TATANKA

Last night I found myself approaching another Denver local show. 10 dollars in my pocket, my note pad tucked securley in my coat and a pen accomping me behind my left ear. I was informed that there was a new dub reggae trio out of Denver, i had recently heard stories of these players bringing in some serious sound to the urbanized Denver concrete jungles. The trio called themselves TATANKA, what a fitting name being from the plains of Colorado. I found myself lost on the wooden floors of the Marquis Theatre, hearing sounds normally produced by a group of five or more people. Andrew Maloney aka MaloneSTAR, the unsung backbone of the band is constantly playing off and on between his bass, keyboard, organ and synthisizer. Creating many layers to give you a new age heavy dub feel. His accomping players Ian "ChampIAN" Gastl and Mike "The Mexico" Caine are nothing short of spectacular. ChampIAN provides the band with powerful and moving vocals that warm up the entire room the second the sound waves exit his voice box. While The Mexico is guiding the way the entire time through the electronic bass oriented dub-scape. A heavy urban feel, electronic but raw. This is some of the most progressive music I have heard in some time. With time these boys will be a major part of Denver's healthy and growing music scene. Catch TATANKA next week September 17th with John Brown's Body at The Fox Theatre in Boulder Colorado. - Ian Gassman