Mann (left, with Adam Cargin) says she “wanted to do something a little more fun to perform.”
During a gig two years ago at the Shitty Barn in Spring Green, Whitney Mann made a major musical decision that could have long-term ramifications.
The Madison-based Americana artist recruited background singers and dressed her band in matching outfits to perform her folk-centric songs in an up-tempo style that paid homage to old-school rhythm and blues. They played a new tune that night, too — “Big Mouth Baby,” a throwback to the kind of music Mann listened to as a kid when plundering her parents’ record collection. Think Ike and Tina Turner, Diana Ross & the Supremes, James Brown and Ray Charles.
“I wanted to do something a little more fun to perform,” says Mann, 31, who’s more accustomed to sitting down and playing an acoustic guitar than fronting a horns-fueled soul group. “I really wanted to change the direction of Whitney Mann, because I was so excited about it.”
Rather than abandon her solo career, though, Mann and several other well-known Madison area artists formed Love High — an eight-member “gathering of like-minded musicians who are interested in this type of music and excited to play it,” Mann says. “After rehearsals, everyone is buzzing.”
The buzzing will reach a new level on Aug. 27, as Love High takes the stage at the East Side Club for its first performance. The band will open for veteran singer-songwriter Miles Nielsen (son of Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen) as part of the venue’s Sunset Music Series.
On July 31, Love High issued a free single via Bandcamp. “The One You Dream Of (When You Dream of Falling in Love)” was recorded by Dan Probst at the Dojo rehearsal space and mixed and mastered by Landon Arkens at Blast House Studios. “We released it to get people excited for the show and to let them know what we sound like,” says Mann, adding that the band has written — but not recorded — about 10 other songs. (The single will only be free until Aug. 26.)
“It had been a couple of years since I had been inspired to really take the reins with a project, in terms of being part of the main creative direction, so this collaboration opportunity was very refreshing,” says Adam Cargin, who helped Mann develop Love High and has played guitar in Madison’s Blueheels and in Milwaukee’s Trapper Schoepp & the Shades.
In addition to Mann on vocals and Cargin on guitar and percussion, Love High includes Arkens (bass), Ben Wolf (drums/percussion), Nathan Tredinnick (sax/organ), Anna Vogelzang and Sara Tetzloff (backing vocals), Matthew Nafranowicz (Rhodes piano/organ), and Mark Saltzman and Bob Jacobson (trumpets).
Mann’s first child is due Oct. 8, which will likely bring her musical activities to a halt until sometime next year. But she plans to resume both her solo career and Love High. “It would be a shame to put all of this work into a band that only plays one show,” says Mann. “I would love for it to last.”
