G. Love & Special Sauce and Matt Costa

The band formed in January 1993 when Garrett Dutton was performing at Boston bar, The Tam O’Shanter, which was where he met drummer, Jeffrey Clemens. They began working together as a duo, and were joined a few months later by bassist Jim Prescott. In 1994 they released their self-titled debut album on Okeh Records. Due to their song “Cold beverage” being played on MTV, the album almost went Gold.

On September 19th 1995, they released their follow-up album “Coast to Coast Motel”, which didn’t sell as much as the first album but it received much better critical acclaim. The band like so many other experienced a little bit of turmoil with each other, causing the band to go on an indefinite hiatus, but returned on October 28th 1997, with “Yeah, It’s That Easy”. It was this album that featured the single, “Stepping Stones”, which made it to number 30 on the U.S. Modern Rock chart. The album showcased a prominent soul influence.

Following the release of this album, the band embarked on a world tour but returned to Philadelphia in 1999 for the release of their fourth studio album “Philadelphonic” which was followed again by “Electric Mile” in 2001, which introduced hip-hop, funk, psychedelica, blues and soul. They performed as the house band for Comedy Central’s show Turn Ben Stein On, which ran from 1999-2001. In the summer of 2005, the band featured in an advertisement for the launch of Coca-Cola Zero, which featured the group’s own unique version of the noted Coca-Cola advertising song “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing”.

From the age of 12, Matt Costa began to learn the guitar, soon playing in high school bands, with his love for music beginning to flourish. However, it was skateboarding that took up much of his energy during his teens. An unfortunate accident that left whistle seriously injured brought any hopes of turning pro to an end, with Costa instead taking to guitar and songwriting, spending his time rehabilitating focused on writing songs.

After making several home demos, he attracted the attention of No Doubt guitarist To Dumont, who happened upon one of these recordings. Impressed, Dumont offered to produce Costa’s music, with the two soon recording two EPs that saw an independent release, the first, his self-titled offering, followed by “The Elasmosaurus.” The early full-length, “Songs We Sing,” arrived shortly after, with these releases garnering interest from Brushfire Records owner, Jack Johnson, who later signed him to their label.

After supporting Jack Johnson on his 2005 summer tour, the following year “Songs We Sing” gained a major-label release, offering a slightly different sound to his earlier effort. In 2008, he followed his major debut with “Unfamiliar Faces,” helping to gain further exposure for the young artist. He has since toured with the likes of Modest Mouse, Oasis, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals and Death Cab for Cutie. In 2010, new music arrived in the shape of “Mobile Chateau,” with Costa later changing tact in 2013, offering the orchestral, ‘70s pop influenced self-titled release.