No matter what kind of music you’re into, the story of psychedelic-gospel-funk group The Relatives is a heartwarming one.  In a feature running in The New York Times online today (paper version tomorrow), the band’s journey from an overlooked gem in the 1970’s to a modern rediscovery that brought the band back by popular demand is described in detail following the release of their first record in 30 years, The Electric Word.   The New York Times quotes founding member Reverend Gean as saying, “This is a God-sent thing because of the way it came about, how everything fell in place.”  Says The Times:

The Relatives sing a burning gospel refracted through the lens of psychedelic rock, heavy R&B and 1970s funk. Their riffs and drum grooves owe as much to Jimi Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone as to the Rev. James Cleveland and Shirley Ceasar. “Even back then people would tell us that we was ahead of our time,” Gean said. “We always did our own thing.”

Read the whole story HERE on The New York Times, and purchase The Relatives’ The Electric Word HERE at the Yep Roc Store.