Politicks is an American five-piece eclectic
rock band
A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...
formed in 2001 at
Radford University
Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate programs inclu ...
where three of its current members went to school.
Politicks has performed on the east coast from
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
to
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and shared the stage with several
Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
Award winning artists.
[Entnews.com - Al Green in Concert]
/ref>[PR Newswire - Heineken Launches Heineken Red Star Soul to Showcase Soulful Sounds, Stars of Today and Tomorrow]
/ref>
Last summer Politicks performed with soul and hip hop artists including Al Green
Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...
, Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...
, The Roots
The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...
, and India.Arie
India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), also known as India Arie (sometimes styled as india.arie), is an American singer and songwriter. She has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards ...
.[ In the fall they joined the ]Heineken
Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star.
History
On 15 Febr ...
Red Star Soul tour, performing with major artists in soul and R&B including Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group ...
, Floetry
Floetry were an English contemporary R&B, R&B duo comprising Marsha Ambrosius ("The Songstress") and The Floacist, Natalie Stewart ("The Floacist"). The group recorded two studio albums and one live album and sold over 1,500,000 records worldwi ...
, Raheem DeVaughn, Chrisette Michele
Chrisette Michele Payne (born December 8, 1982) is an American R&B and soul singer. She won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2009 for her song " Be OK" (featuring will.i.am).
She was previously signed to Motown Record ...
, Claudette Ortiz
Claudette Ortiz (born July 21, 1981) is an American singer, model and television personality, best known as a member of the R&B trio City High. Ortiz also was a castmate in TV One's reality series '' R&B Divas: Los Angeles''.
Biography
Early lif ...
, and Ryan Toby
City High was an American R&B/ hip hop trio consisting of rappers/singers Ryan Toby, Robbie Pardlo, and Claudette Ortiz. City High is best known for their song " What Would You Do?", which earned a Grammy nomination.
Career
In 2001, City High ...
(City High).[ Politicks brought in 2007 with the Sugar Hill Gang, Pat McGee band and DC101 at the Downtown Countdown NYE event in Washington DC.][
While working on their professional debut album, Two Coffees, One Juice, the band wrote and recorded the theme song for a major motion picture, entitled "]The Perfect Game
''The Perfect Game'' is a 2009 American drama film directed by William Dear, based on the 2008 book of the same name written by W. William Winokur. The film is based on the events leading to the 1957 Little League World Series, which was won by t ...
."
Politicks features Matthew Green on vocals, Brian Chafin and Mike Trella on guitars, Brad Moore on bass, and Brendan McCourt on drums. All five members contribute to the songwriting process.[
Notable venues outside Washington in which Politicks has performed include Nokia Theatre on Broadway in NYC, Theatre of Living Arts (TLA) in Philadelphia, PA, Rusty Rudder in Dewey Beach, DE, and Meyer Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, FL.][
The band has been known to contribute to benefit concerts including one for victims of Hurricane Katrina and another benefiting Washington DC's ]Whitman-Walker Clinic
Whitman-Walker Health (WWH), formerly Whitman-Walker Clinic, is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit community health center in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan areaBoorstein, "Maintaining Awareness, One Step at a Time," ''The Washington Post'', ...
.
Politicks has two tracks on OnTap
ONTAP or Data ONTAP or Clustered Data ONTAP (cDOT) or Data ONTAP 7-Mode is NetApp's proprietary operating system used in storage disk arrays such as NetApp FAS and AFF, ONTAP Select, and Cloud Volumes ONTAP. With the release of version 9.0, Net ...
's 2006 CD compilation, "On The Verge – Local Music Worth a Listen: Vol. 1".OnTap - On The Verge
/ref>
References
{{reflist
External links
Official Politicks websiteOfficial Politicks MySpace page
Rock music groups from Washington, D.C.
Musical groups established in 2001