Over the past couple years, Greg Loiacono, co-founder of The Mother Hips has also been gigging with a new project. Greg Loiacono & Stingray also features drummer Michael Urbano, percussionist/vocalist Vicki Randle, bassist/vocalist Kofy Brown, keyboardist Danny Eisenberg, and guitarist Tom Ayres. The six-piece has released a cover of Sade’s “Nothing Can Come Between Us.” This is the third single from the group, which like its predecessors was issued via RPF Records / Royal Potato Family.

“I’ve been in love with Sade since hearing her for the first time as a kid in the backseat of my mom’s Chrysler Cordoba,” says Loiacono of the tune. “Something about hearing her voice and the band moved me deeply then and still does today. So when our drummer Michael Urbano brought ‘Nothing Can Come Between Us’ to the table as a cover for Stingray, I was delighted.”

“When we first tried playing ‘Nothing Can Come Between Us,’ I jumped into the same groove and tempo from Sade’s recording,” Urbano adds. “The band’s percussionist Vicki Randle immediately stopped and said, ‘Don’t play it like that, do something different.’ So I slowed it down, went quarter notes on the hat, and swung the kick feel. She smiled and said, ‘There ya go.’ Once she jumped in on congas over that beat, it felt like we had our own thing going for the song. Greg’s falsetto performance, run through producer Damien Lewis’ tripped-out effect, is its own thing as well. I love playing this song live; it’s like casting a spell that slowly gets a hold of the crowd. It’s not immediate. It’s one of those things that brings them to us, rather than us going to them.”

The song is accompanied by a new video which Loiacono describes as “a love letter to the great city of San Francisco. It’s a slow drive through the Mission…a purposeless cruise with a friend but filled with possibility and mystery. I was born in San Francisco and although I spent most of my time living north of the city, I feel proud to call myself a native and feel deeply connected to San Francisco and the entire Bay Area. SF’s story has its highs and lows that mirror the hilly streets it possesses but the city by the bay always comes out on top. Nothing can come between me and my warm feelings for San Francisco.

“I asked Isaac Goff and Noah Loiacono to team up, again, to make this video for Stingray’s cover of Sade’s ‘Nothing Can Come Between Us.’ The pair had made the video for my song ‘Giving it All Away’ back in 2022 while they were living in New York City. That video captured a cool and surreal version of their experiences with the city and the MTA. Noah and Ike moved to the Mission in San Francisco about a year ago and I trusted that the way they view the worlds they live in would present this song and its vibe in a beautiful, moody and artistic way.”

Greg Loiacono & Stingray’s upcoming dates appear below the video.

Greg Loiacono & Stingray Dates:
3/20- Brick & Mortar- San Francisco, CA
3/21 – Templeton, CA – Club Car Bar
5/17 – Big Sur, CA – Hipnic
6/20 – San Luis Obispo, CA – Live Oak Music Festival