Guitarist Danny Mayer (Eric Krasno Band, Alan Evans Trio, Star Kitchen) has stepped out on his own for the first time with the release of his debut solo single via Color Red. “Basic Goodness”, a hypnotic psychedelic funk vamp with an irresistible “Go-Go” backbeat, is now streaming.
The song’s title comes from a concept coined by Tibetan spiritual teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, whose theory of “Basic Goodness” observed that human beings are wired to experience joy through entities as simple as sound and color. The concept, Mayer says, extends into how nature provides the basic needs for human survival.
As Mayer explains, “That awareness that our needs are being met, that we’re being taken care of on a basic level, tends to lend itself nicely to a more relaxed state where things don’t feel so threatening and at which point you can kind of start grooving with the world around you. That’s really all this song is—a relaxed and playful groove based on the concept of basic goodness.”
Originating from a drum groove his friend Colin Jalbert sent him, Mayer utilized the downtime of the past year to learn how to record from home. He made a loop from Colin’s groove, added Moog bass, bass guitar, and percussion, which laid the rhythmic groundwork. The guitar parts came next—with relative ease—but were only fully realized with the addition of the dreamy, harmonized lines leading out of the guitar solo.
“Basic Goodness” is the first track to be released from a forthcoming full-length record from Danny Mayer composed in lockdown in 2020.
Stream “Basic Goodness” by Danny Mayer here or listen below.
Danny Mayer – “Basic Goodness”
In addition to the release of “Basic Goodness”, Danny Mayer is set to play a pair of shows at Denver’s Knew Conscious on August 13th and 14th with Star Kitchen, the psychedelic funk band also featuring Marc Brownstein (The Disco Biscuits) on bass, Rob Marscher (Matisyahu) on keyboards, and Marlon Lewis (Lauryn Hill) on drums. While in Denver, the group will be recording additional material at Color Red to appear on a forthcoming EP.
For more information, head to Danny Mayer’s website.
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