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For 10 years, Yo Momma's Big Fat Booty Band has been on
quest to spread funky fun wherever possible. This epic under-
king has resulted in an especially demanding tour schedule,
and according to saxophonist Greg Hollowell, bringing the funk
can be quite exhausting;
Touring is a love/hate thing," says Hollowell. "Sure, you've
t your nights that make you feel like everything is worth-
hlle and you're on the right track; then you've got nights that
are real ball-busters, and then there's everywhere in between
those... It's a good job. It's a fun job. But it's a hard one."
Earlier this year, one of the Booty Band's tour stories made
it into Another Nightmare Gig from Hell, a book featuring a
^compilation of "interesting, weird stories from the road." '
Hollowell recounts to Flagpole the band's briefly utilized,
sometimes on fire (literally) 1966 GM bus getting stuck atop a
Colorado mountain pass during wintertime, flying to Alaska to
play a series of shows that felt "like a vacation in the middle
of a big tour" and working/playing with artists the band deeply
admires, namely George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic.
"That whole school is a huge influence on my life and
music," says Hollowell, "and I think a lot of the other guys in
band feel the same way... [Clinton] set the tone for a lot
of it, I feel—carrying it further from that tight band, James
rown-style, adding a lot of psychedelia and taking it to those
few levels."
This tour's principle focus is the new album. Doin'It Hard,
the Booty Band's first studio release since its 2007 debut, Now
Know. Although Hollowell admits that the band waited
"way too long" between releases, he's happy with the aspects
that distinguish the two albums—mainly, "the personnel
nd the feet" Guitarist/vocalist JP Miller, bassist/vocalist Al
Ingram, trombonist Derrick Johnson and Hollowell have been
gether since the beginning, but vocalist/keyboarriist Mary
Frances and drummer Lee "Insta Funk" Allen joined in 2009.
[Frances and Allen] have been a touring electronic duo
for about seven or eight years called Eymarel, so they brought
Jyears of playing together to the table... and kind of a harder
edge, which is nice and refreshing."
ROLLER
CLASSIC Cl 7 r V C HAT TA NOOG A
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The band made a darimf move by using a "pay what you
want" model with Doin'It Hard, and according to Hollowell,
the results have been artistically and financially satisfying.
Til always feel that I'd rather somebody have it than not,"
he says. Tf somebody downloads it and doesn't pay any
thing, we get their email and hopefully gain somebody who's
giving us some attention and digs it. So, I think it's a win-
win... We're independent all the way, so we paid for it all [via
Kickstarter campaign]."
It's not surprising that Hollowell gravitated towards funk
from an early age; to him, being a musician is all about bring
ing joy and good times to others. To me, that's the mission,"
he says. There's a lot of things everyone has to deal with
every day. It's important, number one, to have a sense of
humor, and number two, to be able to forget your troubles,
let loose, enjoy sounds, enjoy life and celebrate—even when
there's nothing in particular to celebrate but life itself."
According to Hollowell, the Booty Band is essentially "six
people putting their 100 percent—everything they've got—
into trying to play the best music they can so you can have
the best time possible.! Their music serves as a vehicle for
funk's heavier and more soulful sides and, most importantly,
brings unadulterated enjoyment Thus, as for a "message to the
world," the artist keeps things simple:
"Our bass player cracked me up the other night. We'd had
a really good show in Rock Hill, SC, and he just said, 'Be
excellent to each other,' a quote from Bill and ted's Excellent
Adventure. That was a great final statement for the crowd
there... I think Bill and Ted said it all."
Kevin Craig
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WORK HARO!
PLAY HARDER!
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MAY 30,2012 FLAGPOLE.COM 15