One of Ocean Beach’s favorite bands, MohaviSoul, will host a CD release show at The Holding Company on Aug. 10. The modern bluegrass sextet will unveil their debut album, “Hometown Blues,” on a bill set to include Americana combo, Coral Bells. Featuring Randy Hanson (mandolin), Dan Sankey (fiddle), Mark Miller (guitar), Jason Weiss (banjo), Orion Boucher (bass) and Will Jaffe (dobro), with all except Sankey contributing vocals, MohaviSoul formed in 2012 as an outgrowth of a San Diego songwriters group where Miller and Hanson met and began collaborating, initially for songwriting contest “The Game,” in which contestants write a song to a given title. “We came together through song writing which is still one of our strengths, along with some amazing musicianship,” Hanson said good naturedly. “Basically, Mark and I collaborated on a “Game” song called “Every Second,” which was so well-received we knew we needed to take this further.” The pair were joined by Boucher and Weiss shortly after that and immediately headed into the studio to record their first EP, “Every Second,” followed in quick succession by a second EP, “Blue Diesel” later that year.
While MohaviSoul is definitely an Americana group, Hanson points out their sound is actually a little expansive. “While we have the full instrumentation of a traditional bluegrass band, our song writing and musical influences span the gambit of genres and styles,” he said. “Most of the members of the band started in bluegrass but also have roots in rock, jazz, folk, and blues.”
The current public fascination with Americana in general began with the 2000 film, “Oh Brother Where Art Thou,” but rather than create a short-lived fad as some other music related films have, bluegrass and other folk music have shown amazing staying power. “My influences in bluegrass go back to the amazing revolution of contemporary bluegrass from the 1970s-1990s such as the Seldom Scene, Country Gentlemen and the Dillard’s, as well as the Dead, New Riders, Poco and many others.” He points out that “amazingly, San Diego has a rich tradition of bluegrass artists and bands, but both contemporary bluegrass and Americana have really emerged in popularity because there is so much new and original music,” Hanson said. “Plus there are great festivals and venues that are supporting this type of music for all ages, but especially for younger music lovers. So the genre keeps growing and creating new sounds, songs and artists.” “Hometown Blues,” was recorded with producer/ engineer Ben Moore at Singing Serpent Studios in Kensington and was mastered by Gavin Lurssen at Lurssen Mastering in Los Angeles, perhaps best known for working on “Oh Brother Where Art Thou.” “It’s our third and first full length CD on Mannequin Vanity Records,” Hanson explained. “The album also features San Diegan John Mailander on fiddle.”
Following their show at The Holding Company, MohaviSoul will be promoting the new album by hitting the Southwestern festival circuit, including Vista’s SummerGrass (Aug. 18), the Santee Bluegrass Festival (Sept. 9) and the Las VeGrass Festival (Oct. 15). In the meantime, Hanson is happy to be back at the Holding Company. “OB is our home, so even though we are mainly playing festivals these days,” he said. “We love to come back and play for the home crowd in the hood so this should be fun. We played at THC earlier in the year with the Alabama band, Iron Horse, so we know this is a great venue for bluegrass.” Five years on since MohaviSoul’s inception, Hanson is clear on what he enjoys most about playing with the band, though he finds it hard to pin it down to just one thing. “The two best things about MohaviSoul are the freedom to create new music and playing our own renditions of covers,” he said. “As well as the friendship and feeling of family.”