Bad Mamma Jamma

Artist Information

Biography

Highly Original Rock n' Roll... BMJ's tagline says it all. This is a band dedicated to turning out original, entertaining, and energetic music that crowds can't help but shake their booty to. Known for their live shows and great stage pressence.

Bad Mamma Jamma is a three-piece band that got its start performing in and around the Athens, Ohio area at the beginning of 2005. In the short amount of time they have been together they have gained positive attention and a modest fan base while becoming a notable force within the local music scene. The band began to expand their popularity at the end of 2005 and into 2006 by playing cities all over Ohio as well as other states such as North Carolina, West Virginia, Washington DC, Pennsylvania and Louisianna. Each member of the band comes from a different musical background contributing to the unique sound the band creates.

Accomplishments and Credentials

The Maple Leaf Bar House Band
(New Orleans, LA March 2006)
- Maintained a weekly residence at the historic New Orleans bar through the month of March. At this venue BMJ shared the stage with renowned New Orleans performers like Irvin Mayfield, Rebirth Brass Band, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Juice, and Papa Grows Funk.

Twice Featured on Garageband.com
-Track of the Day for original song SnowWhite (7/13/06)
-Track of the Day for original song Jammin Butter (8/30/06) This song also won other numerous awards including Best Instrumental Rock Song, and Most Original

Painted by World Renowned "Performance-Painter" Frenchy
- Three live portraits of the band have been painted by Frenchy on seperate occasions. View one of these in our photos section.
- Frenchy has painted everyone from Willy Nelson to Dennis Rodman. And upon seeing Jamma perform in New Orleans he decided their stage pressence could not go uncaptured. view more at frenchylive.com

O'Hooleys Pub House Band
(August- November 2005)
- Performed every Thursday as the house band at a popular music venue in downtown Athens, Ohio.

Athens / Ohio University Halloween block party
(2005 and 2006)
- Twice Performed as headliners at the largest annual event held in Athens. Main stage, downtown for an audience of over 20,000 people.

Music Festivals
-Equinox Music Festival Wisteria, OH (9/23/06)
- Foothills Rhythm and Blues Festival Pomeroy, OH (8/26/06)
- Budweiser Backyard BBQ Columbus,OH (8/19/06)
- Boogie on the Bricks Athens, OH (7/23/06)
- The Big One Music and Arts Festival Athens, OH (9-17-05)
- The Shantee, Farewell Festival Athens, OH (7-29-05)
- Power 105 Chili Cook Off Athens, OH(10-15-05)

Featured band on Hometown Showcase
- Athens, Ohio radio show on station 107.7 FM that spotlights regional musicians and bands.

Member Bios:

J. Buckner
J. Buckner was on the fast track to success. A Senior Business/Marketing
major at Ohio University, he was already being scouted by America's business
elite. After graduation, he was off to conquer the business world.
However, on his way to his first job interview he would have his life
forever changed when he noticed a bumper sticker that read "material things
bore me." The next thing he knew, Buckner woke up in an alley with a mohawk
on his head and a guitar in his hand.
Over the next few years, "Buck" (as he is now known) traveled the
streets of Americana, picking up the chops of the greatest musicians of all
genres, whilst developing his own unique style. Then the cosmos aligned
perfectly, positioning Buck alongside the other members of Bad Mamma Jamma.
Carving quite a niche for himself as the guitarist and a singer, Buck lights
up the stage consistently with his energetic and animated performances.
Conjuring the presence of Morrison and Hendrix, and the energy of a James
Brown + Joe Cocker love child, Buck is a modern day rock lord, saved from
the crushing grips of the American Business Machine by the muse that some
refer to as Fate.

John Corliss
Young Johnny Corliss was on his way to becoming the next great football
hero. None had seen such speed and precision from a tiny white boy before,
and none would ever again, for young John suffered a horrible accident at
his own hands, plunging his brand new Miata off of a 1000ft. cliff known as
Dead Man's Curve in his hometown. Rescuers searched for many days and
nights, with no sign of John or his football helmet. All had given up hope,
when a ray of light appeared many months later. John, now known simply as
'Corliss', appeared suddenly, garbed in the white robe of a monk and holding
a bass guitar in his hand. Apparently the accident had left Corliss dazed
and confused, wandering the badlands until he was discovered by a band of
gypsies who had been searching for their proverbial Mecca. Having no
knowledge of his past or football prowess, the gypsies (in what they thought
was a well orchestrated joke) informed him that he was their long lost bass
player, and had been a semi successfull cult leader in his past. This had
an interesting effect on Corliss' mind, as it somehow unlocked his unknown
abilities to channel the spirit of Bobby Sheehan (or one of the gypsies
slipped an enormous amount of LSD into his orange juice), allowing Corliss
to play for up to ten hours without breathing. Now discovered and recruited
by the members of Bad Mamma Jamma, Corliss is now constantly fed a super
secret "cocktail" to maintain his bass abilities. Conversation with him is
not encouraged, as he has a tendancy to quote Dr. Seuss insessantly.

