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Baltimore's Free Arts Festival : Artscape - Announces headliner G Love & Special Sauce

Last week, artscape.org released their musical lineup for the 2011 Artscape! I am very excited to pass on the news that Philly's G Love and Special Sauce is the main headliner.

Check your calendars for the July 15-17th weekend and head on down, up or over.  As Yankee & Red Sox fans can attest, Baltimore is a very inexpensive destination.  In fact many claim it is cheaper to travel, stay and get tickets for an Orioles game than to go to a Yankees or Red Sox game for a family.   The O's happen to be in town that weekend (see Orioles.com) and there is a ton of delicious food within walking distance of the Artscape venues.  (See the Yabba Pot, Brewer's Art, and Iggie's Pizza)

Although an overall weak festival lineup, in comparison to many of the pay festivals that are so popular these days, the lineup is pretty darn fantastic considering it's absolutely FREE.  In fact G Love on Saturday & Matisyahu on Sunday are some of the best headliners the festival has had in years.  The strength of the headliners alone makes it worth it to me for the 2 hour trip from Philly.  Especially since when I did live in Baltimore for 6 years, I didn't get to experience Artscape, but once; watching Mike Doughty back in 2006. 

G Love has weathered the music industry for nearly 20 years now, surfing the genres, riding the ebbs and flow while keeping his general blues and funk sound throughout. 2011 brings a new release Fixin to Die produced and musically backed by the Avett Brothers.   The Artscape live show will be backed by his long time musical cohorts Special Sauce who are drummer Jeffrey "The Houseman" Clemens and bassist Jim "Jimi Jazz" Prescott.

For me, it will be an exciting return to G Love.  I haven't seen him live since 2005's Electric Factory show with Blackalicious.  It will be my fourth show, after catching him years ago at Carnegie Mellon and once randomly in Cincinnati back in '99.  It will also by first new G Love album since 2006's Lemonade, having somehow entirely skipped 2008's Superhero Brother.  

Despite missing a whole recent album, G Love has been a constant in my music collection since I started college.  After Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews, the Beatles, and the Beastie Boys, ol' Garret Dutton & Co have the largest "Best of" playlist in my collection.  G Love anthems 'Baby's Got Sauce' & 'Cold Beverage' have been party staples of mine for years.  In fact I was thrilled when someone decided it was a good idea to hand me the mic and put 'Baby's Got Sauce' on during my wedding reception.

Do yourself a favor check out some of the video's below:

'Baby's Got Sauce' by G Love and Special Sauce from G Love and Special Sauce



'Peace, Love, and Happiness' by G. Love and Special Sauce from Superhero Brother



'Beautiful' featuring Tristan Prettyman by G Love and Special Sauce on Lemonade



'Fixin To Die' featuring the Avett Brothers by G Love on Fixin to Die


You can also find free streaming of a few tracks from Fixin To Die via Team Coco
 
Try the G Love and Special Sauce site Philadelphonic.com for more free tracks, tour info, and the store!

Enjoy!

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