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G. Love makes his way to Bend

By Ben Salmon / The Bulletin

Published: August 28. 2009 4:00AM PST

Throw a puka shell necklace just about any direction these days and you’re likely to hit a guy who plays funky, rootsy pop-rock music that’s big with the festavarians.

Over here is Jason Mraz and Matt Costa. Over there is Donovan Frankenreiter and Zach Gill. And up on yonder hill, bathed in light and chill vibes, man, are the gurus: Ben Harper and Jack Johnson.

Before most of them, though, there was G. Love & Special Sauce, a band of jive-talkin’ white guys from Philadelphia who’ve been at it for more than 15 years.

G. Love — his mama calls him Garrett Dutton — came out of the gates in 1994 with a self-titled record and songs like “Cold Beverage” and “Baby’s Got Sauce” that found their way to MTV. Folks liked G. Love’s surprising blend of old-school country blues and gritty hip-hop and were drawn to the frontman’s vocal stylings, which straddle the line between urban cool and a mouth full of marbles.

In 2009, G. Love is still doing his thing, only new and improved. He’s just off a winter in which he was forced to have surgery on his vocal cords, followed by an extended period of vocal rest. But don’t worry. “My vocal cords are doing really good now,” he told The Colorado Daily in February, “after four months of resting them.”

He’ll roll into Bend on Thursday touring behind his newest record, “Superhero Brother,” a collection of songs that are sunnier and more guitar-focused that much of his previous work. Learn more at www.philadel phonic.com.

Ben Salmon can be reached at 541-383-0377 or bsalmon@bendbulletin.com.

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