On Friday, Rainbow Body released their self-titled debut album. The group consists of Dawes’ Taylor and Griff Goldsmith, Eric Krasno (Lettuce, Soulive), Rick Mitarotonda (Goose), Ross James (Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band), and Adam MacDougall (Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Circles Around the Sun). They recorded Rainbow Body at Flóki Studios in Northern Iceland near the Arctic Circle earlier this year, with Nicki Bluhm and Oteil Burbridge appearing on many of the tracks.
“No one ever stated this explicitly, but it felt like we were all operating according to the principle of ‘Let's just say yes to each other.’ We knew and trusted each other enough to allow that to happen,” Taylor Goldsmith told Relix regarding these sessions. “We also understood that this baby didn’t belong to any one of us. We had to hear everybody's vision or else it wasn’t a band. So we kept passing the ball back and forth. Everyone was letting the music happen and staying wide open to whatever was presenting itself. Even if we were seven minutes into a track, we’d be like, ‘That’s a cool idea. Let's do that, too.’ It was about maintaining a vibe and a spirit, while getting together with people we care deeply about and making music that was revealing itself in real time.”
Eric Krasno added, “I think at the very beginning I was like, ‘Imagine Allman Brothers harmony, but with jazzier chords and the best lyricist we know.’ That’s where my head was at. We may jam for 10 minutes, but there's a lot of guitarmony because that's my love. So we have great songs that are also a vehicle for me and Rick to go bananas but then we’ll have these cool sync-ups. Every time someone takes a solo, at the end of that solo, someone else harmonizes what the other guy does. That's my dream setup.
“But then we have all these other voices. Griff's one of the most creative drummers ever, so anytime we feed him anything, he makes it new. I think Ross is an unsung bass player. I mean, Oteil is obviously Oteil, but Ross does this Phil meets Allen Woody kind of thing that's pure rock-and-roll. Then MacDougall is just a wizard. He’s like Mickey Mouse after he gets his powers in Fantasia. That's Adam MacDougall to me, where all these different things start dancing together. So it was little bits of all that.”
The album’s release date, coincided with the group’s debut performance at Laguna Beach, CA’s Coast Film and Music Festival. Nicki Bluhm was on hand as a special guest for this show, which moved through the album from start to finish. Then the band performed a version of the Goose tune “Rockdale.”
You can watch some of the performance below and track about the songs via the Track By Track feature that accompanies our interview.
Rainbow Body initially came together through the support of the environmental alliance known as Quoia.
Setlist: Rainbow Body, Coast Film and Music Festival, Laguna Beach, CA
Strange Memory, I Don't Know What to Do with My Hands, From Mirror Lake, Jalü, Review of Millie Fulbright’s Debut Album "Courtside," Blade Runner on the Big Screen, So Many Words, Kicking Over the Traces, Rockdale
