appropriate. I dont know exactly what the rest of my band mates were thinking, but as for me it strengthened my longing to make it to the next level in the industry. give me my shot, I'm ready. And at the same time, what they said confirmed my fears about the shady ppl, strict business, fake nigga stigma in the industry. Its grimey. Thats the most accurate way to put it. But at the same time, my whole life I have been getting equipped for that.
We dapped, handshaked, and thanked them for the advice and revealing to us their lessons learned. We left the backstage room while they prepared to go out on stage, and we joined the audience as they awaited to see the group they paid their money for.
The DJ spun a few records, and then hyped up the crowd to prepare for their "grand entrance on stage." Then the show began....
I never get star struck, never have never will. Any "celebrity" is still human like me, and i dont believe in idolizing anything that has the same capabilities and limitations as myself. But omg seein them perform was so freakin surreal...not because they are my favorite group, not because im a huge nappy roots fan, not because i opened up for them; But I vividly remember sneaking in my room listening to "Aw Naw" on my radio back in 9th grade, printing out the lyrics, learning every word to "Po Folks", writing my own verses to the track, recording their songs onto tape to listen to it later. I had forgotten all about the effect Nappy Roots had on my early development as an artist. I didnt seriously start writing until 8th and 9th grade, around the time Nappy Roots first came out, and at that time their singles were some of my favorite songs at the time. The catchy hook, the different personalities of each lyricist, the differences in rhythmic pattern. I began to study that, I emulated their styles, slang, phrases, the fact they were themselves.... rappin country niggaz... nappy boys, nappy roots. Nothing fake about it
And when the DJ played the easily recognizable organ lick from "Aw Naw", i felt chills (no homo lol). I remembered the lame 13 year old Harold looking for his identity as an artist, soaking in everything from internet bios to radio singles. And one of the groups I used to emulate and learn so much from, was right there in front of me, performing a song i knew every single word too. I had just talked to them. Hell, I actually met them. Not one of them times listening to "Po' Folks" on my cd player walking thru the halls humming the chorus did I EVER think I would meet them, open up for them, have a heart to heart convo with them. I cant even adequately describe in this blog my emotional state on Saturday night.....
Moments like those are my encouragement and motivation to keep grinding, keep at it, keep working towards my goal. I got to meet them same niggaz I used to bump when I was younger; one of my middle school rap professors lol, i learned from them back then just from listening to the radio.... fast forward 7 years and im still learning from them, face to face this time
Lol i dont expect you to understand how I feel. Some personal things are just too hard to try and get other people to relate with, but i dont care. as far as im concerned, dont nobody read my blog, hahaha i blog for myself. All I know, it wont be long til everybody who knows me now gon say
Aw Naw, Hell Naw, man Future up and done it....
Aw Naw Hell Naw - Nappy Roots
PEACE
Labels: biscuits and gravy, nappy roots
