If you want to experience the New Orleans music scene, the best thing to do is to go there. For every Galactic and Trombone Shorty that make it big and tour around the country, there are loads of Crescent City acts creating music just as funky and fresh as the big names who are unable to get out on the road as much. One such act is the Brass-a-holics, an up-and-coming group of talented young musicians making original music that carries a distinctly New Orleans flavor yet brings in elements of hip-hop and R&B, among other sounds. Luckily, lovers of that NOLA brass in Austin were treated to a show from the Brass-a-holics when they stopped by the Scoot Inn on a Friday night as part of a brief jaunt through the Lone Star State.
Getting the party started was Boss Street Brass Band who, despite being local to Austin, carry a heavy New Orleans sound with their second line and funk influences. The band wasted no time in getting to the good stuff as they cranked out brassy renditions of contemporary pop hits like Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” and Pharell’s “Happy,” both of which outshined the originals and whipped the audience into a frenzied dance off. In true NOLA fashion, the members of the Boss Street Brass Band brought their set to an explosive conclusion when they hopped off the stage and paraded through the audience to blow out their final notes, leaving the sweaty dancers primed and ready for the night’s main act. For now it looks like this band is sticking to playing in Austin, but they are well worth keeping an eye on.
Having kicked off in 2010, Brass-a-holics are a relatively young band, but these Big Easy spinsters are already on to big things. Their sound even feels new compared to other brass acts coming out of New Orleans. While the trumpet, trombone and saxophone hold a valued place in the Brass-a-holics dynamic, they are hardly the dominant elements in the band’s sound. The use of percussion, guitar and keyboards allows the band to travel into seriously funky territory with hints of salsa sprinkled into the mix. Plus, how many brass bands can get away with using a cowbell? At the Scoot Inn their set was infectious and impossible to resist dancing along with as they blazed through songs off their most recent album, the aptly titled I Am A Brass-a-holic.
Like the Boss Street Brass Band, the Brass-a-holics also showed they can smoke on modern pop covers with their take on Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” which included a nasty jammed out guitar solo. By the end of their set the Brass-a-holics made it clear that they came to Texas to take care of business and spread their funky gospel to dance-hungry revelers. After all, you can take the band out of NOLA, but you can’t take that NOLA flavor out of the band, and just about everyone who came to the Scoot Inn left a brass-a-holic.
