Rafiki Grove
Brandon, Mississippi, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2012
Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Indie-rock outfit Rafiki Grove may be new to the Jackson area, but guitarist and vocalist Daniel Norris and guitarist Cody Warren have been writing together for nearly six years. They first formed as The Collared Shirts in 2012 but didn't seriously pursue the project until drummer Steven Tadlock joined after graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi in December 2014.
#They brought in bassist Van Doren Lee soon after, completing the current line-up. The band just began booking its first shows last February, but it has already opened for local favorites including Light Beam Rider, Fides, Living Together and Dream Cult.
#"It's been pretty amazing," Norris says. "Everything's blown up really fast. We didn't expect that we'd be playing so many shows this soon and being asked to come in and join bands. It's encouraging."
#The band's style ranges from pop-infused surf-rock to grungy alternative. While most Rafiki Grove songs are new compositions, others are a result of Norris and Warren reworking earlier tracks, which can be challenging.
#"It's a long process—a lot of stress," Norris says. "It's hard to pick apart a song, and you know, most of these were written on an acoustic guitar, but we're trying to turn them into electric songs. It takes a lot of sitting down, tinkering and thinking about ... how we're going to basically reshape it for an electric world."
#Although Rafiki Grove has demos and several videos of live performances available online, the group is currently in the process of raising money for its first studio project, which the musicians hope to release before the end of 2015. - Jackson Free Press
The music of Rafiki Grove is a blend of surf wah wah and Southern Rock . They have a unique twang to their music that is hard to resist tapping your foot and nodding along to regardless of what genre of music you tend to gravitate to. This is especially evident on “Shaky Man”. They recently released a collection of live recordings taken from their performance at Fondren First Thursday: - The Hood Hippie
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
We are a local band from Brandon, MS who have been playing together for quite sometime. We are told by many we have a style of our own and with all the many influences between the members its easy to see how we pull each other in different directions. We are dedicated to writing music that draws the listener in and gets them involved with the song. We are a high energy band and bring a lot of enthusiasm to our shows as can be seen in our videos. We have acquired a dedicated following that love our music and we grab the attention of many every show we play.
The band consist of four members currently. Daniel Norris who plays lead and rhythm and is also the lead vocalist, Cody Warren plays lead and rhythm and does back-up vocals, Steven Tadlock is on drums and percussion and Van Doren Lee is on bass. Cody and Daniel have been writing music and playing together for several years now and after Steven graduated from college and moved back they knew it was time to bring him on as their drummer. Vand Doren Lee quickly followed and it wasn't long before they had a full set and were playing shows all across the sate of Mississippi.
Currently they are in the process of raising the money for their first album, but they have plenty of videos on their YouTube page, Facebook page and a few clips on Soundcloud. Daniel Norris Rafiki's lead man says "We just love to play and love to get people amped up and involved in our music. This is what makes us happy and we want to share it with the world". "Give us a listen and book us today, we cant wait to play for you".
Band Members
Links
