Brandi and the Alexanders: High Line Bash 2023
Brandi Thompson (photo by Ryann Thompson, PR)
A night of spectacular music, decadent food and drink, and celebration, this year's WFUV High Line Bash takes place on Friday, May 12, at New York's City Winery. Buy tickets here, before they sell out. As our listeners know, we've lined up a formidable five artists and bands: The Hold Steady, Allison Russell, Allison Ponthier, Brandi and the Alexanders, and Joe McGinty's Superstar Piano Bar. Each week leading up to the Bash, a focus on those musicians who will make our very special night shine:
Over the last handful of years, WFUV has had an enviable front row seat to watch the fast-rising Brandi and the Alexanders — the New York band’s drummer happens to be the radio station’s assistant program director, Eric Gottlieb.
The dynamic rock ‘n’ soul quintet — which began as an 11-piece R&B cover band — was founded nearly a decade ago, led by the compelling singer and songwriter Brandi Thompson, a Chicago native who has also been a backing vocalist for Aloe Blacc, Nick Waterhouse, Daptone label artists, and others. As Brandi and the Alexanders found their own voice, inspired by forebears in blues, rock, soul, and ‘70s-era funk classics, the group segued from their cover-band beginnings and released a debut album of originals, 2018’s How Do You Like It? on Red Parlor Records.
Buoyed by her bandmates, Thompson has further seized upon her own lyrical agency and candor. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s 2020 murder and the Black Lives Matter marches, she wrote “Fire,” perhaps Brandi and the Alexanders’ most formidable song to date, and the spiritual catalyst for their 2022 Reflection EP. (The band has submitted "Fire" to the 2023 NPR Tiny Desk Contest too.)
“It's a song that instills confidence and informs listeners of the bravery and perseverance of African Americans past and present,” Thompson told WFUV last year.
New York’s glittering lights and sophisticated grooves serve as Reflection’s beacon. The seven-track EP adroitly blurs genres: there are club gems (“(I Want To) Watch You Dance”), funked-up, slow-burn soul (“Where You Belong”), and majestic gospel (“Amen”). Over the last few years, Brandi and the Alexanders has opened for Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Southern Avenue, Moonchild, Eli “Paperboy” Reed and headlined their own gigs. The group also played an FUV Live session in 2018.
We are very pleased to welcome Brandi and the Alexanders — vocalist Brandi Thompson, drummer Eric Gottlieb, guitarist Noah Richelson, bassist Eric Wendell, and keyboardist and guitarist Andy Paul to the stage of the 2023 High Line Bash. We’re cheering on our FUV compadre — and one of New York’s best bands.
