Music Box: Mountain Fest brings G. Love

By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com)Jackson Hole, Wyo. - G. Love comes off as a cool cat. Off the bat, he wants to know about the snow conditions.  The avid surfer grew up skiing, then switched to snowboarding, and is looking forward to hanging on the mountain for a day after his performance at Mountain Fest.“My drummer [Jeffrey Clemens] doesn’t approve of me doing too many extreme sports while I’m on tour,” joked G. Love, a.k.a. Garrett Dutton. “One time when we had first put the band together in ‘93, I had skateboarded over to a rehearsal. When I went to leave I was like, ‘Where the fuck is my skateboard?’ Jeff was driving off, and he had taken my skateboard from me and I never saw it again.”Mountain Fest is becoming a storied tradition. Think back to the inaugural 2006 Fest with Blues Traveler, then through the years with The Wreckers (hmm…), Michael Franti and Spearhead, Ozomatli, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, and Katchafire. The opportunity to crush the slush, cheers the beers, and reflect on your own ski-season experiences with your good buddies is the gateway to off-season. And now we kick-it with the acoustic hip-hop/blues, self-proclaimed “ragmop,” of G. Love and Special Sauce.Love and Sauce played the Mangy Moose Saloon a couple of times in the late ‘90s and around 2000, during a time when the band was enjoying a strong career foundation. G. Love had released three albums and formed a record label with his manager, Philadelphonic Records. Though based out of Philadelphia, the band got its start in Boston.The trio’s self-titled debut album had two noteworthy singles, “Baby’s Got Sauce” and “Cold Beverage,” the latter of which gained the group popularity through MTV. Incessant touring, though, is what ultimately grew the fanbase, and in 1995, they landed a spot on the first H.O.R.D.E. tour with Dave Matthews, Rusted Root, Blues Traveler and others.“It all starts and ends with the music,” G. Love said about his long career. “My career has been interesting. I was one of the last generations of acts to get signed that were considered developing acts. Dave Matthews, Ben Harper, moe … we were all signed around the same time. One generation after that was Jack Johnson and The White Stripes. And nowadays it’s a free-for-all, it’s kind of like the Wild West. There are no rules. It’s the people’s choice.”G. Love’s latest solo release, Fixin’ to Die (2010), is a step away from the funky stylings.  Instead, there’s a heavy delta blues influence, including Blind Willie McTell’s “You’ve Got to Die,” and the album’s title is named after Booker “Bukka” Whites’ classic. Add in Paul Simon’s “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover,” a handful of G. Love originals, and studio appearances from The Avett Brothers (who also produced the album), and you’re left with a very rootsy, singer-songwriter album that, according to Love, “brings me back to my days as a coffee shop player and street musician.”Joining Love on guitar, harmonica and vocals, Special Sauce still features longtime drummer “The Houseman” Clemens, as well as more recent member, bassist Timo Shanko. “Timo has been in our family since the beginning and is one of the greatest musicians in the world, really,” said Love. “We were a four-piece with an organ for about six years, and it’s been really exciting to return to the three-piece. The show now is more raw, with power and energy. There’s a lot more tension and release. It’s happening.”Read about opening band, Elk Attack, here.Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s Mountain Fest presents G. Love and Special Sauce, 5:30 p.m., Saturday, in the Teton Village parking lot. Local indie-folk/rock quintet Elk Attack opens. Free. For a full schedule of events, visit JacksonHole.com.