James Tutson and the Rollback will be playing smooth soul and gospel music from 7-9 p.m. Several songs in his set will feature the Bridges2Harmony Gospel Choir from Roosevelt High School.
Tickets: $10 ADV
**About James Tutson and the Rollback**
James Tutson and the Rollback is a modern rhythm and blues/soul band from Iowa City. The group was formed in 2016 when singer-songwriter James Tutson assembled a 4-piece backing band to rehearse and record his second full-length album, On Hope (2017). After playing a handful of local shows and discovering a tight, crowd-pleasing sound on stage, Tutson christened his new ensemble “the Rollback,” and a band was born.
Tutson gradually shed his folk-rock songwriter beginnings and returned to his roots—soul and gospel—as he put his heartfelt lyrics to music that critics described as “roughed-up soul.” In late 2018, JTRB began writing a new album, Make You Free (2019), which they recorded at Uno Mas Studios in Nashville. Where On Hope was a collection of Tutson’s compositions accompanied by “the Rollback,” Make You Free represents the band’s collaborative songwriting effort and showcases a more mature, polished r&b and gospel sound. Indeed, Tutson’s lyrics probe the hopes and anxieties of fatherhood, the pursuit of goodness, and the freeing power of love. As Tutson and the Rollback sing in the album’s opening track, “Love should make you free.”
The band—comprised of a lawyer, a chemist, a software consultant, a German professor, and a youth organizer—had a busy 2019 opening for Lake Street Dive, Marc Broussard, The Jayhawks, Blitzen Trapper, and others, and was poised for an even bigger year in 2020. But the COVID pandemic meant that the album release show in October 2019 was the band’s last live show until 2021, when JTRB is already scheduled to play a handful of shows in Iowa City. James also appeared on NBC’s The Voice in March 2021.
For more info, including photos, streaming music, and James Tutson’s forthcoming solo EP (“Still”), visit the band’s website at jamestutson.com.
**About All Access Live!**
All Access is a music show produced by Iowa Public Radio Studio One that airs Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and Sundays from 7-10 p.m. During each show, we play live sets that we record at venues across Iowa and during our live concert series “All Access Live!”
Studio One hosts All Access Live! concerts at partnering venues, broadcasting them live on-air and streaming online on YouTube.
**About Studio One**
Studio One is Iowa Public Radio’s non-commercial, indie, alternative and americana music service and Iowa’s NPR Music affiliate. Studio One takes over Iowa Public Radio’s airwaves at 7 p.m. each night and on the weekends to spin music by local, regional and national artists. Studio One also programs a 24-hour online radio station that streams on our website and on the Iowa Public Radio app.
