Red Spot Rhythm Section is the stylistically hybrid project of Chicago-located musician and multi-media artist Joshua Siegal.
Swimming in the rich rivers of genres that include reggae, ska, soul, and Americana, Siegal and his ever-changing cast of guest musicians ride a sweet retro flow on their compositions.
Upcoming album Won’t Back Down: A Roots Tribute to Tom Petty arrives on August 6th. It follows up previous full length Worry: Songs of Homan Freed, which was released in 2015.
On the new LP Siegal is joined by Akasha, JC Brooks, Angela Peel, Todd Kessler, Norman Livingston Kerr, Jaik Willis, Claire Liparluo, and more.
Rebel Noise is stoked to host the premiere of the album’s copacetic lead single, “You Got Lucky,” a heartfelt reggae-inflected cover of Tom Petty’s track that features Chicago-based vocalist and actor Angela Peel.
Against a laid-back, yet still restlessly jumpin’ rhythm section, lively guitar punch from Zoey Witz, a reflective bass line, and winding to buzzing synth notes, Peel sings in a mellow tone that’s touched with bittersweet feeling.
Band leader Joshua Siegal reveals insightful details about the ensemble’s spin on the song, commenting, “I chose "You Got Lucky" for this project because of the way the bass and guitar parts work together; they're kind of reminiscent of some classic reggae tracks.”
“And the tune was originally released in 1982, at a time when everyone was putting reggae influences into pop tunes (especially The Police, for example), so who knows? Maybe this is a case of reggae influencing a rock tune only for it to be reincarnated as a reggae tune in the future.”
“I thought it would be interesting to have a female vocal on the track - it gives a little bit of a different meaning to some of the lyrics. I was looking for someone who could nail a real soulful vibe on it.”
“Someone introduced me (virtually - this was late 2020 / early 2021) to Angela Peel, and she was down for the project, and just absolutely nailed it. She recorded the lead vocal and all the backing parts herself.”
“When I got the parts back, I flew them into the mix and was just astounded. If you listen to some of her original stuff, it has a sort of a pop or even rock vibe to it, so she just knew exactly where to situate the feel, somewhere between the soulful rendition I was asking for and the rock and roll roots of the tune.”
“Then I had this synth lead as the solo near the end of the tune, but we had Zoey Witz coming in to do some guitar solo work, and for fun we had him try some takes and ended up liking his solo so much that we kept it, and part of the original synthesizer solo became the backing part at the end of the guitar solo.”
“The whole album came together like that - people adding their magic and representing their fondness for Tom Petty here and there until it became a thing unto itself.”R
