Mojo Gumbo
Mojo Gumbo one of Indianapolis’s hottest blues bands. This dynamic creole influenced group includes, Matt Knott – Bass /Vocals, Tom Lindmar – Drums/Vocals, Marty Weaver-Keyboards/Accordion, and is headed up by Steve “Scrapper” Brown. Jazz-City had the opportunity to talk with Steve.
J-C – Steve describe your style of play.
Steve Brown -“Everything we do , whether it’s blues, jazz, R&B, Soul, or Funk has that New Orleans – second line spice to it”.
J-C – How long have you been performing together as a band?
Steve Brown – Total 12 years ,with the current lineup 6 years.
J-C – Give us a brief history.
Steve Brown – After appearing together in a couple Blues, Rock, and R&B Bands , The original MoJo Gumbo came together in 2008 with Mike Brown, Keys ,vocals & Accordion , Mark Clark on Drums , Matt Knott, Bass and Vocals and myself on Guitars and Vocals. We all had the shared experience of living or spending large amounts of time in New Orleans and Louisiana ! With that shared affinity, we came up with the idea of the band ,since there was nothing around like it . MoJo Gumbo is based on the likes of The Neville Bros., The Meters, Buckwheat Zydeco ,The Cheniers, Fats Domino, and all those great artists ,past and present from the area !!
Steve Brown – Two in particular come to mind Being part of the entertainment of the Super Bowl and playing at the MGM Grand in Detroit!
J-C – We know that the most memorable and most fun can sometimes not be the same. Which one was the most fun?
Steve Brown – Playing for a huge crowd of people in Wisconsin for a Halloween party around a huge lake ! Playing for a couple thousand people at Mallow Run Winery.
J-C – Where do you as a performer see blues as a genre going?
Steve Brown – Despite the lack of major commercial support and appeal ,the Blues is alive and well !! There are dedicated throngs of supporters and musicians all over the world which live and breathe the music. New artists are popping up all over the place as sadly we’re losing many of our venerable veteran performers. Blues and their sub categories , will be around for the future despite the lack of attention from commercial radio and recording industry.
J-C – Do you have any Cd’s/albums available? How might we get them?
Steve Brown – Current CD is “Under The Influence” and available from CD Baby and through direct mail from myself.
J-C – What’s on the horizon for Mojo Gumbo
Steve Brown – With the pandemic ,we’ll have to be creative. Online concerts and maybe a gathering in a large facility is feasible. We are making good use of the downtime, we have new music being assembled for a new CD. We plan for a big breakout when there is no longer a need for social distancing and masks !!
J-C -Tell us about you web presence
Steve Brown – Our website is http://www.mojogumbolive.band and we have a YouTube channel.
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