Boyd Tinsley talks about True Reflections

The five questions below are presented in Windows Media format. If you do not have Windows Media Player, click here to download it.

high | low	What was the biggest challenge in making True Reflections?
high | low	Why did you choose to cover "Cinnamon Girl?"
high | low	Besides the first single "Listen", what is another track on the record that really stands out to you?
high | low	How did this version of "True Reflections" come about?
high | low	What do you feel will determine the success of True Reflections?

Boyd is an advocate for Feed The Children

Click here to learn more about Feed The Children and to see Boyd lending a helping hand.

Boyd Tinsley featured on new Getaway People album, Turnpike Diaries, out July 18, 2000

"The getaway people have quickly become one of my favorite bands. They have a raw, funky, energetic sound and live show.... I think they are destined to be one of the hottest new acts of this decade."
-Boyd Tinsley

Boyd Tinsley is featured on Turnpike Diaries, the new album by the Getaway People, which was released by Columbia Records on July 18, 2000. The album, produced by the band with Nick Sansano (Public Enemy, Sonic Youth, Brian Setzer) and Dante Ross (Everlast, Korn), also features guest performances from Rahzel (The Roots), and Daryl Jenifer (Bad Brains).

Boyd first heard the band on the radio in 1998, and loved their sound. The Dave Matthews Band subsequently invited the Getaway People to open up for them during the summer of 1998. The band went on to rack up lots of mileage on the road that year, touring with Guster, Semisonic and the Bare Naked Ladies.

The Getaway People went back to Norway to record the new album in the winter of '99 and finished it that summer in New York. When the band was working on "Open Your Mind" (Track #10), perhaps one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs on the album, they felt Boyd's playing and emotional feel would add an element that would bring the song a whole other level.

"These songs really are turnpike diaries -- each one relates to an experience we had on the road," says Boots of the record that grew out of the tour that supported the Getaway People's 1998 self-titled debut.

And what a musically and metaphysically transforming trip it was. "The unexpected happened at least three times a day," says Honda. "It's been a wonderfully strange odyssey -- being exposed to all these bands, hearing all this great music, opening for the Dave Matthews Band in front of 30,000 people, playing radio festivals on a bill with everyone from Wyclef Jean to Everclear."

Just as the journey inspired lyrical story lines, it strengthened the group sonically. "Being on the road made us more aggressive," explains Boots. "The record reflects everything we absorbed. It's more hip-hop, but it's also got more guitars -- it's got more everything."

"Six Pacs," the first single from Turnpike Diaries, will be the theme song for Young Americans, a new series premiering this summer on the WB Network. After being sent an advance of Turnpike Diaries, the producers of Young Americans found in "Six Pacs" the perfect summer anthem for the series. You can catch Young Americans on the WB Network at 9pm (ET/PT) on Wednesdays throughout the summer.

"Six Pacs" has been receiving rave reviews. In the June 17th issue of Billboard Magazine, they wrote: "The Getaway People are set to break bad with this cool, crisp track from their upcoming Turnpike Diaries -- The song sports a hip-hop flavored beat, groovy guitars, freewheeling ad libs, and a positive lyric about sharing the love on the road with fans.... The chorus, somewhat reggae-flavored, is anthemic, almost chantlike, ensuring that it will be on the lips of anyone who hears it even once."

And while the Getaway People's music is fun, it should not be confused with light or shallow. This is a highly intelligent band who can talk about world affairs as easily as they can talk about pop music. Boots, for example, has had great interest in Africa, and after receiving his Master's in Human Resources at the University of Newcastle, he helped build a school in the African country Burkina Faso. The experience later led directly to him setting up a short wave radio station that broadcast uncensored pro-democratic and non-violent information to the then-military-oppressed country of Nigeria.

The Getaway People continue to maintain their involvement in world issues... This past spring, the band returned to the group's hometown of Stavanger, Norway, to perform for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Getaway People had been officially invited by the Worldview Rights organization to take part in a conference/concert featuring H.H. the Dalai Lama and other speakers. Boots has been involved with Worldview Rights and the Tibetan freedom cause since 1996 when, under the organization's auspices, he interviewed the Dalai Lama for the Noble Peace Prize concert.

In 1998, the Getaway People moved from Norway and made New York City their home-base when Columbia Records released their critically-acclaimed self-titled debut. With the release of that first album, the band began to quickly develop a rabid critical and popular fanbase. In the August 14th, 1998, Dallas Morning News, Thor Christensen reviewed the Getaway People (opening for the Dave Matthews Band at the Coca-Cola Starplex) and wrote, "The Getaway People, who opened the show, might be as big as the Temptations if they were from Detroit, circa 1970, instead of from Stavanger, Norway, in 1998.... there was a timeless quality to sharp, ultrafunky pop tunes such as 'She Gave Me Love,' and 'She's Chocolate in My Pocket.'"

Ben Wener reviewed The Getaway People (opening for Barenaked Ladies at the Universal Amphitheatre) in the November 5, 1998, edition of the Orange County Register and raved, "Norway's Getaway People greatly impressed in its 45-minute opening set, which mixed Beck-ish funk-pop with a touch of the deadpan humor Cake excels at, as well as a stage manner that will make the (Barenaked) Ladies envious."

In the April 16-23, 1998, issue of Time Out NY, Smith Galtney reviewed The Getaway People and wrote, "The Getaway People are five guys from Norway who roar like a full-tilt funk band, but their self-titled debut still maintains an aurally clipped appeal, like Jamiroquai with a heavy Beck fixation. Their first single 'She Gave Me Love,' is a gem."

Be sure to catch the Getaway People as they tour throughout the States this Summer and Fall. For more info, updated tour dates and band news go to: www.getawaypeople.com