Founding Fathers of Funk the Funky Meters Play StageOne on September 17 & 18

Take a listen to the old Meters records from the ‘60s and ‘70s and tell us they didn’t invent Funk. With classic tunes like “Cissy Strut,” “Look-Ka Py Py” and “Fire on the Bayou,” the Meters wrote the book on classic funk music.  And as original members of the Meters, Art “Poppa Funk” Neville, on keys, and George Porter Jr., on bass, have reigned supreme in the worlds of funk, R&B, jazz and rock ever since.
The Funky Meters are coming to StageOne for two dates in September.

A little history about this stellar band, between 1967 and 1969, they recorded three LPs (as well as four consecutive hit singles, which all reached the Top 10 on the R&B charts.) From 1971 to 1978 The Meters recorded five albums on the Warner/Reprise label. Simultaneously, the band was widely heard playing on albums by Dr. John, Robert Palmer, King Biscuit Boy, Lee Dorsey, Allen Toussaint, Paul McCartney & Wings, and others. In 1975, the Meters performed at a party for Paul and Linda McCartney aboard the Queen Mary in California. Shortly thereafter, The Rolling Stones requested that The Meters join them as an opening act on their (1975) American Tour and (1976) European tours-over 75 dates were played between both tours.

The Meters  maintain an avid following of fans and other artists, and their music has been sampled by musicians around the world, including rap artists Heavy D, LL Cool J and Queen Latifah. The Red Hot Chili Peppers pay homage to them in one of their hit songs, and bands such as the Grateful Dead, KVHW, The Steve Kimock Band, Widespread Panic, Rebirth Brass Band, Galactic and String Cheese Incident often play their music.

The Austin music blog the Austinist had this to say about the Funky Meters recently, “their set easily proved that they could teach any band something about how to really jam a song, and the Austin audience responded with our own unique brand of rowdy craziness.” And so it’s like they always say: everywhere the Funky Meters go, there goes the craziness.