Per a 2024 Jam Cruise writer, “This was the soul music I grew up with in the ‘60s and ‘70s, but I confess I wasn’t expecting [Diggin Dirt] to be throwing it down this hard. This group is impossibly tight, and Zach Alder might be the best soul shouter I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a few.” 

Their infectious sound is fueled by blazing horns, searing guitars and a relentlessly driving rhythm section, and tying it all together is the band’s frontman who launches the ensemble into rarefied air with his pipes, charisma and natural-born soul. With flashes of James Brown or Sly and the Family Stone, Otis Redding or Tower of Power, the band’s sound is both familiar and yet refreshingly original, layering psychedelic rock, Motown soul, afrobeat and even reggae atop a thick foundation of late-60s inspired funk.

SUN HOP FAT
The raw power, seductive appeal and relentless grooves of Ethiopian dance music is something that must be experienced live to truly be grasped. For over the last decade Sun Hop Fat has been Nor Cal’s premiere vehicle in bringing Ethiopia’s “golden era” back to life for the pleasure of audiences. Blending in original California psychedelic funk and relentless afro-beat, irresistible jazz stylings are at the core of this phenomenon. Led by a three-piece horn section soaring over an ocean of rhythm and soaring melodies, these songs will speak to your soul and do things to your body that may not be legal in certain states. Brace for impact with a “steady wall of extraordinary moving sound and beats.” (San Francisco Examiner)