Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Son Little's 21st-century blues

Electronica, loops, and beats partner with dated reverberations

Son Little, aka Aaron Livingston, from Philadelphia
Son Little, aka Aaron Livingston, from Philadelphia

Blues for millennials. Which is another way of saying blues for an audience that doesn’t necessarily dig the blues. Or gospel either, for that matter. No bad on millennials. Blues, gospel, and soul is not their music. Nor is it the music of the middle-aged (and mostly Caucasian) audiences who have adopted the time-worn art forms in one version or another over the years. Some will recall the bands from the United Kingdom that introduced American pop culture to blues music during the British Invasion of the 1960s. It wasn’t their music either.

Video:

Son Little, "Lay Down"

Son Little is a stage name. He is in truth Aaron Livingston, from Philadelphia. Livingston has been Little since he released his first debut EP in 2014. How I see Livingston is like this: a young man, but with an older man’s 1970s ethos. He croons R&B music as believably as Al Green, and he intones gospel like he took lessons from Mavis Staples. Livingston has her inner supremacy down cold.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Past Event

Son Little and Jade Bird

  • Saturday, November 4, 2017, 8 p.m.
  • Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego
  • 21+ / $15

And his guitar? Understated but sharp, played indolently, and ever so slightly off the beat. Sexy and true to form — but to a point of departure. His road band blends electronica, loops, and beats with Livingston’s dated reverberations, and they do it without elaboration. The music they make is a reconstruction of blues, soul, and American roots that is every bit as perplexing and true as was Gary Clark Jr. in 2012 when he released Blak and Blu, or Buddy Guy’s Sweet Tea.

This is a big step out of the pocket for Livingston, who fronted the Roots for a time and then sang the tracks on an album produced by RJD2. Now, out on his own, he is his own invention: Son Little, blues man. “I’m afraid your love will blow me away,” he sobs. “Am I dumb ’cause I numb the pain?” You can feel that sting from a mile away.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate
Son Little, aka Aaron Livingston, from Philadelphia
Son Little, aka Aaron Livingston, from Philadelphia

Blues for millennials. Which is another way of saying blues for an audience that doesn’t necessarily dig the blues. Or gospel either, for that matter. No bad on millennials. Blues, gospel, and soul is not their music. Nor is it the music of the middle-aged (and mostly Caucasian) audiences who have adopted the time-worn art forms in one version or another over the years. Some will recall the bands from the United Kingdom that introduced American pop culture to blues music during the British Invasion of the 1960s. It wasn’t their music either.

Video:

Son Little, "Lay Down"

Son Little is a stage name. He is in truth Aaron Livingston, from Philadelphia. Livingston has been Little since he released his first debut EP in 2014. How I see Livingston is like this: a young man, but with an older man’s 1970s ethos. He croons R&B music as believably as Al Green, and he intones gospel like he took lessons from Mavis Staples. Livingston has her inner supremacy down cold.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Past Event

Son Little and Jade Bird

  • Saturday, November 4, 2017, 8 p.m.
  • Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego
  • 21+ / $15

And his guitar? Understated but sharp, played indolently, and ever so slightly off the beat. Sexy and true to form — but to a point of departure. His road band blends electronica, loops, and beats with Livingston’s dated reverberations, and they do it without elaboration. The music they make is a reconstruction of blues, soul, and American roots that is every bit as perplexing and true as was Gary Clark Jr. in 2012 when he released Blak and Blu, or Buddy Guy’s Sweet Tea.

This is a big step out of the pocket for Livingston, who fronted the Roots for a time and then sang the tracks on an album produced by RJD2. Now, out on his own, he is his own invention: Son Little, blues man. “I’m afraid your love will blow me away,” he sobs. “Am I dumb ’cause I numb the pain?” You can feel that sting from a mile away.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
Next Article

Celebrate Holi, Borrego Springs Music Festival

Events March 23-March 27, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.