Eagle Rock Gospel Singers at Roots Roadhouse II

If the phrase “gospel singers” brings to mind rows of stately, middle-aged folks swaying and singing in purple robes underneath stained-glass church windows, the Eagle Rock Gospel Singers will surprise you.

This young, dynamic Eagle Rock group of singers and musicians, in their mid-20s to early 30s, cite contemporary influences such as the Black Keys, Wilco, and Calexico as well more traditional gospel artists such as The Dixie Hummingbirds, The Pilgrim Travelers and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. In short, they’re as likely to inspire jumpin’ and jivin’ as they are humming and hand-clapping.

Performing At The Roots Roadhouse II

On Sunday, August 14, Eagle Rockers can catch their homegrown group’s distinctive mix of blues, indie rock, folk and bluegrass at Roots Roadhouse II in Echo Park.

The afternoon-’til-late-night “Americana music Festival with a twist!” will unfold at the Echo and the Echoplex, where promoters Liz Garo, Kim Grant and Julie Richmond stage the Grand Ole Echo—a weekly, summertime-only, Sunday show that is a staple of the Echo Park music scene. 

In addition to the Eagle Rock Gospel Singers, Roots Roadhouse offers an eclectic mix of roots musicians ranging from the Sadies doing alt-country to David Serby, and the Dirt Poor Folklore doing dark-edged, revisionist Americana to honkytonker Mike Stinson who's visiting from Houston.

Inspired By Old Gospel

The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers, which swelled at one point to 13 musicians during their 15 months of singing together, has settled into a tight core of eight musicians and singers. Drummer Will Wadsworth, who also writes most of the group’s original songs, says their inspiration was the love of old gospel music—the open secret behind the success of numerous musicians in America.

“We all have a common thread of loving old folk gospel, old black gospel, old country gospel,” says Wadsworth.

Parties and Church

The majority of group members met at Ecclesia, the non-denominational church in Hollywood where most of them worship. The exception is trumpet player Theo Scott Smith, who first saw the group at one of their regular house-party performances held at Wadworth’s Eagle Rock home. 

“I was immediately impressed and thought maybe I could fit into the group somehow,” recounts Smith. “I decided to go up and introduce myself to Will, who I’d never met—I told him I really liked his music and wanted to be in the band.”

Wadsworth recalls Theo as telling him he played trumpet—“and I was thinking that some horns would sound great because we wanted to do kind of a swing thing, a New Orleans-type-sound,” says Wadsworth. Theo found himself in the band “and we’re so happy to have him.”

Back to Their Roots for Roots Roadhouse

For Roots Roadhouse, the group will probably be performing the “old kind of standards that have worked themselves in and out of church and into our hands,” says Wadsworth. “It’s kind of what we started doing—we have a foundation there.”

The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers will be performing on the Outdoor Stage. “It’s going to be an acoustic set,” explains vocalist and auxiliary percussionist Kim Garcia. “These songs are songs we’ve done a ton of times,” says Wadsworth. “We’re just taking the plugs out,” adds Garcia. Vocalist/clarinetist Brianna Nystrom says the Roots Roadhouse is an opportunity to gain flexibility and “evolve depending on what the situation calls for.” 

Part of the group’s flexibility comes from its ability to perform with or without its various members. On Sunday, for example, the Singers will perform without vocalist/auxiliary percussionist Laura Mosedale, Jasmine Teran, who plays guitar, auxiliary percussion and vocals, and keyboardist/banjo player Jojo Lorentz, the group’s main musical arranger with Wadsworth.

Singers' Music A Return, Not a Destination

“I’d still like to keep the country gospel and old timey vein running through what we do,” Wadsworth says, adding that the Eagle Rock Gospel Singers are “trying to create a hybrid between that music from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s and blend it into a more indie rock sound that we have.”

Bottom line: If Sunday is your day to sing and shout, let the Eagle Rock Gospel Singers lead the way at Roots Roadhouse.

The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers perform Sunday, August 14, from 8:30 – 9 p.m. on the Outdoor Stage at Roots Roadhouse II at the Echo and the Echoplex.  Enter through the Echoplex parking lot at 1154 Glendale Boulevard, Los Angeles, 90026.  Doors open at 3 p.m.  All ages.

Tickets $15 and $17 on day of show

To listen to the Eagle Rock Gospel Singers and read more about them, visit their facebook page by clicking here.

For more information, contact Liz Garo at Liz@spaceland.tv or visit kgmusicpress.com/rootsroadhouse.