Little Faith - Music

When I'm interviewing a band, there are only a handful of questions I can usually ask. More often than not the article is about the artist's latest album, tour, where they came from and where they are going. After that, it's not like we are going to talk about fly fishing, mud wrestling, or why Kara Thrace came back after getting frackin' blown up to smoldering giblets while flying her Viper on Battlestar Galactica. Was she a Cylon? A Messenger? I don't know, and neither does the band, so I stick to the music.

The real key is to save the best quotes the artist gives me, and making sure the reader gets to enjoy them. If they start to talk about what it was like playing strip clubs in Detroit, Michigan, fine, that's what we are talking about. Otherwise, when I just have 550-600 words to work with, I have to stay on target while at the same time entertaining the audience, or else I don't get paid.
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Jack Maeby, keyboardist for Little Faith, has been a professional musician and producer for decades, having previously worked for industry greats such as Carly Simon, Otis Rush and Buster Pointdexter. How would he describe the music he creates along with his fellow band mates Nelson Blanton (guitar, steel guitar), Nadia Christine Duggin (vocals) and Paul Vitolins (drums and co-producer)?

“I call it roots gospel music,” he says, “because it’s closer to the kind of music people in the South still play.” The music Maeby refers to is often based on the same gospel music being played in churches throughout Louisiana or Alabama. “Traditional American spirituals all have a common link to gospel,” Maeby says. “That’s how we started, as a roots gospel band playing traditional church spirituals.”

Maeby points out that while the band does play gospel music, most of the members of the band are actually atheists. “For all of us, it’s about who is investing in the music. I also like to say we are a secular gospel band.”

On Oct. 1, Little Faith released Shelter, a compilation of traditional American folk spirituals including the classic, quietly incendiary song, “John the Revelator,” served up with style alongside more frenetic fare like the, rocking, thumping and rolling thunder of “Memphis Rising.” Shelter also has funky guitars, bumping drums, seductive vocals and the sweet, signature, country sound of the steel guitar or the juke-joint wail of a saxophone to remind the listener of how truly timeless finely crafted music can be.

Now that the band has had a few months to think about it, how does its members feel about the LP? “We’re really happy with it,” Maeby says. “We’ve gotten a lot of positive response for this album.” As a result of the success of Shelter, potential fans have had more opportunities to tune into Little Faith. “We get really good radio play, including KCSN 88.5 FM and a lot of other local Los Angeles gospel stations,” the veteran musician adds.

The life of a professional musician is often a roller-coaster ride of successes and failures, where the path to a career is never completely predetermined. Why does Maeby do it? “For me and a lot of band members, we just have to play. It’s what we do for pleasure. If we can make a little money while we’re doing it, great.”

The downside of the career is that sometimes people want too much of something for nothing. Maeby likes to work and play, but bills don’t pay themselves. “A lot of club and venue owners believe music should just be free, and they don’t want to pay you,” Maeby says.

With the big local success of Little Faith, the band is planning its tour to spread the good word. “We’re planning a regional tour,” Maeby says. “We’ve all done our best to promote the album, working off of our business connections to plan it, and we also got our own tour bus.” The musician reports that more updates will be available on their website. “So far, we’re heading over to Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona, and after that, wherever we can go.”