Psychedelic-Soul Collective Moonalice Releases Acoustic Version of “Old & Proud”
July 21, 2023 BY Jason Currell
Listen to “Old & Proud (Acoustic)”: https://moonalice.ffm.to/oldandproud-acoustic
Today, Bay Area collective Moonalice shares an acoustic version of the soulful anthem “Old & Proud.” Led by Moonalice vocalist Lester Chambers, the single is a tribute to the spirit of the older generation. Chambers confidently embraces aging on the call-and-response track, now reimagined with stripped-down instrumentation.
“Old & Proud” is part of a new batch of Moonalice songs written alongside esteemed Nashville songwriter and producer Dylan Altman. The song chronicles Chambers’ journey escaping the 1950s Jim Crow South and moving to California to pursue a life in music.
Speaking about the song, Lester adds: “At the age of 83, ‘Old and Proud’ has quickly become a new anthem for me. I see and hear so many ways to be thankful and proud and especially happy to be this age. To those of you who have made it this far along in your journey of life, I say ‘God Bless You’ and for all of those who wish to make it to your golden years, I say ‘God Help You.’ Remember, no matter what your age, you can sing it out, ‘I’m Old, I’m Proud and I Like my Rock n’ Roll Loud!’”
Born in 1940 in Carthage, Mississippi, Lester Chambers grew up in the Jim Crow South. He miraculously escaped a sharecropper’s life and relocated to LA in the ’50s, alongside his brothers George, Joe and Willie, with whom he played music together in a family band called The Chambers Brothers. The band was at the forefront of black psychedelia, which T: The New York Times Style Magazine called “one of the most lasting and influential artistic movements of the 20th century.” In 1967, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, the Chambers Brothers’ cowbell-infused “Time Has Come Today” became an anthem for the disenfranchised and disillusioned youth of America. The song sat at #11 for five weeks on the Billboard Top 100 and propelled the group to national stardom.. In the summer of 1969, The Chambers Brothers starred at the Harlem Culture Festival, a performance featured in the Oscar-winning documentary, “Summer of Soul.”
Lester’s storied rock and roll life continues today with Moonalice, where alongside his son Dylan Chambers, he continues to lift up the community and inspire the next generation through messages of “love, peace, and happiness.” Fresh off performances at Napa Valley’s BottleRock Festival and Skull & Roses Festival in Ventura, CA, Moonalice is heading to Alaska this month to perform at Salmonfest and the South East Alaska Fair.
Moonalice recently partnered with One Tree Planted, a nonprofit organization focused on global reforestation. Since 2014, the organization has planted over 40 million trees in more than 47 countries across the globe. For every fan that follows Moonalice on Spotify, One Tree Planted will plant one tree.
MOONALICE – 2023 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
7/21 – Novato, CA – Summer Concerts on the Green
7/28 + 7/29 – Haines, AK – Southeast Alaska Fair
8/2 – Talkeetna, AK – Sheldon Community Arts Hangar
8/4 + 8/5 – Ninilchik, AK – Salmonfest
8/18 – Oakland, CA – Jerry Garcia Night @ Oakland Coliseum
8/27 – Novato, CA – Terrapin Crossroads Presents: Sunday Daydream Vol. 2 @ Stafford Lake Park
9/1 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
9/2 – Felton, CA – Felton Music Hall
ABOUT MOONALICE
Moonalice is an exuberant Bay Area ten-piece known for delivering a unique brand of psychedelic soul and rock-tinged Americana. With an unparalleled list of collaborations with some of the biggest names in music, the family tree of Moonalice has touched every corner of rock and roll history. Vocalist Lester Chambers co-founded the pioneering ‘60s psychedelic soul group The Chambers Brothers. Bassist Pete Sears was a founding member of Jefferson Starship and played with everyone from Rod Stewart to Jimi Hendrix. Moonalice band members have toured with Bruce Hornsby & the Range, John Fogerty, The Other Ones, Phil Lesh & Friends, Hot Tuna, Jackson Browne, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Blind Boys of Alabama, Jenny Lewis, and many others. Guitarist Roger McNamee was an advisor to the Grateful Dead and U2, and fights against entrenched power in the tech industry. Moonalice’s incredible chemistry shines through in their live performances and the recent release of the Chambers Brothers classic, “Time Has Come Today.” Moonalice also features esteemed members Barry Sless (lead guitar and pedal steel), Jason Crosby (keyboards), Mookie Siegel (keyboards), Grammy winner John Molo (drums), along with the next generation of legends including Lester’s son Dylan Chambers, and Erika, Rachel, and Chloe Tietjen of acclaimed Americana band the T Sisters. Moonalice has a renegade spirit and an ethos of love, peace, and happiness that permeates everything they do.