SPEC brings back the blues with Randolph

This week, one of Rolling Stone's top 100 guitarists of all time will come to campus.

Friday at 7:30 p.m., members of the Penn community will have the opportunity to see Robert Randolph and the Family Band perform at Wynn Commons in a concert put on jointly by the Student Planning and Events Jazz and Grooves Committee and SPEC to Represent Undergraduate Minorities.

Randolph, a pedal steel guitarist, plays many genres of music. His blues-rock style has ties to gospel, soul and funk, and is sure to "appeal to a wide variety of people," said SPEC Jazz and Grooves co-director and Wharton senior Matt Doumar.

Randolph and the Family Band has opened for big-name performers like Dave Matthews Band and Eric Clapton. Headlining Friday's show, Randolph will be playing music from his two studio albums, Colorblind and Unclassified, but he will mix it up with a few covers, said Doumar.

Randolph's hit single, Ain't Nothing Wrong With That, has been featured in NBC promotions, AT&T; commercials and the movie Stomp the Yard.

According to Doumar, fans attending the concert can expect a high-energy show. Randolph and the Family Band often trade instruments midsong and pull crowd members on stage.

College sophomore Ferrell Townsend, co-director of SPEC-TRUM, expressed enthusiasm about the outdoor venue in Wynn Commons, which "has a lot of excitement."

SPEC-TRUM, has previously brought artists such as Common, Keysha Cole and Kanye West to campus and likes to branch out, said Townsend.

This year, Doumar said, SPEC Jazz and Grooves is branching out of its normal genre of past performers, such as Medeski Martin and Wood, Bela Fleck and Branford Marsalis. The committee "decided to go a little more mainstream," with their choice this semester, he added.

The committees' mutual desire to bring talent to campus brought about the collaboration. "We have the potential to pull from the same groups of people," Townsend said, "and we can get bigger artists," together.

Tickets for Robert Randolph and the Family Band will be sold all week on Locust Walk from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Student tickets are $15 in advance with a PennCard and $20 the day of the show.

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