Brett Lawson
The Rock. The Cliff. The Monolith. "Ole Firearms" as he is reffered to by
the other band members, began his life as a strongman in a traveling freak
show. Also having short stints as the Bearded lady and the wolf boy, Brett
would pass the massive hours of down time between shows by banging the
acrobats' heads into overturned waste recepticles while playing a soothing
kazoo. After a few months and massive acrobatic physician bills, the
proprieter of the show finally bought Brett some drumsticks and a full kit,
and released him into the wild with all his worldly posessions tucked
safely on his back. He crossed paths with Bad Mamma Jamma in the small town
of Athens, OH, where they witnessed him save a family of four by putting out
their enflamed house with a massive snare solo. Recruited immediately,
Brett now spends his days happily playing and waiting till the next time an
acrobat crosses his path, so he can finally finish the last movement of his
ultimate 'drum symphony'.

Instrumentation

Justin Buckner Nemecek- Guitar/Vocals
John Patrick Corliss- Bass/Vocals
Brett C. Lawson- Drums

Discography

Songs from The Milieu (Remixed collection of studio sesssions)
The Instrumentals (Four song E.P. featuring just instrumental originals)
Pour on The Gold E.P. (Collection of various studio sessions)
LiveLifeLive (Collection of Live recordings)

Audio

Lyrics

• The Milieu

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Local act crosses genre boundaries to break standard jam band mold [+ Show ]
  

  By, Kelly Schwaberow / Staff Writer / ks179503@ohiou.edu Local jam-band rebels Bad Mamma Jamma us...By, Kelly Schwaberow / Staff Writer / ks179503@ohiou.edu
  
  Local jam-band rebels Bad Mamma Jamma use twangy guitar, a dominating bass and a bluesy keyboard to knock the Heinies out of the hands of mellowed-out listeners at O'Hooley's Pub and Brewery every Thursday night.
  
  The lights fade to a misty blue and derby hats cover the eyes of Brett Lawson, John Corliss, Buck Nemecek and Kent Lankas as the quartet blends together Caribbean reggae, '70s rock, jazz and funk songs for three hours in front of a laid-back audience.
  
  Bassist and vocalist Corliss said Bad Mamma Jamma's motto is: "Forget your troubles and dance."
  
  "When you see everybody glowing after the show - the band and the fans - it's like, 'Everybody in this room just got laid,'" Nemecek said.
  
  The guys are not the average Phish-loving Deadheads that most jammers are. In fact, they said they banned the two musical acts from their sets in order to stand out and cover all aspects of the rockin' blues.
  
  "I've avoided playing in bands since high school because most bands tend to stick to one genre or one style, and that's kind of like only writing one kind of poem your entire life," said Lankas, keyboardist and vocalist.
  
  Bad Mamma Jamma strives to make every show it plays one of a kind. The band improvises during sets by blending songs together, switching chords or the key of a song and performing unexpected covers, such as Young MC's "Bust a Move."
  
  "We write songs, and we have a strict setup for a song, but when we play it live, we want to rock out," said Nemecek, guitarist and vocalist.
  
  As a collective writing force, Bad Mamma Jamma focuses on social commentary songs, with topics ranging from the shortcomings of the Athens Police Department and local girls getting their high heels caught in the bricks of Uptown streets, to more universal yet off-the-wall topics like Rambo, pirates, sugar and salt.
  
  The band said people of all ages and races come out to bop to the group's grooves. They have played for 70-year-olds, bachelorette parties and kids who don't know much about the classic songs BMJ plays, they said.
  
  "There's nothing better than watching somebody boogie their ass off to a tune you wrote," Lankas said.
  
  Bad Mamma Jamma began with Corliss and Nemecek, who played together in the band Joe Brown's Wayward Sons for two years. The two met Lankas, an Athens native, but said they didn't have that something special until they met Lawson, a drummer and kazooist, through the band Crackers and Jam.
  
  In August, they were offered a permanent spot on O'Hooley's Thursday bill, and the cozy venue became BMJ's second home - only surpassed by World's Best Bagels, 31 N. Court St.
  
  Today marks the six-month anniversary of the band's formation, and while most bands would be searching for new, innovative ways to liven up their acts, Bad Mamma Jamma counts on its crowd interaction and fun-loving live atmosphere to continue to entertain.
  
  "It's not something you can get off of a CD because if it was something you could get off of a CD, people would just be sitting in their rooms listening to CDs. There's a certain magic at a live show that you experience," Lawson said.
  
  The band has a three-track demo, a dual-disc album called "Elephant in the Room" of live recordings from two shows, one at The Big One music festival and the other at the Blue Gator, 63 N. Court St.
  
