Bayou Moon...

Updated: 3 days ago

Steamy Funk Making the River Flow...Three free shows tomorrow night!

Bayou Moon is having their debut shows, tomorrow, Wednesday October 2nd, at 5, 7, and 9pm at the Phoenix Theatre, 201 Washington St. Petaluma. If you are within driving distance to Petaluma I suggest coming out for a fab free show at whichever of the three showtimes works best for you. It's a fun band and not much planning involved! ...Cheryl / The Music Soup

Re-post about the band, written by Larry the O / Photography by Cheryl Alterman:

It is said that we dance to music because moving our bodies can move our souls, and we listen to music to let the river of life flow in our ears and down to our hearts. For the five musicians in Bayou Moon, each performance is an opportunity to roll down that river and bring rhythm and heat wherever they perform, which on Oct 2, will be Petaluma’s historic Phoenix Theater, where the band will play free shows at 5 PM, 7 PM, and 9 PM. Bayou Moon’s music captivates by blending the soulful sounds of the American South with a modern, ethereal twist.

“All of our music comes from river towns,” explains guitarist Frankie Frost. “It’s the muddy and the grit and the gristle and the grease, the stuff you get down on the river in Alabama, where I’m from. It’s hot, it’s humid, it’s sweaty, and that’s the kind of music that comes out of that place.”

That feel of the American South permeates Bayou Moon’s fusion of rock and blues with New Orleans funk influences. Deep, smoky grooves covered in richly colored keyboard parts, crackling guitar, and passionate, gospel-infused vocals. The range is wide, but the sound is unified, from the strut of the Neville Brothers to the angular shuffle of Little Feat, from smooth R&B classics like “Stand By Me” and “I Can See Clearly Now,” to the brassy swagger of James Brown’s “Cold Sweat.” Music for dancing, drinking, talking, living.

The band comes by that feeling honestly, as Frost and drummer Jim Sides both originally hail from Alabama.

“I moved from Red Bay, Alabama, to Santa Barbara, California, when I was 15, and it was a culture shock if ever there was one,” Sides recalls. “I had a deep southern accent which put a crimp into my social life, so I convinced my mother and stepfather to buy me a tape recorder and I read books out loud for a year until I lost my accent.”

But lead vocalist Joe Fenelus and keyboardist Stevenson Noel acquired their funk more than a thousand miles away in their native Port-au-Prince, Haiti, before carrying it to Northern California and joining up with Bayou Moon. “I’m bringing the Kompa,” boasts Fenelus, referring to Haiti’s indigenous musical genre that melds Haitian méringue, jazz, and Latin music. Bassist Mark Webb-Heims represents yet another country heard from, with his Southern California roots and conservatory training in classical music.

It was Webb-Heims, the SoCal boy, that brought together these band members with their far-flung origins. Sides had decided to form a professional band to perform at events and approached his friend Webb-Heims about playing bass.

“About a week or two after that, I was playing a gig with another band and Stevenson comes up to the band and says, ‘Hey, my friend is a singer. Do you mind if he comes and sits in?’” Webb-Heims recounts. “It’s always a risky thing when someone says that, but I looked at these guys and Joe had so much swagger that I said ‘yes.’ He came up and just killed it. Someone said, ‘Let’s do another song,’ and we did one more song. After that, yeah, I got their number and here we are.”

Noel, who did not know Fenelus in Haiti before both came to the US, feels the band’s mission is to bring joy. “I think we can do good things,” he says earnestly. “This is my goal: to make the people happy. Society needs music for therapy, for joy, and for relaxing. They need that, and is why I'm part of this great band.” It was an easy fit, as band founder Sides subscribes to the same philosophy: “I wanted to put together something that was gonna be joyful to play and that is danceable,” says Sides. “It's gotta move people, right?”

And move people it does. Five professional and accomplished musicians, all filled with the spirit, simply cannot be ignored. Bayou Moon appears everywhere from festivals and corporate functions to weddings, but the October date at the Phoenix Theater is a day-long showcase intended to spread the word, or, in their case, the music.

And that, concludes Noel, is their entire point. “Our purpose is to help the community through our music. Music makes people happy, you know, it’s powerful. We just want people to feel happy when they see us."

A message from The Music Soup... I was hired for a photo shoot for this new band, Bayou Moon, and then I was then invited to their rehearsal. I went along to the rehearsal studio not expecting a lot. (I see a lot of music and it usually takes a bit to impress me). I didn't know what to expect. I know nothing about Creole and had preconceived notions of what to expect. When they began I thought I'd stay for a couple songs and make my exit. I was wrong with my pre conceived ideas as to what I'd hear. As I'm writing this and including it in The Music Soup needless to say I liked the band - a lot! Way more than I thought I would. And, I stayed at rehearsal a lot longer than the first three songs. In my opinion this band was tight and talented. And the song selection was superb. I had been told prior to this evening, Joe (lead vocals) was a superstar in Haiti, and after seeing him perform - I agree that he is a superstar. His voice was sharp and strong and yes, there was a lot of swagger. At one point the guys said that this was the time in their set, that babies will be conceieved in the audience when they hear Joe sing, and I'm thinking this may be accurate! Joe, Stevenson, Frankie, Jim and Mark were all great, but Joe is a stand out for sure. I beleive this band would make any event a memorable one. I'm looking forward to hearing their whole set in Petaluma on October 2 when Bayou Moon are playing at The Phoenix Theatre doing three free performances. If you like the funky R&B sounds of Johnny Nash, James Brown, Teddy Swims and more, you are in for a treat!