It somehow leans towards an Allman Brothers Band spinoff when local blues/country/Americana/jam band Sugar Lime Blue combines a rough take on ’90s alternative rock band Living Colour’s in-your-face sound with Primus’ rattling thump-funk bass and an Annie Lennox vocal styling. When the band grooves out on a calypso-flavored tune, frontwoman Ashley Beth’s hippie presence mixes with a relaxed backing band to create the resonant frequencies. It’s all the Nashville-to-Gainesboro area’s Americana jam band Sugar Lime Blue, though, further developing its established mix of jazz, blues, country and jam-rock through its fourth full-length studio album, The Blackbird Sessions.
Female-fronted throughout the twenty-teens, Sugar Lime Blue gained a couple-led popularity as Ashley’s husband and guitarist Dave Beth has backed her vocals and stage presence for 13 years of live performances. This live chemistry has seemingly produced more fan loyalty than their studio work, though this invites their live-setting intentions into the studio, giving The Blackbird Sessions as rough a feel as Sugar Lime Blue’s cover-heavy dive residencies and festival appearances.
While the new album is comprised of original material stoked by the pandemic years and the loss of their founding bassist, Russ Dean, The Blackbird Sessions keep the Sugar Lime Blue established drive and exploratory jams (it’s not a downer).
For The Blackbird Sessions, Ashley and Dave Beth enlisted the help of bassist Jo Bass and keyboardist Scott Guberman and also re-established a live presence embarking on several multi-state tours adding members Luis “Slive” Echeverria on keys and Ikaika Pekelo on drums, who also contribute to the album, according to the band’s website.
It’s the versatility, as well as the consistency and companionship, that makes Sugar Lime Blue uniquely comforting. The Beths seem to be a solid couple behind an Americana jam outfit exuding an Evanescence-like vibe, just styled in a hippie, bluesy way instead of a gothic approach.
Sugar Lime Blue’s The Blackbird Sessions (and previous releases) can be found across the icons on Bandcamp, YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeart and Deezer, as well as through sugarlimeblue.com. Their popular and consistent #SundayShoutOut—Sugar Lime Blue’s weekly, intimate, mostly acoustic, “fireside chat” home performances—air every Sunday from their Facebook homepage and YouTube channel. Sugar Lime Blue already has numerous shows on the schedule for 2023, including hosting the weekly Americana Brunch at the Bull & Thistle in Gainesboro each Sunday at noon, a Jan. 20 appearance at Common John Brewing in Manchester and a Jan. 27 show at Jimmy’s in Lebanon.
