THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 18, 1994 TAG: 9412170058
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICKEY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
G. LOVE HAS A throat infection.
The genre-busting Dobro player and singer, who calls his band Special Sauce's meld of rap and blues ``rag mop,'' has rescheduled a phone interview several times this week. Finally, he calls from New York, explaining ``I'm trying to talk soft.''
The better to preserve his voice for Sunday night's ``Electric Xmas'' concert at the Abyss in Virginia Beach. Presented by ``alternative'' rock station WROX-FM (96X), the bill also includes Love Spit Love, the Murmurs, Gods Child and the Skellingtons.
G. Love is on the show by virtue of the hit ``Cold Beverage,'' from the group's self-titled debut album on OKeh/Epic. Once a haven for blues and country greats, the label is a natural for the Philadelphia-bred 22-year-old, whose knowledge of roots music echoes throughout the record's rough-hewn grooves.
``For me, it's always been writing songs and playing songs,'' he says. ``I've been writing songs since I was 15. It's like, every song's different and every song's the same. It's like a river. If you listen to a song I wrote when I was 15 and a song I wrote now, they're really similar. There's all different styles, but they're all me.
``It's a big dream for me to make my record when I was still 20. Two of my biggest influences, Bob Dylan and John Hammond, made their first records when they were 20. I did half of the record when I was still 20, and the other half right after I turned 21.''
The success of ``Cold Beverage'' might lead to comparisons to another young troubadour, Beck.
``I never met Beck,'' he says. ``But he's cool. I don't feel a kinship with him because I haven't met him. But he's out there playing music.''
G. Love's current run of radio-sponsored Christmastime concerts has brought him to New York and Philly before his Beach appearance. ``Electric Xmas,'' with part of the proceeds going to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, is a mark of 96X's arrival as a major player in the growing modern-rock format.
Holly Williams, the station's promotions director and one of its on-air personalities, credits the ``Live X'' broadcasts, which have featured studio concerts by the likes of the Connells and Hoodoo Gurus.
``It makes 96X in touch with the music our listeners want. This is really just a way for us to say `Happy holidays' to 96X listeners.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
OKeh/Epic
Singer G. Love and band Special Sauce play a meld of rap and blues
that he calls ``rag mop.''
by CNB