As Red Beans & Rice releases 'New Recipe', the group only grows hungrier for more. 

Fresh Dish: “Going to clubs or bars is like hearing the same song played by different bands,” says RB&R’s Gil Rubio. “And we never do that.”

As Red Beans & Rice releases 'New Recipe', the group only grows hungrier for more. 

By Adam Joseph

Thursday, June 2, 2011

One of the reasons Red Beans & Rice continues to remain tasty after nearly 20 years is it never settles on any one combination of ingredients. Founding member Gil Rubio says one of the latest herbs added to the outfit’s recent release, New Recipe, provides a political tang that differs from its four previous albums. 

Red Beans and Rice at Wave Street Studios

The funky and sultry “Choose a Side” begins where Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” leaves off: “We don’t have time to help our brother man, it doesn’t fit into our master plan/ We can’t help for humanity’s sake, we only help those with something to take.” 

The inspiration, Rubio explains, is simple. “The main reason I got into songwriting in the first place,” he says, “was because it’s an expression of things I feel and think.” 

The additional seasonings that encourage seconds are untraditional and obscure covers like James Brown’s “I’ll Go Crazy” and James Hunter’s “Don’t Come Back.” 

“I tend to lean towards songs that aren’t standards and stay away from what everybody else does,” says Rubio, who was a KAZU DJ for 12 years. The band’s appeal – they’ve been voted Best Local Band by Weekly readers repeatedly – also rests in the fact that its home-cooked goodness is accessible to people of all ages, not just the bar and club crowds. When RB&R plays daytime festivals, Rubio says it’s safe to expect a kid in diapers dancing next to an 80-year-old woman. 

Rubio says the group has no plans to stop stirring the pot any time soon. 

“Who knows what this will evolve into,” he says. “There will always be room for more.”  