Baltimore Gets Funky (PHOTOS)

Last weekend, Baltimore was treated to a double dose of funk with Marco Benevento at the 8x10 on Friday and Lettuce at the Baltimore Soundstage Saturday.

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Marc's Music Beat

Kung Fu Funks The 8x10

The funky fusion quintet brought their high-energy, eclectic sound to Baltimore last week.

Sometimes the best shows are the ones that catch you completely off guard. And that is exactly what Kung Fu did when they played at the 8x10 in Baltimore on Wednesday, Feb. 20. With three members of funky prog-rock jamband The Breakast (guitarist Tim Palmieri, bassist Chris DeAngelis and drummer Adrian Tramontano), RAQ keyboard wiz Todd Stoops and Deep Banana Blackout sax player Rob Somerville, the band was overflowing with the talent of seasoned musicians. But having only watched about two minutes of a YouTube video – enough to reel me in – I wasn’t sure what a full show would bring. What I got was a sneak attack of (mostly) instrumental funk from a band that sounded like it had been polishing its sound for years, but Kung Fu has only …

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Marc's Music Beat

Greensky Bluegrass Plays Baltimore Tonight

Patch spoke with Dave Bruzza, the guitarist and singer of the Michigan-based bluegrass band, about the band’s latest album and performing in Baltimore.

Late in the summer of 2011, Michigan-quintet Greensky Bluegrass did an experiment. They released a free, five-song EP of songs from their October release, Handguns, to see if it would create a little buzz. According to guitarist/singer Dave Bruzza, it worked. “It opened us up to a lot of people who had never heard of us,” he said. Handguns debuted at #3 on the Billboard Bluegrass chart back in October, and the band has been picking up steam ever since. “There was a lot more buzz about us in 2011, and we went out there and played some of the best music and best shows we played to date,” Bruzza said. The folk-infused bluegrass band plays at The 8x10 in Baltimore tonight, the first night of their tour. After a brief East Coast run, the band …

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End of an Era for Iconic Baltimore Band, The Bridge

The Bridge will take the stage for the last time at Rams Head Live tonight.

The Bridge was on its spring tour promoting the newly released album National Bohemian, praised by critics as perhaps the band’s most poignant recording, when its members had to face something that had become all too familiar in their 10 years on the road: a low-paying show that would boast a modest crowd at best. The band even considered canceling its tour. “It just kinda fell apart one day,” saxophone player Patrick Rainey recalled. Over breakfast, the band decided to cancel only its Birmingham, AL, show and drive to New Orleans to continue its tour. Then came the breakdown that would lead to the band’s breakup. The van died. “It was $1,000 to fix. We were sitting there for six hours while our van was being fixed, and we just said, ‘We …

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