What do you get when you take wine, hip-hop, and blues, add a bunch of love, and mix it all together? A G. Love and Special Sauce concert at City Winery in NYC! And we got to sit down with Garrett Dutton (more commonly known as G. Love) to talk all about his 30+ years of making music, mixing genres, playing house parties to keep the lights on, and what’s really in his Special Sauce. Spoilers: it’s not Thousand Island dressing. Check out the interview now!
The Creation of G. Love’s Genre-Bending Style
There’s no doubt that G. Love is one of the most unique acts out there. The way he and his band, Special Sauce, mix blues, hip-hop, and all sorts of other genres is incredible and has helped them rise the musical ranks for almost three decades. But how did it all start…? We just had to ask.
G. Love grew up in Philadelphia. He learned to play the guitar at 8, he “learned how to tune it” by 13, and started writing some songs and playing harmonica by 15. It wasn’t long before he was sharing his folk tunes all over the streets of Philly.
At the same time (not to age anyone), hip-hop started taking over the world. During a street performance, G. Love was playing some blues licks at the end of a song and decided to start rapping “Paid in Full” by Eric B. & Rakim over top of it. Well, it sounded pretty good!
And thus was the creation of G. Love’s unique genre-bending style.
It’s All About the Love
G. Love is more than just a stage name; it’s a lifestyle. The real “secret sauce” (not the band) behind G. Love’s longevity and success is that he truly loves music. All music. Whether it’s blues, rock, country, folk, hip-hop, or anything else, he genuinely loves it! And that comes through in his sound.
You hear plenty of bands and artists playing genres that might differ from what they’re known for, and it’s pretty easy to tell that they might be phoning it in to reach a new audience. But when you hear G. Love play a blues song, then flip to a reggae song, then jump to an acoustic folk song, it’s all authentic. There’s genuine love behind everything he does. Maybe that’s what G. Love stands for!?
Loving music is essential for songwriting and playing instruments, but you also have to love performing. And to G. Love, performing is about three things:
- Communication
- Making people happy
- Being genuine
According to G. Love, if you want to succeed, you have to have a pure love for music and a good work ethic. Talent doesn’t even need to be in the equation.
Keeping the Lights on During COVID
People did all sorts of funny things during the COVID-19 pandemic — especially if they were musicians who relied on live shows to get paid. When the lockdown hit, G. Love and Special Sauce was sent home from their tour to just sit in their houses. Of course, musicians can’t make money just sitting in their houses… Not to mention it’s just boring!
One day, G. Love got a message from someone asking if he and the band would play a private party… for six people! Well, they weren’t doing anything else, so they got themselves a Bose PA system, packed an old Suburban SUV, and headed to the “show.”
You might think a band as popular as G. Love and Special Sauce wouldn’t play such a small private party, but they had a blast! “Everyone wore masks, and nobody died.”
G. Love has been touring — in a bus with a crew — since 1994. It felt great to get back to their gigging roots. Now, he had to be his own roadie, load in and pack out; his own audio engineer, hooking up cables and checking sound; and his own guitar tech, keeping everything in tune and setting up guitars.
It wasn’t long before the band was taking regular private party gigs, traveling all over the country. According to G. Love, the experience was very humbling and rewarding. Every day was different, without strict schedules — which is very different to touring life.
G. Love and Special Sauce still do private shows, if you’re looking for some music at your next house party. They already have the PA and Suburban, so why not!?
Advice for Upcoming Artists
It has never been easy to be a professional musician. Back in G. Love’s day, he would watch MTV and see massive superstars like Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen and think there was no way that he could go from a kid playing guitar in his room to that. It wasn’t like today when you could log onto the internet and see thousands of people just like you making music. That was, until one fateful show.
G. Love caught a John Hammond show at a small venue in Philly. He instantly thought “oh, I can do that.” From there, he decided to make one record and hit the coffeehouse and bar circuit. As his following grew, he went to some big music conferences in New York and Philadelphia where he eventually met a manager, a producer, and got signed to a label. It took a bunch of baby steps, but he eventually got there!
So, are things different today with the internet? Absolutely! But according to G. Love, not necessarily all for the best.
Yes, it’s much easier to get exposure. If you have something good, you can just release it and let the people decide if they want to listen to it. Back then, everything was curated by the labels. They only played music they thought people wanted to hear. So in that respect, it’s way easier now to get your music out there. All you need is a computer, cell phone, and internet connection!
However, because ANYONE can release music, that means the competition is ridiculous. There’s so much noise that it’s nearly impossible to break through.
What does G. Love suggest for young musicians who want to go pro? He likes to jokingly say, “Go get a f—ing real job.”
But in reality, the way to go pro is the same as it was back in the day. Just play gigs! Start by playing shows around town, build your following, and expand from there.
The Gear That Drives G. Love
We could have talked to G. Love about music philosophy and fun tour stories all day. But this is AMS, and we’re just a bunch of gear nerds at heart. We just had to ask G. Love about his favorite gear.
G. Love hearts Gibson. His go-to electric guitar is a Gibson Les Paul that he picked up back in 1996. He originally started touring with Special Sauce with a crazy pawn shop guitar that sported a sparkly finish, a knockoff Jaguar body, and lots of switches and knobs. One day, his bass player told him that he had to get a “real guitar,” so G. Love headed to the a music store on Sunset Blvd. and bought a black Gibson Les Paul for $2,700, which was the largest purchase he had ever made at the time. That guitar is still his primary electric live and in the studio.
There aren’t too many effects on G. Love’s pedalboard. He has a stage tuner, an overdrive for some gain, phaser, vibrato, and a digital delay — pretty standard.
On the acoustic side, G. Love prefers a Gibson J-45. It’s known as “The Workhorse” for a reason, and it gets G. Love through all his shows.
And a G. Love show wouldn’t be complete without a Hohner Marine Band harmonica.
G. Love doesn’t like to go too fancy with the gear. He’s more of a “plug and play” guy. He just wants to play music!
What’s Next for G. Love and Special Sauce?
At the end of the interview, G. Love cued us in on some very exciting music news. He’s going to release a new album soon that was made in a very special way.
When G. Love was working on his Philadelphia Mississippi album, he got to work with legendary blues musician R.L. Boyce. G. Love said playing a session with him was one of the best musical experiences of his life.
Unfortunately, Boyce passed away in 2023, and to commemorate his genius and legacy, G. Love chopped up some of the session that wasn’t used in the previous album and made beats for this upcoming album. He says it will be a very different direction for the band, but he’s excited to honor R.L.’s memory. We can’t wait to hear it!
A huge thanks to G. Love for taking time out of his busy schedule to chat. Good luck on the upcoming tour, playing with other artists like Donavon Frankenreiter, Dispatch, and John Butler. We can’t wait to see what’s next.
