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Sound Circuit

How sweet it is

7/1/2015

In case you did not know by now, The Candymakers are legit. Formed in 2010, all the band did in its first year of life was win the 2011 Iowa Blues Challenge. An album followed the next year, but it would be two years more before we would get a follow up. That album, 2014’s “Ridiculous,” produced some of the band’s most crowd-pleasing work to date, including tracks like “I Wanna Dip You in Chocolate.”

The Candymakers play Gas Lamp, 1501 Grand Ave., on Friday, July 3, at 9 p.m. $5 at the door. Micheal David opens.

The Candymakers play Gas Lamp, 1501 Grand Ave.,
on Friday, July 3, at 9 p.m. $5 at the door.
Micheal David opens.

The Quad Cities-based eight-piece has become a familiar sight around the capital city, including a sold out show with The Maytags at Gas Lamp this past winter. And while their sexy, bluesy sound is a ready-made companion piece for what The Maytags are laying down, The Candymakers have not allowed themselves to be typecast.

“We aren’t just (blues) at all,” guitarist Bret Dale told the Quad City Times. “We’ve appealed to the jam crowd, the blues crowd, an older crowd, a younger one. Because we were appealing to everybody, all of those influences were coming together.”

It makes The Candymakers’ sound remarkably fluid. They are equally comfortable on stage at the International Blues Festival as they are cranking out a jam set at Camp Euphoria. And as much as that is a testament to the band’s musical chops, it also belies a much more important truth: These guys are having fun. A Candymakers set is like a hot fudge sundae — it can be as sexy as you want to make it, but it is always going to ensure you have a good time. There is something intrinsic in the band’s sound that compels people out of their seats and makes sure the party does not stop until The Candymakers want it to. And with a set list that can include songs like “That Ain’t My Baby” and “Can I See You Naked,” the band shows that seriously good music does not always have to be serious music.

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“We all enjoy playing blues, but none of us really write blues music,” said front man Alan Sweet. “We just kind of realized this might not be exactly what we’re trying to do. We’re just more a party, drinking band that wants to fly around on stage and have fun. And sweat a lot.” CV

 

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