From behind the redwood curtain of Humboldt County, California, the seven piece funk-soul band Diggin Dirt has carved out a niche as a live party not to be missed. Shoveling their own path, Diggin Dirt has seen sustained growth over the past few years, with multiple national tours and festival stops at Jam Cruise, High Sierra, Hulaween, Same Same but Different, Live Oak, Cascade Equinox, Joshua Tree Music Festival and many more.

Per a 2024 Jam Cruise writer, “This was the soul music I grew up with in the ‘60s and ‘70s, but I confess I wasn’t expecting [Diggin Dirt] to be throwing it down this hard. This group is impossibly tight, and Zach Alder might be the best soul shouter I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a few.”

Their infectious sound is fueled by blazing horns, searing guitars and a relentlessly driving rhythm section, and tying it all together is the band’s frontman who launches the ensemble into rarefied air with his pipes, charisma and natural-born soul. With flashes of James Brown or Sly and the Family Stone, Otis Redding or Tower of Power, the band’s sound is both familiar and yet refreshingly original, layering psychedelic rock, Motown soul, afrobeat and even reggae atop a thick foundation of late-60s inspired funk.

 The Routine is a four-piece Funk-Rock band that exploded onto the West-Coast music scene in 2013. Rooted in San Diego, California, they pack funk, rock, soul, afro-beat, and psychedelia into an infectious groove that always brings the heat to the dance floor. Fusing the simplistic rock ’n’ roll lineup of vocals, guitar, bass, and drums with rhythmic tact creates a mesmerizing sound that leaves concertgoers wondering “how do they do it?”. Since inception, they have taken their memorable live performance across the western United States and established themselves as one of So-cal’s “must-see” acts. The Routine’s latest release “Puddin’” is their debut full-length album. With the dynamic range running everything from rocking highs, haunting dirges, soulful chants, and experimental surges, “Puddin’” establishes the bands unique sound and creative potential.