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Get It Started
In this new fangled world of Pro Tools, auto-tune and all the other technical gimmickry that currently fucks up music, you get a bunch of assholes that think they can reinvent the wheel. Despite their best efforts with noisemaking pedals and their sonic sounds, sometimes musicians could stand to sit back, throw on a classic 45 from a local Detroit label like Motown or Fortune and just say to themselves, “Well, we just can’t beat that.”
Admittedly, everything seems to have been done in music, and granted that doesn’t mean we should stop inventing new forms of it. Yet, to go back and perfect what has already been done has a massive appeal to some and fits right in line with the thought process of Detroit-based R&B quartet, The Party Stompers.
Featuring essentially what is a “best of the best” of current local R&B all stars, The Party Stompers formed a few years ago when New Orleans native Mike Hurtt transplanted himself into Michigan’s loving arms. While the record collector, music historian and journalist continued to work on other projects like the Haunted Hearts and Royal Pendeltons from here in the Motor City, it grew apparent that he needed a project in town. Enter longtime friend Jeff Meier (Detroit Cobras, Compulsive Gamblers and Rocket 455], who was also looking for a new project of his own. "[Hurtt] moved up here after Hurricane Katrina ... We played together with Nathaniel [Mayer] ... When we played together again, it just clicked really," states Meier of the band's start.
The result of Meier, Hurtt, bassist Adam Stanfel and drummer S.R. Boland collaborating their efforts on The Party Stompers turned out to be music that pulled from multiple genres like blues, rock ‘n’ roll and surf. Yet, most importantly, the music grabs most of its energy from Detroit’s legendary R&B period from the ‘50s through the ‘60s, an era in which acts like Mayer, Nolan Strong and Gino Washington were thought of as local music superheroes.
This week, The Party Stompers play the annual Cityfest in the heart of the New Center area in Detroit. Although Meier and Hurtt have backed many classic Detroit R&B singers in this realm, this year their new band will be the backing group for Gino Washington. "It's the greatest thing," Meier says. "I've loved him since the [Detroit] Cobras covered "Out of This World." | RDW
The Party Stompers • 7/4 • Cityfest's Jazz and Blues Stage
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