The Motet

A new beginning can happen at any time. No matter where you may be on your journey, you can always start over once again.

 

After 26 years, nine albums, and over a thousand shows, The Motet embark on another chapter galvanized in equal measure by their longstanding bond and a surge of fresh energy. The genre-breaking group—Dave Watts [drums], Joey Porter [keys], Garrett Sayers [bass], Drew Sayers [keys, saxophone], and Ryan Jalbert [guitar]—officially welcome Sarah Clarke [lead vocals] to the family. Their inimitable instrumental interplay proves just as fiery as ever, while her addition only fuels their collective flame higher.

 

They ignite a new era with their 2024 full-length album and first with Sarah on the mic, Love Time.

 

“It’s our first step into the world as this iteration of The Motet,” affirms Sarah. “It’s also an opportunity for folks to hopefully jump aboard and see where it goes.”

 

“It is the beginning,” agrees Dave. “We’re not in this for money or fame. We just want to be able to write songs and play shows. The fact we can travel as far as we do, go through everything as a team, and play music we wrote together is humbling. To see people coming out to shows, smiling, singing, dancing, and sustaining our careers is nothing short of a miracle.”

 

The Motet bubbled up out of Colorado back in 1998. Their catalog has grown to encompass a bevy of fan favorite albums. In between, they have packed houses coast-to-coast. The band has impressively headlined their hometown Red Rocks Amphitheatre seven times as well as gracing the bills of Bonnaroo, Bottlerock, Electric Forest, Bumbershoot, Summer Camp, and High Sierra, to name a few. 

 

The Motet first crossed paths with Sarah on tour. Blown away by her performance with her band Dirty Revival, Dave kept in touch, and asked her to sing at a handful of Bay Area shows in 2022. Sparks flew, chemistry sizzled and the collaboration showed immense promise. She soon found herself in the studio with the group, lending her powerhouse pipes to “Natural Light” and “We Got U,” paving the way for the new album Love Time.

 

“We’ve continued going down a path of funk, soul, and disco, but Sarah takes it all up a notch,” Dave smiles. “She has a unique way of approaching and lyrics, and she collaborates with the rest of us really well. We’re on the same road, but it has a different color to it.”

 

“As soon as we started working together more, I was so inspired,” Sarah adds. “It’s an honor to play with musicians of their caliber, and I knew The Motet was where I wanted to be.” They wrote and recorded at a comfortable pace, locking into a groove throughout 2024. With Sarah based in Portland and the rest of the crew in Denver, they carved out pockets of time to collaborate on what would become Love Time.

 

The Motet went on to tease the album with a series of singles, including "Love Time," "Thinkin Too Much," and “Something Better.” On the latter, a pliable guitar lick weaves around strains of organ anchored to a head-nodding beat. Sarah’s soulful delivery on “Something Better” simmers until it practically melts into the song’s strut. Through her lyrics and against this smooth backdrop, she wrestles aloud with the insecurities and anxieties of parenthood.

 

“When Joey sent me the music, I was instantly drawn to it,” Sarah exclaims. “It gave me these feelings of listening to old Marvin Gaye. I wanted to bring some of that energy. Joey, Dave, and I all have kids, and there’s something about this world that can be a little scary as a parent. I was thinking of my son and wanting a better world for him.”

 

On “Thinkin Too Much,” an electric guitar groove and slick drums shape the soundscape as the vocals resound with vibrancy and vitality. It culminates on a chantable chorus punctuated by a bit of wisdom, “Don’t be thinkin’ too much about it.”

 

“I had such a fun time developing the lyrics with Jalbert,” Sarah says. “We quickly settled on a concept surrounding the difficulties that come with overthinking, anxiety, and how difficult it is to focus on the positive parts of life. Sometimes, we have to focus on the little things that bring us joy instead of the bigger things that make us crazy. Perhaps, that’s easier said than done.”

 

On “Love Time,” a buoyant soundscape ushers bodies straight to the dancefloor. Revolving around slinky riffing and hypnotic synth-craft, the tune reaches its climax at just the right moment, “It’s make a little love time.”

 

“‘Love Time’ was fun to write, because I decided not to take it too seriously,” Sarah reminisces. “I wanted something that felt bouncy and happy—It’s a silly, flirty thing that plays with themes of attraction, sex, consent, and the funny feeling you get when you meet a potential partner for the first time. It’s joyfully unserious. In true Motet fashion, all we want you to do is dance.”

 

Then, there’s “Daydream.” A laidback slice of tripped-out funk bliss, Sarah sets the scene with no shortage of bright color, “Messages received, from neon greenery amidst the digital buzz, take me away.”

