Los Angeles-based funk/rock/ska/soul outfit Fishbone returns to Asheville this week, playing The Grey Eagle on Wednesday, Feb. 20. 9 p.m. $12 advance / $15 day of show. The band is coming up on its 35th anniversary, though the unique sound that the musicians have crafted sounds as fresh today as it did in the ‘80s when they were bouncing frantically around stages, switching instruments from song to song.
Want to know more about Fishbone? Check out the band’s critically-acclaimed 2010 documentary, Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, narrated by Laurence Fishburne.
Here are some thoughts from local musician and visual artist Marshall Pyle, aka Granpappy:
“Fishbone came from the late ‘70s/early 80s-era music scene in L.A. They encapsulate every genre. In the course of their beginnings, many bands that played with them (Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers) went on to major success. Fishbone’s influence in live performance reaches into today’s music. Fishbone has stayed too true to a socially-conscious message: Break down barriers of thought or segregated divide. Music is universal, but it’s many stories telling the tale. Angelo is maybe one of the greatest living front men of all time. His voice, his saxophone playing — it’s like Vaudeville. Satchmo meets Malcolm X. Fishbone is a band that has to be seen to truly be understood. If you really take music and performance seriously, then seeing them will be a great study. Core members are Norwood (who has influenced Flea and Les Claypool — he’s like a punk rock Bootsy Collins) and Dirty Walt on vocals and pocket trumpet (his presence is quintessential and classic). Fishbone takes from the tradition which is uniquely American, as if Funkadelic and Frank Zappa had a child with John Coltrane.”
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