Effinays Interview 6/8/13

Saturday night, June the 8^th, The Effinays opened for Spoonfed Tribe at Trees in Deep Ellum. While not the headliner of the night, the DFW based Funky Reggae band drew quite a crowd. During their high energy set, the crowd was dancing, and grooving to the sweet tunage that The Effinays have become known for. Saturday was their last show before they left on their first ever tour!

After their set, I got a candid couple of minutes with the guys, and got to ask them a little more about the force in live music they had become. It all started with Jeremy "Pan Blanco" Piering on Bass Guitar. The rest of the current lineup is not original band members. So when I asked what made this particular group of musicians the best iteration of the band, Piering responded “You know, we are just more genuine with these guys. No drama, just having fun and making music. We support each other, and don’t shoot anything down; every idea is a good one”. 

When asked to describe their sound “We’re genre-bending, we have influence from anything and everything; No limits.” That being said,  there is an obvious influence from Reggae, Funk, Reggaton, Hip Hop, and Jazz.

So what kind of time do you have outside of the band? Peiring said “We all hang out together, its family man!”  Marquise Jones, on Tenor Sax chimes in “I’ve only been here 8 months, and even though we do holidays and birthdays together, they joke and say I’m still on probation…”

About to embark on your first tour, what are the Effinays excited for? Peiring speaks first “Playing music all over the country,” except this first tour is mostly along the west coast. “Yeah we are going to try for all the way up to Washington.” Marquise says “I’m excited because I’m sheltered and I want to travel” His ambitions were a little higher claiming he wants to “Share their music with the world”. Jon “Big Spook” Martinez felt differently. “It’s a Catch 22, having to leave the family for 4 month”. 

I mention Joe’s tattoo. “Oh yeah, it says Musica es Mi Passion, I got it when the band started getting really serious”. I ask when, he says “Right before Wakarusa” so sometime in May. It definitely gives not just Joe, but the whole band a cool vibe. 

I wanted to hear from some of the other guys so I asked Valenti "Funk" on Drums/Keys, how he got his start playing both at the same time. “I played Piano first, and then when I picked up drums, I just replaced the left hand with a drum stick… It just works”. And work it does, well that is, the piano & drum boogie works well.

On to Jason "Shaggy" Kerr on Guitar; Shaggy is it intentional that your Guitar and Jeremy’s Bass match? “You know, this is actually my back up. It’s the same model as my main Guitar, but when I saw some guy selling it in that color, I had to go for it and get it to match.”

Julian, tell me about the Effinays involvement in NORML and winning Activist of the year from High Times magazine. Julian "King" Ayacannoo, the other Sax player started to reminisce. “Yeah, the tour is actually being sponsored by NORML, its pretty cool. As for the High Times, we were nominated for three awards: Activist of the year, which we won, best local act, and best underground act.” People getting to share great music and a great cause, at least for the Marijuana activists. “When we received our award, we met George Clinton, who was the Activist of the Year, the year before. It was really cool when we spoke to him, and he wanted to take a picture with us!”

George Clinton had the right idea. These guys are one of the coolest, chilliest, and funkiest bands in North Texas, so I’d recommend you go check them out. They were even so cool as to give me some signed posters, and Big Spook even gave us a shout out here at Live Music DFW (even though he reversed our name)

Hope ya’ll enjoyed, I’m hoping to do more of these candid interviews, so I’ll keep you up to date. Thanks for reading and keep jammin’ my friends!

The Effinays band consists of:

Joe "Big Spook" Martinez - Lead Vocals Julian "King" Ayacannoo - Sax Jeremy "Pan Blanco" Piering - Bass Guitar Valenti "Funk" - Drums/Keys Jason "Shaggy" Kerr - Guitar Marquise "Kool-Aide"Jones - Sax

Live Music DFW Blog, Week of 6/2/13

Hello all my musical friends, and welcome! Tis’ another installment of my featured weekly shows. I’m not getting started on this until late (sorry), so it will not include Monday. Needless to say, there are some big acts playing this week. Now, based on where these shows are and how big an act it is, ticket prices will vary. I am just doing my best to let you know what I think are some of the coolest shows out there this week. So, without further ado, here is the Live Music DFW blog week of June 2, 2013.

Tuesday 6/4

This one is kind of a biggie guys, Fleetwood Mac will be playing at the American Airlines Center Tuesday night. The multi Grammy-winning and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees last toured in 2009 with the sold out Unleashed tour. The current 34 city tour also marks the 35th anniversary of the release of their classic Rumours album (1977), one of the most successful albums in recorded history with sales exceeding 40 million copies. Rumours planted itself at the top of the pop charts for over 31 weeks and had four top ten singles.

Fleetwood Mac's success has brought fame to its legendary members Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks who can be seen Tuesday at the American Airlines Center.

Wednesday 6/5

Another legend comes to D town, well actually GP town! Peter Frampton will be playing with Robert Cray on Wednesday at the Verizon Center (formerly Nokia Center) in Grand Prairie. Frampton, while needing little introduction, is up to something new and hot. Shortly after receiving his first Grammy Award, Frampton embarked on his Fingerprints Tour. This tour is the artist's first public performances since winning "Best Pop Instrumental Album" for his first all instrumental recording, Fingerprints.

Frampton will be performing material from Fingerprints - as well as favorites spanning his catalog. Frampton's band includes Rob Arthur (keyboards, guitar and backing vocals) and John Regan (bass), as well as Audley Freed (guitar) and Noah Levy (drums).  More band info here.

Robert Cray may need an introduction, as some of you might not be aware of this guy. He is blues guitarist with heavy soul influence, has been recording since the 70’s and has won 5 Grammy’s in his career. He too is going strong, having an album dropping in August. 

