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The Road to CukoRakko: Lamont Landers Band September 28, 2018 13:24

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Interview by Jordan Kirkland: Live & Listen
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Photo by James Champion
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If you're a music lover in Alabama, you've more than likely heard about an amazing grassroots festival known as CukoRakko Music & Arts Festival. Founded in 2014, the festival has been held twice a year at Horse Pens 40 in Steele, AL. As we prepare for another unforgettable CukoRakko weekend on October 5th - 7th, we're sitting down and getting to know a few of the performers on the 2018 Fall Festival lineup. For our thirdinstallment, we caught up with Lamont Landers, front man of one of Alabama's hottest acts: Lamont Landers Band.  You can catch Lamont and company kicking things off on Saturday, October 6th. See below for the full interview, as well as video footage of the band performing their tune "Into the Fold."
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Lamont Landers Band got rolling back in 2014, correct? Tell me about how this thing came together. 
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Lamont: Yes sir. Back in 2014, most of us we're going to the University of Alabama. A mutual musician friend of Kevin (Canada) and mine had asked me if I would be cool with him putting a band together, and of course, I jumped at the chance. He got Kevin on a gig and since then, other members have came and gone, but Kevin was day one. Kevin knew our drummer Bowen (Robertson), and I met him out and about playing around Tuscaloosa.
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We stayed there for a couple of years; playing every bar in town, I moved to North Alabama...eventually landing in Huntsville. Kevin moved to Decatur. Bowen moved to Nashville. Somewhere along the way, we met the final piece of our band, the glue, the x factor: Jaraven Hill, our bass player. 
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I see you guys are from Decatur. North Alabama has certainly been known for it's musical roots. How much of an impact did the whole Shoals scene make on you as a young musician?
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Lamont: The Shoals had an indirect influence for sure. The music that came out of that area and the impact it had has resonated with me my entire life. It certainly made the dream of having an impact on the world through music, even while being from Alabama, seem entirely possible.
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The band recently made a big splash on 'Showtime at the Apollo'. How did you find yourselves in that position? What type of impact has this exposure given the band?
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Lamont: It was a surreal thing. It all happened through e-mails and stuff behind the scenes that led to us getting picked to be a part of it. It has provided us with some level of credibility, in the sense that if you can play the Apollo Theatre and walk away unscathed, then you can play just about anywhere in the world.
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We're living in a much different musical era these days. Things have changed quite a bit since we were kids. Tell me about the advantages and challenges this presents to a young, up-and-coming act.
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Lamont:  You're 100% right. Times have changed. I sometimes feel like I was born in the gap between generations as far as the music business is concerned. The advantages are: you have every tool at your disposal to try to make it, the business is decentralized, and if you can make it on your own, you hold all of the leverage.
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The disadvantage is that when everyone is making noise, literally and figuratively, it's hard to filter through that. There are no barriers to entry now. You don't have to be a musician to be a "musician." Sometimes all it takes are streams of consciousness or a slew of disingenuous Instagram posts and, you'll be lauded as some visionary.
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This was supposed to have a point, oh yeah, to the kids who are up and coming. Just stay true to yourself, play the game the way you want to play it, and if you make it you make it. If you don't, you can at least say you really lived life and had fun doing it.
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What's on the horizon for the band as you look towards closing out 2018?
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Lamont: The good stuff. We are finally releasing our debut album, by the end of November at the latest. We are extremely proud of it. It's been a labor of love, and I think displays our growth as a band over these last four years. 
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You'll be performing on Saturday, October 6th at CukoRakko Music & Arts Festival. What can attendees expect from you guys?
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LamontAttendees can expect some of the finest funk & soul music in Alabama, paired with a dash of tasteful musicianship. They should expect a good time. 
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Watch Lamont Landers Band perform "Into the Fold" here: 
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