Music
Press
By Ryan Sands
After only two weeks of playing together last Fall, local band Gris Gris played their debut live performance at Ivanhoe-fest. The State Street neighborhood, known for cultivating hipsters and Steven Soderbergh, was instantly swept up in the feel-good grooves of the band and no one was the wiser that the band had only been together for less than a month. Since then, Gris Gris has played eight more shows, and their momentum has risen exponentially.
A little history: lead guitarist, Michael Evans said, "I had known Chris [DiBenedetto] for awhile, and the rest of us had played around before, but it wasn't until I came back to Baton Rouge that we all got together to play."
And play they did, and play, and play. That very first show had a very "jam band feel" because the band hadn't been together for very long and the band members relied on each other to find where the piece moved.
That jam band element has now diminished. "But," Evans began, "we don't want that feeling to go away completely. As long as the crowd is having fun, we'll be having fun, too."
Drummer Luke Coenen brings a very heavy jazz influence to the band which melds very solidly with Evans' guitar riffs. When asked how they differentiate themselves from other South Louisiana jazzy-sounding bands, Evans formidably answered, "I don't really like that question. There are so many different things going on in our songs that it's impossible to narrow down exactly what makes us different."
But by adding bits of synthesizer and electro-funk licks to their repertoire, Gris Gris is most definitely not your typical South Louisiana, jazzy jam-band.
"We like to mix it up," said Evans of the band's approach to their sound. Evans admitted that he has come up with a lot of their songs' movement but that bassist Brandon Harper, "brings in a lot of twitches or twists that make a song sound just right."
While Gris Gris may not be well known right now, they are the perfect band for anyone who enjoys live music festivals. No, you can't go out and buy one of their albums, because they haven't come out yet. Evans says that once the money is right, and they all agree on when the time is right, an album will be created. You can, however, check out some sample tunes on their MySpace page, and Evans promises that there will be videos of live shows added soon.
You can catch Gris Gris on stage this Saturday, Jan. 30 at The Box in Tigerland. Opening for Gris Gris will be M.O. Theory. To find out more on Gris Gris, check out www.myspace.com/grisgrisband.
Originally Published: Issue 862 - January 27, 2010
- TigerWeekly
"New Orleans-inspired funk with a heavy influence from blues and hiphop beats."
-The Daily Reveille - The Daily Reveille
Discography
Certain live tracks can be found on myspace.com/grisgrisband.
Photos
Bio
GrisGris hails from Baton Rouge, Louisiana where they came together in the Fall of 2009. United by the interest in creating funk-o-licious, face melting original music the 4 friends decided to come together to further hone their musical skills and collaborate in the song writing process. What resulted was an electric, grimy, feel-good sound having roots in jazz, funk, blues, rock, hip-hop, and electronic styles of music. GrisGris has developed this diverse blend of sounds, which has come to be an intricate part of the groups spontaneous nature and fresh feel. During a live show one may find themselves groovin' to a cover of The Grateful Dead to witnessing a free-style rap competition before being thrown into the next GrisGris hit that is typically never played the same twice. The band's improvisational nature adds even more flavor to their unique style, and injects an even greater element of unpredictability and excitement to the show that can be enjoyed by the entire audience. Whether it be late night or early mornin', GrisGris never misses an opportunity to have fun on stage and loves to get down with the audience to the music they enjoy playing so much.
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