Billee Dodson-Guitars, Vocals, and Bass
Travis Ladd-Bass, Vocals, and percussion
Influences
Everything and everyone influences us everyday.
Sounds Like
“All of us have such diverse tastes when it comes to music that we would get bored sticking to any one thing for too long,” says Billee. “We all pretty much grew up on classic rock like ABB, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and The Doors, but we also like the heavy stuff like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Metallica, and Pantera. I am a huge fan of the Grateful Dead and other improvisational rock music from the likes of Frank Zappa, moe., Widepread Panic, Galactic, and Gov’t Mule and I have started turning the guys on to the music from these bands. We also really dig the music of cats like Otis Redding, James Brown, and Curtis Mayfield. We also like really good ‘cerebral’ hip hop like De La Soul, Digable Planets, and Saul Williams. I also cannot leave out those funk/soul/jazz/fusion players we like such as Earth, Wind, & Fire, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and Miles Davis.” If this sounds like the “party shuffle” playlist on most folks iPods these days you wouldn’t be too far off. The band simply wants to play music that moves. Billee goes on to add that “We all add our own little bits and with all those influences simmering in the Vishuddha soup pot we are bound to create something tasty! Kind of like a really good, spicy gumbo of songs and sounds; food for the soul that you ingest through your ears.”
Communication is the key to all expression. Vishuddha is a band that aims to embody self-expression and the communication of ideals through music. Not the self-righteous preaching of contemporary, politically-motivated artists, but the full understanding that expression, communication, and music bring enlightenment.
Citing influences as eclectic as Muddy Waters, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Primus, Temple Of The Dog, Tool, Blind Melon, Sublime, Marvin Gaye, Beastie Boys, and Cypress Hill, Vishuddha is a literal “melting pot” of musical styles and creative energy. Billee Dodson, Vishuddha’s guitarist, says “Those influences are certainly at the heart of our sound.” Billee also states that “All of those musicians were pretty big influences for some of us, so it would make sense that those sounds shape our own sounds. I tend to think of our music as a giant octopus, whose arms work sort of independently of one another reaching out to explore different things, but whose ultimate goal is to ‘feed the head’ of the creature or, in our case, the music itself.”
Whatever you wish to call it, the band’s sound is both classic and unique. Cover tunes range from Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall” and the Grateful Dead’s “Deal” right on through to the bluesy fury of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Pride N’ Joy.” The original material includes essences of Rock, Jazz, Reggae, Funk, Blues, Psychedelic, Metal, Hip Hop, and Soul with excursions into improvisational and experimental music.
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