Mark Speer Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs New York discovered in no uncertain terms last summer when the star-studded “We Love NYC” concert in Central Park was abruptly canceled less than halfway before it was over, the threat of lightning is no joke when it comes to outdoor events. And although thunderclouds and some serious lightning flashes were a backdrop for Khruangbin and Vieux Farka Touré concert at a BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn concert in the New York borough’s Prospect Park, they passed to the south without a drop of rain, and the completely sold-out concert went on without incident from Mother Nature — except for some characteristically brutal NYC summer humidity.Khruangbin, a trio from Houston that plays mostly instrumental music, is a band as unusual as their name, and what was perhaps most remarkable about the concert was the size of the densely packed crowd — there aren’t many bands like them who are popular enough to sell out New York’s 6,000-seat Radio City Music Hall, which they did earlier this year.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn the face of it, Grammy-winning R&B singer Leon Bridges and left-field alt-rock Khruangbin, led by guitar wizard Mark Speer, seem a very unlikely combination. But Bridges started pushing the boundaries of the vintage soul sounds of his 2015 debut, “Coming Home,” almost immediately, veering off into more organic, esoteric directions with the two albums he’s released since then — particularly his latest, “Gold-Diggers Sound” — and collaborating with everyone from Kacey Musgraves and John Mayer to Bun B and the Avalanches.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs one might guess from their name — which is pronounced “krungbin” and means “engine fly” in Thai — Houston-based trio Khruangbin is not intentionally aimed at the pop market. With stated influences like East Asian surf-rock, psychedelia, West African and, of course, Thai music, the group’s sound pits Mark Speer’s deceptively complex yet warm and approachable guitar work over the steady pulse of bassist Laura Lee Ochoa and drummer Donald Johnson.

Since the instrumental psych-rock act Khruangbin released its debut album, The Universe Smiles Upon You, in 2015, the members of the Texas-based trio have spent a majority of their time together, often on the road. Now, due to the pandemic, bassist Laura Lee, guitarist Mark Speer and drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson are experiencing their first taste of separation anxiety.

Khruangbin have shared a new track called ‘Pelota’ – you can listen to it below.The Texan funk trio – comprised of Laura Lee Ochoa, Mark Speer and Donald ‘DJ’ Johnson – are set to release their fourth album ‘Mordechai’ on June 26 via Dead Oceans.Following up on previous cuts ‘So We Won’t Forget’, and ‘Time (You and I)’, the group have now offered up another glimpse of the record.Arriving today (June 16) along with a colourful, animated video, ‘Pelota’ sees “a Texan band with a Thai name singing

Khruangbin & Leon Bridges, “Texas Sun” (Dead Oceans)