Concert photos by Clare Foster
Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers had an early winter date in Tahoe. The California rock and soul band played the Crown Room at Crystal Bay Casino on Saturday, Nov. 28. It was the band’s first Lake Tahoe appearance since Nicki and Tim Bluhm reportedly broke up personally and professionally.
The band formed gradually after Nicki Bluhm met Tim Bluhm at a 2007 after party for a Mother Hips show. Initially a fan of the Mother Hips, Nicki caught Tim’s eye; as their relationship developed, Tim encouraged her to pursue her passion for music. He released her initial work, and helped put the band together. Initially a West Coast band, the group broke through to the national stage in 2012, with dates at Bonnaroo Festival, Newport Folk Festival, and more.
“Our music definitely hearkens another era,” Nicki Bluhm said on the group’s website, “but at the same time, we want it to be contemporary. Reflective of now even though it nods to other times. We want it to be vintage modern.”
The band released “Loved Wild Lost” in April of 2015, officially the group’s second album. Some prior releases featured the current band lineup, but the first album under the moniker Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers was a 2013 self-titled production released on Tim Bluhm’s label, Little Sur Records.
“On the last record there’s a little bit of soul, a little bit of country, a little bit of rock,” Nicki Bluhm said on the site. “This record, we were trying to make it much more cohesive.”
Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers have a busy year ahead, including a New Year’s run with Greensky Bluegrass, and an extensive European tour in 2016 with dates in Madrid, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, London, and more.
Related story: Album review of “Love Wild Lost. LINK
