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The Acts of 80/35: Funk & Soul, served with a twist

Lettuce was founded in 1992. The band met as teenagers while attending the Berklee College of Music, and their name comes from going into Boston jazz clubs when just starting out and asking club owners and musicians to "let us play". Obviously influenced by the likes of James Brown, Tower Of Power, Earth, Wind & Fire and others, Lettuce's music has all the hallmarks of classic funk & soul and is characterized by big organ and horn sounds, along with funky guitar rhythms. Lettuce has become a fixture on the jam band scene, and some of its members also play in Soulive and the Dave Matthews Band.

Boulder, Colorado's Jaden Carlson Band has only been together for a little over a year, and Jaden Carlson herself is only 14 years old. But don't let their brief tenure or Jaden's age fool you: the band has some serious skills that they honed through hours of jamming, and Jaden has been described as a "guitar artist". They've already opened for Robert Cray, Umphrey's McGee, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Blues Traveler and many more.

And now for something slightly different: Amasa Hines, a 7-piece band from Little Rock, Arkansas that draws upon an large variety of influences. Amasa Hines are clearly fans of funk, soul and R&B, but also blues, Afrobeat and indie rock. They combine all of these influences into something that is uniquely their own.

Tony Dehner is a Studio One Host