Get to know the artists of Aura Music & Arts Festival 2015
This ain’t your daddy’s Grateful Dead! Funkin’ Grateful is not another Grateful Dead Tribute Band, its a group of musicians from various south Florida bands, who gather now and then to deliver a funky interpretation of the Grateful Dead. Songs rewritten in to bring on the Funk. Think Grateful Dead Meets Parliament Funkadelic with a slice of south Fl. attitude thrown in for good measure.
Lather Up! is a dynamic keyboard trio, featuring Jim Wuest, Jamie Newitt and Tony D’Amato of The Heavy Pets. Renowned for their deep groove and soulful delivery, these guys serve up a tasty concoction that lies somewhere between 1970s electric jazz and ice-cold boom-bap. All three have musical roots in the Philly area, and a shared history going back over fifteen years. Lather Up! is currently based in South Florida and has supported a wide range of touring acts including The Motet, Kung Fu, Orgone and Brock Butler, while maintaining a regular schedule of club and festival dates.
Since early 2006, guitarist Cody Stowers and and vocalist Benjamin Dahlstrand have been writing music together. (Playing in such acts as Nada Brahma,Acronym and A.M.P). Immediate best friends, they had been through so many trials, tribulations, loss of friendships and lineup changes you would have guessed an admission of defeat, but through strength, the power of friendship, the bonds of music and a little magic from the streets of Houston, TX, they kept going, playing many shows including venues and events such as Warehouse Live, Helios, WestFest, the original Super Happy Fun Land and Numbers. But it wasn’t until summer 2012 that they decided to go back to their roots and start playing punk rock. Many tedious lineup changes occurred until finally they found Jason Cluthe, an old school punk rocker that grew up on similar influences. Things then started to finally kick off. Songs were being pumped out so naturally it seemed difficult to control the quantity at first, and on top of songs from previous years, things were on the up and up, but they still needed a bassist. Enter Mitch Robinson. Like a gift from the God’s Mitch came out of nowhere with the eagerness of a true starving artist. Thus Fat Mannequin was truly born, and is ready, like a loaded gun, to be unleashed into the ravenous public.
Hailing from Boca Raton, FL, Stinky Pockets consists of Billy Gilmore (Guitars, Electric and acoustic Banjo, Violin), Rolando Willimann (Bass), Jerry Weber (Drums), Jim Wuest (Keyboards, synthesizers), & Colin James (Saxophone, keyboards)
The “Shady Horns” are one the tightest and funkiest horn sections on the scene today. As the official horn section for funk legends Lettuce and former Blue Note recording artists Soulive, they also appear on all Lettuce records and numerous Soulive releases as well.