The Mo Funk Band with special guest opener Emily Spiller hits the Bridge Lounge this Friday.
Mo Funk is a nine-piece band that is ready to funk you up.
The ’Mo is a collective of musicians that have travelled the world as far and wide as Africa, the Caribbean, the Deep South and across the great nation of Canada, who bring their extensive musical knowledge and experiences to the overall sound.
By day, some of them are graduates of the VIU jazz degree; many are highly revered music educators and musicians by trade. By night, they all come together in one place, at one time with one goal in mind: to play deep, soulful, booty-shakin’ grooves, and to pay homage to the funk masters of yesterday and today.
Spiller is a singer, songwriter, musician, vocal experimentalist, collaborator and independent artist. After a whirlwind 2010, she is building momentum at home and overseas.
She has a third independent release on her own label, Beacon Hill Records. She spent three months in Australia promoting her second album The Get Go, whose title track was featured in two independent Canadian films, Zombie Punch and A Lucky Man. Not to mention five songs licensed to an iPad app.
Returning to Australia in February 2011, Spiller performed at the Australian Blues Music Festival in New South Wales, and Nannup Music Festival in Washington. From there, she flew to Toronto for a showcase at Canadian Music Fest in March.
She does this on her own. Armed with an RC50 loop machine, two microphones and her laptop, she whisks herself around the globe as an independent artist on a mission.
Spiller’s fourth album is an evolution in her music and voice. A collaboration with film composer David Parfit incorporates an electro-dub feel with the power of her soul-drenched voice. Their co-written track for US Documentary, From Place 2 Place, will be released this year.
Since 2003, Spiller has toured in Canada, China, Australia and New Zealand. In 2007, she released her first EP, LIVE At The Apartment, quickly finding airplay in Canada and New Zealand. She was awarded a Factor grant for her latest EP, The Wonderbro Remixes (2010), her third release on Beacon Hill Records.
Spiller has been nominated for five Vancouver Island Music Awards, and will perform at the ceremony in June 2011. She will showcase at the Vancouver Island Music Business Conference, also in June.
Doors open this Friday at 9 p.m., and there’s a discount for earlybirds. First 50 people get in for the advance ticket price of $7; after that, it’s $10 at the door.
Advance tickets are at Bop City Records in Courtenay.
For more information, call 250-702-6456.
— Bridge Lounge
