If you read this column regularly, you probably won’t be surprised that the subject today is “Upstate band releases new album.” But what might shock you is the name of the band that released it: Greenville’s own Hot as a Pepper.
Hot as a Pepper is one of our most popular local acts, and it’s also a fiercely dance-oriented variety band, meaning the shows typically consist of covers of Bruno Mars or Prince or Christina Aguilera rather than the band’s own material. It’s a dynamite quintet onstage — occasionally augmented by a two-piece horn section — but no one was expecting “Move It,” a 13-track album with only one cover: The Jeff Healey Band’s “Angel Eyes.”
The project was spearheaded mainly by Hot as a Pepper bassist John Hoyt and guitarist Chris “CC” Carroll.
“The album comes from a couple of places,” Carroll says. “No. 1, we’re musicians, and we like to create music as much as we like to reproduce it. The idea was, ‘Can we create an original project that mirrors what we do as a band, which is a wide variety of different styles of music. And can we do something that we can be proud of?’ And I think we did.”
Carroll has reason to be proud. The album is packed with a wide range of gems, from the dance-floor barn burner “Come Here” to the modern beach music of “Carolina Babies” and the funk-rock monster that is the title track.
The album is a mix of old and new tracks, some written specifically for the inclusion, some dating as far back as the 1970s. But regardless of the vintage, the specific mission was to make Hot as a Pepper’s original music echo their live show.
“We’re a variety dance and party band,” Hoyt says. “We get up there and we play songs that are fun. Well, we wanted to bring that to our originals as well. We didn’t want to do something that isn’t Hot as a Pepper, So the album represents what we are and what we would be playing.”
So is Hot as a Pepper making the move to its own original material over the covers that light crowds on fire?
The short answer is no. It’s also the long answer.
“Our focus is playing other people’s music and providing a party,” Carroll says. “That’s not really a showcase for ‘Look how creative I am.’ People still need a live jukebox.”
“Some people don’t want to hear Hot as a Pepper songs,” Hoyt adds with a laugh. “They want to hear the Commodores.”
