Free download: GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS' "AH MARY"
Sounding for all the world like some long-lost sister of the Allman Brothers, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals have proven that it’s possible to entwine brawn and brain—not to mention spirituality and sensuality—and still come out at the top of the jam band heap.
This Is Somewhere, the third full-length from Potter and her rough-and-ready band, offers a more concentrated, higher-octane blend of old-school boogie and slow-simmering soul than they’ve cooked up in bygone days. Grace is the focal point, thanks to both her honeyed vocal rasp and the turns she takes on organ and guitar. When Potter situates herself at the organ on songs like “Ah Mary,” guitarist Scott Tournet seizes the reins and steers the band into territory redolent of vintage Crazy Horse. Ah-mazing. —David Sprague