Deep Banana Blackout

"Fuzz"

by Lee Abraham

The dance floor is packed. Gurgling bass lines pulse a thumping rumble of funk as dancers wiggle and twist under a spinning rainbow of colors. Gyrating bodies are everywhere. And the music is irresistible. Kicking out one tipsy, party naked groove after another, the horn section slips and slides with the relentless rhythm of a porn star on viagra. It's nothing new. Smiling wide behind dark sunglasses, the band leader simply known as 'Fuzz,' shreds acid soaked guitar licks while looking out over the crowd, clearly amused at the sonic boinkfest he's seen so many times before.

Headquartered in Connecticut, Deep Banana Blackout has been tearing up the east coast since the mid '90s, and more recently, cultivating a nationwide fanbase with cross country tours and killer CDs. The band's debut in '97, -Live in the Thousand Islands-, and double live followup CD, -Rowdy Duty-, have sold a combined total of over 20,000 copies, a ton for an independent band. Those eye popping numbers caught the attention of Allman Brothers drummer and founder of Flying Frogs Records, Butch Trucks, who signed Deep Banana to his record label. Trucks wasn't the only major artist listening. DBB's drummer Eric Kalb and percussionist Johnny Durkin caught the ear of jazz guitar great John Scofield, who enlisted the duo for last year's critically acclaimed Verve release, -Bump-. After lineup changes last year brought multi-instrumentalists Hope Clayburn and B. Smith into the band, DBB released -Feel The Peel-, a masterful studio album produced by legendary engineering guru Tom Dowd, and not surprisingly, their hottest tracks to date.