Slightly Stoopid, Sly & Robbie

Musical Performance featuring Slightly Stoopid, Pepper, Sly & Robbie

Slightly Stoopid With more than a decade of making music together, the members of Slightly Stoopid have perfected one of the rarest and most valuable skills a band can develop: the art of the stealth groove, that knack for quietly almost innocently sliding into a song and utterly lassoing anyone within earshot by mid-song. That's where the band has come to reside, musically: deep in the pocket, that ever-elusive, funky trench where a band can entrance an audience, hypnotize it and hold on to it until the set or CD is finished. And that's just what the band does on its sixth studio offering, Chronchitis , another collection of hypnotizers built on a bedrock of nasty, oceanic slabs of dubby bass and meditative vocals. A cornucopia of styles and influences a little sweet lullaby here, a dose of Kingston rocksteady there, a fat chunk of hip-hop there, a slight Eastern groove way over there. Chronchitis is the fruit of sessions in Austin, Los Angeles and Redondo Beach, helmed by a crop of top-shelf producers: Paul Leary (Butthole Surfers, Meat Puppets, Sublime), Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys, Jack Johnson), longtime band associate Miguel (Sublime), and Chris D. (G. Love). While growing its fanbase beyond its native Southern California, Slightly Stoopid in 2001 self-released Acoustic Roots: Live and Direct. The 40-minute acoustic set, captured at San Diego's Rock 105.3 radio station, was a precursor to 2003's Everything You Need (Surfdog), a musical departure for the band that sold more than 100,000 copies. The band's mix of rock, reggae, funk and blues coalesced two years later on Closer to the Sun (Reincarnate/Caliplates). With songs such as Bandelero, Somebody, and This Joint and collaboration with the great dancehall reggae legend Barrington Levy (See No Other Way) the disc quickly became a fan favorite. Helmed by Miguel, it also featured contributions from reggae producer Scientist, an understudy of the iconic Jamaican boardsman King Tubby.) The band has evolved into one of America's most successful independent touring bands. In 2006, touring industry trade magazine Pollstar ranked the band as one of the Top 50 draws in the States. It's a distinction hard-earned over the past decade, as the band has honed its breezy blend of everything from the Grateful Dead and Dire Straits to Joe Higgs and Delroy Wilson. And it's been one not only enjoyed by Stoopidheads, but also Hollywood : The band's music has been featured in such TV shows as The OC and North Shore and in such movies as Step Into Liquid and Norbit and She's the Man .