Funky R&B tunes wafted from a white and blue-striped 1974 Volkswagen bus parked by Riverfront Park on a day so hot and steamy glasses fogged up. But the tunes weren’t playing from the radio — they were amplified live in the back seat where four musicians were piled in with a keyboard, u-bass, percussion pad and microphone.
That day, July 28, marked the fifth Bandwagen Sessions recording organized by local husband-wife duo and music lovers Allyson Sutton and Joel Sadler, who own Sightsee Shop on Line Street downtown. The new session, which was published Aug. 9 on YouTube, featured an intimate, two-song performance with Southern funk act Leone & the Ascension.
“The thing that I like the most about live local music is the opportunity to hear something great before it’s big,” Sadler told the Charleston City Paper. “When you go and hear local bands, you just don’t know if you’re going to be hearing the next something that night. You get to hear bands that you believe in and can begin rooting for.”
The couple actually met through live music, Sutton said, at the first-ever Summer Shindig party held in 2014 by the former Charleston music label Hearts & Plugs at the old King Dusko club on King Street.
“Keon Masters of Brave Baby was playing when we met,” Sutton said. “Live local music has always been a part of our story from a personal standpoint. When we were opening Sightsee — obviously it is a store and coffee shop — but we always envisioned it being a space for community.
“One of the most magical parts of it is that we have met so many people who would have been strangers otherwise, musicians included, who come through the shop, and we hear about what they’re working on and their creative endeavors. It makes living in a city feel special when you have a direct connection to the people that are bringing that creative energy.”
Old bus, new tunes
Passersby can see the old VW bus parked from time to time out front of the shop with various Charleston musicians doing DJ sessions for Sightsee coffee drinkers. Recently, Charleston poet Marcus Amaker was playing electronic beats and chatting with customers. In the past, hip-hop artist Clayton James, who moved to New York City recently, performed a set on the back patio with the bus parked at the shop.
“Then we were like, ‘This may not be the best version of [the concept] — this thing has wheels, why are we not utilizing that element of it?” Sutton said. “So we were like, ‘It shouldn’t just be parked, we should turn it into something more interactive.”
The Bandwagen Sessions capture stripped back performances from Charleston acts. The recordings start with a big slam of the van door followed by a quick drive to a location of the musicians’ choosing where they sing two recently released or unreleased songs. So far, featured Charleston musicians include alternative act Babe Club, eclectic pop artist Kuntry, hip-hop artist Tyrie and indie rocker Keon Masters.
That day at Riverfront Park, funky four-piece Leone & the Ascension graced the van with its far-out jams. Frontman D’Amontae Breland, who goes by Leone, released music as a solo project before forming the group in 2019 in Charlotte with keyboardist Chandler Robinson, drummer Walter Boston III and bassist Ryan Burns.
The band frequents Charleston, having played the stage at The Royal American and at The Refinery for the inaugural One Way Forward Fest. The act laid down a demo last year with Charleston producer Wolfgang Zimmerman at The Space studio after performing at LO-Fi Brewing. The newest single “Love Avenue” from Leone released July 28, the same day the Bandwagen Session was recorded.
Situated in the VW bus parked under live oak trees laden with Spanish moss, Leone & the Ascension performed two songs from the 2022 EP Private Life, “MIMS” and “2 Sharp.”
“‘MIMS’ is a real groovy, slow-funk song,” Leone said. “And we think it’d be good in contrast with ‘2 Sharp,’ which is more upbeat — one a little low energy and one a little high energy, but still funky as f**k and something that everybody can get down to.”
Sutton and Sadler first saw Leone & the Ascension open for Babe Club at The Royal American in March, and they said they were blown away.
“We’re always assuming that an artist is going to say no to a session. And when they don’t, we’re like, so stoked,” Sutton said, laughing.
“The bandwegon sessions are an extension of us loving music, and not just the loving of live music,” Sadler said, “but creating an opportunity to showcase a musician or a band that we’re excited about in a completely novel way.”
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