  Bad Mamma Jamma plays at about 11 p.m. every Thursday at O'Hooley's. Admission is $2. BMJ will perform at about 10 p.m. Friday at O'Hooley's with Forealious and Red Road Travelers. Because it is Ladies' Night, women are admitted for free, and general admission is $2.
  
  

• Local band heads to the Big Easy to meet its destiny [+ Show ]
  

  By Jim Phillips Athens NEWS Senior Writer Thursday, February 16th, 2006 If you've never caught ...By Jim Phillips
  Athens NEWS Senior Writer
  Thursday, February 16th, 2006
  
  If you've never caught Bad Mamma Jamma, Athens' own blues-funk-soul-reggae-punk-psychedelic-have-a-real-good-time-jam band, their gig at O'hooley's this Friday might be your last chance for awhile.
  
  You also might want to attend the show so that when they're big rock stars, you can brag about how you were into their music back in the early days, before just everybody jumped on the bandwagon.
  
  About a month after their O'hooley's gig, the five members of Bad Mamma Jamma will be heading down to New Orleans. Over the week of spring break, they'll serve as house band at the Maple Leaf Bar, one of the quintessential music clubs in one of the hottest music towns on earth.
  
  Their shows will also serve as auditions for a Chicago-based record company that's reportedly interested in adding the band to its roster.
  
  Pretty big break for an Athens, Ohio outfit that's been together for only a year. The band members know it, and they're jumping at the chance with all 10 feet.
  
  "Ray Charles played there, for cripes sake," marvels keyboardist Kent Lankas of the Maple Leaf.
  
  The kind of opening young bands drool for came about through a gig last month at the famous bar, opening for Purple Disrespect -- a kind of busman's holiday funk outfit assembled by jazz trumpet player Irvin Mayfield.
  
  "I guess we impressed the right people," Lankas speculates, leading to the house band stint and a shot at the big time.
  
  In its relatively short time together, BMJ has fused the disparate musical tastes of its five players into a tasty, crowd-pleasing stew, with what bassist/vocalist John Corliss calls "a touch of the weird." Corliss's musical roots are in the "jam band" mentality, where "it doesn't much matter what sort of music you're playing, but how you play it."
  
  Guitarist/singer Buck Nemecek, on the other hand, got his musical grounding in punk -- though that shows up less in his playing than in his admittedly whack behavior on stage. (Bandmates swear he once caused a woman to faint dead away with the sanctified intensity of his guitar wailing.)
  
  Anchoring the sound is drummer Brett Lawson, who started his musical life as "a big metal head."
  
  Adding a certain indefinable something is the sax playing of Terry McLeod, an Australian import who paid his dues down under as part of a slick dance band, covering the hits from Billy Joel to Britney Spears.
  
  "One of the reasons I left Australia was as an excuse to get out of that band," he admits.
  
  Top it all off with Lankas' steamy piano and organ vamping, and you've got the butt-shakin' machine that is BMJ. Priding itself on high energy, creative arrangements and never playing a set the same way twice, the band has earned a passionate local following with witty originals that deal with everything from the downside of piracy as a profession ("The Pirate Song") to the dangers of wearing big-heeled shoes on the brick streets of Athens ("Brick-Heeled Shoes").
  
  They also like to tear apart other people's songs and put them back together a whole new way, with an arsenal of covers ranging from Traffic's "Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" to M.C. Hammer's [sic] "Bust a Move," plus more traditional soul/blues fare. But whatever they play, according to Nemecek, they make sure to "put the Jamma stank on it."
  
  They're hoping that funky aroma goes over big enough in New Orleans that they come out of their trip with maybe a recording contract, and even more important, a chance to hit the highway with somebody other than a band member driving.
  
  "We really want to be a band on the road," Nemecek confesses.
  
  

• Regional Press Write-Ups [+ Show ]
  

  "Bad Mamma Jamma's name says it all about this band, and their regular Thursday gig has helped to ...
  "Bad Mamma Jamma's name says it all about this band, and their regular Thursday gig has helped to tighten these boys up like a mouthful of alum."
  - Eric Leighton, writer for The Athens Music Scene
  A section of The Athens News
  
  "Bad Mamma Jamma strives to make every show it plays one of a kind… they count on crowd interaction and a fun-loving live atmosphere to continue to entertain."
  - The Athens Post
  
  "This is dancin' music at its best. No one can sit through these great rock originals."
  - Graffiti
  West Virginia's News Alternative
  

Setlist

Setlists contain a strong majority of BMJ originals with a few covers as well. Alternating between catchy lyrics, jammed out solos, and funky instrumentals. The band weaves a roller coaster ride of emotion into every show.
Sets can range from 1-4 hours depending on time constraints. Cover songs and influences are derived from Steve Winwood, Herbie Hancock, Les Claypool, Particle, Stevie Wonder, R.L. Burnside, CREAM, The Meters, Bill Withers, etc....

To hear and dowload free live shows visit our site on Archive.org:

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=Bad%20Mamma%20Jamma

Basic Requirements

Calendar