GospelbeacH

The Los Angeles collective known as GospelbeacH draws from multiple chapters of California sound, encompassing folk-rock, sunshine pop, country-rock, and the Paisley Underground. Led by vocalist and guitarist Brent Rademaker, previously of Beachwood Sparks, the ensemble assembled a roster of sympathetic collaborators. Their opening release, 2015’s Pacific Surf Line, captured the interlocking-guitar spirit of early-’70s Grateful Dead, while 2017’s Another Summer of Love shifted toward the concise, ringing pop of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. By the arrival of 2019’s Let It Burn, the group had folded in expansive Laurel Canyon textures, and their 2024 album Wiggle Your Fingers introduced faint traces of ’80s new-wave pop.

The project took shape in 2014 when Rademaker, who had established himself during the ’90s and 2000s through Beachwood Sparks, Further, and the Tyde, rekindled his interest in performing after a period of disillusionment following Beachwood Sparks’ 2012 album The Tarnished Gold. Having spent several years in Florida framing artwork, he reconnected with drummer Tom Sanford, an alumnus of an early Beachwood Sparks lineup, and the pair began informal sessions that encouraged Rademaker to commit the new material to tape.

Once back in California, Rademaker and Sanford contacted guitarist and singer Neal Casal, another Beachwood Sparks veteran who had also pursued solo work and recorded with Ryan Adams & the Cardinals as well as the Chris Robinson Brotherhood. The core trio then invited bassist Kip Boardman and guitarist Jason Soda, both veterans of the Watson Twins’ touring group and, in Soda’s case, Everest. Before a name had been chosen, Patrick Boissel of Alive Naturalsound Records—already familiar with Beachwood Sparks—offered to issue their debut and proposed the moniker GospelbeacH, which captured their spiritual and regional identity.

Rademaker and Soda produced the first album alongside Scott Hackwith; Pacific Surf Line appeared in October 2015. For the follow-up, Soda again handled the boards while keyboardist Jonny Niemann joined the sessions. Rademaker enlisted additional voices, including Miranda Lee Richards, to distill the earlier jam-band approach into concise, heartfelt songs steeped in Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ melodic wisdom yet still suffused with California warmth. Outtakes from those dates plus live recordings from a 2017 London performance were compiled as the 2018 release Another Winter Alive. Let It Burn, issued in October 2019, emphasized pastoral Laurel Canyon hues.

During this period Rademaker launched Curation Records, an imprint devoted to like-minded California artists and Beachwood Sparks reissues. In 2021 the band tracked five bubblegum and glitter tunes Rademaker had encountered through the label’s co-owner; the resulting EP Jam Jam featured seasoned contributors Bob Glaub on bass, Don Heffington on drums, and Nelson Bragg of Brian Wilson’s band on harmonies. Released in April 2021, the EP preceded the announcement that 2024’s Wiggle Your Fingers would serve as GospelbeacH’s final album, bringing Derwood Andrews of Generation X, plus Pat Ralla and Joe Harvey White of the Hanging Stars, into the fold.