 

“A few folks in the band have enjoyed psychedelics before,” she grins. “We wanted to address some of the feelings that can come about in that space. It’s talking about freedom of mental expression, but also kind of getting lost in that space in a very positive way.”

 

“We’re all so thankful and excited to be here,” Sarah leaves off. “It was amazing to work on a studio record together, but the live show is where it’s at. Now, I’d encourage you to come out and see it for yourself.”

 

As this new chapter gets underway, there’s still nothing like getting lost in the world of The Motet.

The Rad Trads – On Tap – Hornblow Recordings – Out Now The gentlemen comprising the Brooklyn-based five-piece The Rad Trads distinguish themselves in ways few bands can. Already drawing lines around the block at home, the globe-trotting group’s singular take on rock n roll mixes punk rock energy, horn drenched soul, and jazz precision, all with a lighthearted but sincere delivery. It’s a sound and show that is gaining steam world over as The Rad Trads continue to tour in support of On Tap, out now from Hornblow Recordings. Challenging but humorous, at times The Rad Trads bring to mind Springsteen and his “Big Man” Clarence Clemons, Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks-era vocal style, and Wilco’s epic guitar breakdowns. All of this sonic goodness is only upstaged by the fact that the guys in The Rad Trads manage to exist as five distinct songwriters and singers in a band that still sounds powerfully egoless, familial, and cohesive. And none of them even planned on being vocalists! Meeting at New York University in 2012 as conservatory-trained instrumentalists looking to play with NYC’s best musicians, twin brothers John (Drums, Vocals) and Michael Fatum (Trumpet, Vocals), Michael Harlen (Bass, Vocals), Alden Harris-McCoy (Guitar, Vocals), and Patrick Sargent (Keys, Saxophone, Vocals) were, at that time, just “a bunch of buds looking to play the bars and drink for free,” according to John Fatum. “The Rad Trads started off with a bastardized jazz repertoire that was modified, on stage, into whatever seemed to get the audience moving.” The band quickly developed a loyal connection with its audiences. Michael Fatum agrees: “It felt amazing.” It was at this time that each band member’s individual forays into original songwriting began, coinciding with the discovery that what its followers were enjoying most was the band members’ personal connections with each other. This, even more than the music itself, was making crowds come back for more. As the band’s live sets began to be filled more and more with original songs which all stuck to the “if you write it, you sing it” formula, the fans remained enthusiastically engaged. With all of that energy flying around, The Rad Trads could have simply been perceived as just a party band, but the band’s booking agent realized that with those expert chops, there might also be a niche within the jazz festival scene for The Rad Trads, and he was right. Harlen explains, “It turns out that every jazz festival in the world needed a fun band to hold down the late night parties, and so we went to Europe for the first time.” This initial excursion has turned into nearly ten trips to Europe for The Rad Trads, in addition to performances on four continents, in 15 countries, 41 states, and as of this writing, a string of dates in China. The diverse list of artists that the band has performed with in that time includes Lake Street Dive, Charles Bradley, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, and The Lone Bellow, among others. “We’ve loved every second of traveling and seeing the world,” John Fatum says. Fatum is the composer and vocalist of “On Tap” album opener “Good Luck Unto Ya,” a soaring anthem with wall of sound-level overdubs, recently described by American Songwriter as a “funky kissoff track with a killer guitar solo and plenty of horns.” It’s a stunning way to jump start the record, and for the uninitiated, will quickly bring to mind visions of what The Rad Trads’ race-out-of-the-gate live show must be like. The album is bookended by closing number “Wishing Well,” which is, incredibly, the first song that Sargent ever wrote. “We played the song live for almost a year before recording it, so it had a chance to evolve organically before being put to tape,” he explains to MAGNET Magazine, which in its fullthroated praise of The Rad Trads, also asserts, “We’ve been racking our brains trying to think of another band that has five leader singers, but we couldn’t come up with any.” Obviously, while the songs on On Tap are exceedingly original, the band’s story is, too. Or maybe surviving the story is what’s most fascinating. As a group comprised of conservatory trained instrumentalists, it’s actually five individual writers and singers that glue The Rad Trads together, the sound of five artists that have found a common voice. “Our unconventional process keeps The Rad Trads fresh for us, always,” Harris-McCoy explains. “The fact that our egos have not taken us down is somewhat of a modern miracle!” On Tap by The Rad Trads is out now from Hornblow Recordings. Look out for new music videos for album tracks “My Place” and “Thumbtack,” coming soon. The Rad Trads will continue to tour throughout 2019.