Terraplane Sun’s Beachy Blues

Terraplane Sun is a band you don’t want to miss. The blues-rock quintet has an upcoming feature on the NBC’s show 1st Look LA. They will hold there second residency at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas coming this winter November and December. With Las Vegas and several live dates in Amsterdam, Terraplane Sun has been embarking on their west coast tour with shows at the Echo, Bootleg Theater, Hotel Cafe, Malibu Inn and more to come.

The Venice, California-based blues rock outfit, which features Ben Rothbard on vocals and guitar, Johnny Zambetti on lead guitar and mandolin, Cecil on bass, Lyle Riddle on drums and Gabe Feenberg on piano, accordion and trombone, will perform several songs from their ambitious second album, “Coyote.” Recorded live in three days at their Venice rehearsal space, “Coyote” was released earlier this year to much critical acclaim. While most L.A. bands inhabit the eastside, rehearsing and recording in Echo Park, Hollywood and Silver Lake, Terraplane Sun is very proud of their Westside roots. “The ocean doesn’t have to be associated with Jack Johnson,” says Ben. “It’s not all sunshine and potato chips. It has somewhat of an edge to it.” Johnny adds, “Venice is full of families and kids but then you make a left on Rose Avenue and it’s full-blown gangsters.” “And we’re more on the gangster side,” laughs Cecil.

Slow Train by terraplanesun

Terraplane Sun splits their rehearsal time between Venice and Malibu, where they’ve honed in a sound that conveys a swampy southern delta feel as much as it does the “California Sound” of the 1960′s. All of the band members have a distinct musical background. Ben grew up on Motown and later began an overall obsession with Delta Blues and Blues artists in general (Robert Johnson, Son House, John Lee Hooker, Ali Farka Toure). Johnny is “Pet Sounds” The Beatles and CSN, while both Lyle and Cecil have strong roots in punk and Motown. Gabe is the well-educated prodigy player of the band. This broad-based approach allows them to draw on a multitude of techniques that give the band their unique sound.

Terraplane Sun has been featured on several major television shows. “Is There A Way” was featured on the Showtime series “Nurse Jackie,” “Selfish Ways” was on FX’s show “Damages” and “Bloodshot Eyes” and “Hey Rat” were featured on FX’s show “The League.” Most recently, their song “Trouble” was picked up as the theme song for the new A&E show “Relapse.” In addition to playing live gigs and sharing the stage with artists including Fitz and the Tantrums, Robert Randolph and The Family Band and Foster the People, the band are working on a new EP in advance of their third full-length album. “Our last album was really raw and organic. While definitely maintaining that approach, we’ve naturally progressed as a band and it will show on our next record,” says Ben. “If people are expecting what came from the last album, they might be surprised,” adds Cecil. *For more information or to hear music, visit http://www.terraplanesun.com/ and* * https://www.facebook.com/terraplanesun and you can pick us their tunes here.