Robert Cray will be playing with the Robert Cray Band as part of  Peter Frampton’s Guitar Circus. This will be an excellent show, I promise. Band info here.

Thursday 6/6

Let’s bring it a little closer to home with Fish Fry Bingo, a Bluegrass-Jug Band based out of Ft. Worth. Self-described as “A pure, raw hillbilly tour of American music, original and otherwise”, Fish Fry started playing together in 2006, with the current lineup playing together since 2011. Their music incorporates a variety of instrumentation;  Banjos, electric washboards, wah pedals, boots & bare feet, pots & pans, kazoos, spoons, beers, upright bass, mandolins, jugs, train whistles, guitars...

The Current Fish Fry Bingo line up consists of Dan Benjamin, Tony Drewry, Adrian "Doc" Cook, Matthew Broyles, and David "Blackie" Graham. More info available here.

Friday 6/7

Friday we are back to the big leagues! There are two shows for Friday I’d like to talk about. First is the Big Sam’s Funky Nation free show at Levitt Pavilion in Arlington. I posted about it last week.

The second show is none other than Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue. Reigning from New Orleans, this young Trombone/Trumpet Player and Band Leader has been gaining momentum since the release of his Grammy-nominated 2010 debut album, Backatown. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue have grown creatively, building a new fan base on five continents. Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews has dubbed the band’s sound as “Supafunkrock.”

Orleans Avenue consists of Mike Ballard on bass, Pete Murano on guitar, Joey Peebles on drums, Dan Oestreicher on baritone sax and Tim McFatter on tenor sax – stirring together old-school jazz, funk and soul, laced with hard-rock power chords and hip-hop beats. More info can be found here.

Saturday 6/8

Saturday is a local day! Got to throw some love to my boys, the Effinays, who play their last DFW show this Saturday before embarking on their first Tour! They will be playing at the CD release party for Spoonfed Tribe, along with other local bands including Yells at Eels and The Venetian Sailors. Should be a rad show, here are some videos of the acts.

More info on that show can be found here.

The second option, the free option is  My Wooden Leg out of Ft. Worth. They play a free show at Sundown at Granada on Saturday night. Their sound blends hard rock, Balkan funk rhythms & Gypsy melodies. Video below:

 

My Wooden Leg consists of Michael Maftean, Joshua Jones, Steward McCarty. More info here.

So that’s it, those are my shows for the week. If you’ve got the money to see ‘em all, I’m very jealous of you! Please like out Facebook page and share this blog! Be sure to subscribe as well. We need to get as many people involved with Live Music in DFW as possible. This is more than a blog, it is a community, and I’d very much like it to be a closed knitted one. So go out and enjoy some music, and keep jammin’ my friends!

SW

Live Music DFW Blog, Week of 5/19/13

Well, well, well, hello there internet. So I decided to combine two of my passions; writing and music. I like to tell stories in many ways, and share, so I went ahead and started this music blog. My goal here is to discuss upcoming shows and post events, and maybe even write reviews of live music that I am aware of going on in the DFW area. This was inspired by my Facebook Group DFW Deadheads, so feel free to join that group as well. Like that, I encourage others to contribute, write comments, what have you. Let's make this bad boy come alive! I'd like this to become a functioning Music Blog for everything music in DFW! My personal tastes are geared more towards blues, jam, jazz, and funk, but I will include as many different types of music as I can. Thanks for reading! Let's kick this off!

DFW Live Music Blog, Week of 5/19/13

Tuesday 5/21
For you county fans out there, we've got Gary Kyle and The No Standards Band. They are sort of a blend of soulful country, bluegrass and Americana. He reigns form Kingwood Texas, just outside Houston and will be playing at Flip's Patio in Ft. Worth Texas. The info for the event is here.


Also we have Paul Demer playing in Bedford. It's kind of an Indy Rock sound, and this is a kid guys. Like he is 20 and goes to UTA (University of Texas at Arlington). I took a listen, and he is very talented. Paul has a great sound as far as Indy Rock goes. Below is him doing a Neil Young Cover. Details here.


Wednesday 5/22
On Wednesday, you can go check out Ratt, a hard rock group based out of LA. Their sound reminds me a bit of Foreigner/Styx type of music. They will be playing at the House of Blues in Downtown Dallas. Information located here.


Also on Wednesday, there is a show at Filter's Smokeshop in North Richland Hills TX. This event is Sponsored by DFW NORML and will feature performances by The Effinays and The Nappy Roots. Nappy Roots is like Hip-hop/R&B/Reggae/Funk. I have never seen them live, but their recordings are bumpin. Now the Effinays I've seen twice. They are awesome; Funk/Reggae/Jam music, and they are based here in Dallas. These guys are the real deal, and will be going on their first tour soon, making a stop at Wakarusa 2013. Details can be found here.






Thursday 5/23
We've got Delta Rae playing at the Kessler in Deep Ellum TX. Their Facebook page describes them as being like "Mumford & Sons meets Fleetwood Mac -- an Alt-Pop band with four lead singers whose music incorporates all aspects of Americana." Very interesting to say the least. Check out the details here.


Friday 5/24
Down to the Green Elephant for a little MONTU and Dimitri's Ascent. MONTU is a Jamtronica/Trance/Rock group from Norman OK, and Dimitri's Ascent is out of Austin TX playing Jamtronica/Jazz. Here is the info.




Saturday 5/25
Checking out Schroomville in Richardson TX. They are an Allman Brothers Cover Band based here in Dallas. They will be playing at the Line Sport's Bar, info here.

      You can always find more shows I have not featured here at Jambase.com, as well as venue's websites. Keep checking back, I will update shows weekly. Keep jamming  my friends!

SW