SpongeCake And The Fluff Ramblers
Mooresville, North Carolina, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF
Music
Press
"If the 80's Grateful Dead and the '90's String Cheese Incident got together and had an illegitimate love child, that child would sound like Spongecake and the Fluff Ramblers" - Storm Lake Pilot Tribune
"Take a bite of Spongecake: "A band that has been winning hearts and blowing minds at music festivals across the country for years","Spongecake is a jam band in the truest and most unique sense"." - Shea Conner News Press Now
Normally for Funk Friday, we go for that old-style funk that sounds like it’s straight out of the late 60s or early 70s. It’s not that we discriminate against country funk. It’s just that the old-style stuff is what we normally go for. That being said, we’re venturing into the country funk this week. Now, it’s not often that you hear a funk band with a mandolin, but that is exactly the case with Spongecake and the Fluff Ramblers. So this band isn’t like Parliament (who is, really?) or some of the other bands we’ve featured for Funk Friday. Frankly, its vibe is probably a little closer to Yonder Mountain String Band. Still, listen to those bass lines (especially in the extended jam “They Love Each Other”) and tell me this isn’t funk. “Great Ol’ Valley” is another really good example. The band also works the psychedelic aspect into “Don’t Let Go.” You could call this a straight jam band song and you wouldn’t be wrong, but let’s face it. A lot of jam ba" - Icognito Music Magazine
Discography
Boogie For Stu ( 2010 )
Improvising Through Time ( 2011 )
Live From The Prankster's Ball ( 2012 )
Bill Shadden appears on Eric Delaney's "What It Is" ( 2004 )
Photos
Bio
With roots planted firmly in Old Timey Bluegrass steeped in Psychedelic Funk, SpongeCake & The Fluff Ramblers exploded onto the thriving North Carolina music scene in early 2010. Playing high energy " Psychedelic Funk Grass " , the band soon began touring up and down the East coast sharing shows with East coast favorites such as Consider The Source, Flux Capacitor, Dirk Quinn, Cope, Green Sunshine, Worldwide Zoo and a host of regional giants. By 2011 SCATFR had played festivals in 8 states and had created a huge buzz with their late night sets ( often lasting into the wee hours of the morning ) . As 2012 rolled around, SCATFR expanded their tour schedule to include multiple dates throughout the Midwest and South where word of their live performances had spread like wildfire. This buzz enabled the band to land headlining slots in some of the regions most recognized venues such as Off Broadway ( St. Louis ), Mojo's ( Columbia, Mo ), The Bottleneck ( Lawrence, Ks ), The Bourbon Theater ( Lincoln,Ne ) Cervante's ( Denver ) and Quixote's ( Denver ) .
2013 was practically non stop touring for the band with 2 national tours taking SCATFR from coast to coast twice, including festivals in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, New York, Tennessee, Iowa, Nebraska, and Portland's Pranksters Ball. They headlined theater shows in Lincoln, Ne. and Portland Oregon, a resort in Washington, an unplugged bluegrass set atop the historical " Furthur " bus ( an honor previously known only by The Grateful Dead , Jefferson Airplane, & Quick Silver Messenger Service ) at the Oregon Country Fair, a slew of clubs and smaller venues and a couple historic hotels.
2014 brings about a new era in SCATFR with the coming of their 1st studio release. Although all shows are completely improvised with no set list, winding in and out of jams mixed with originals, traditionals, and an array of obscure covers, often mashing songs and genres and never playing anything the same way twice, it seems the time is right to release a studio version of our originals with a couple of our favorite traditionals done in a not so traditional manner. While the studio release is slated for mid summer and filled with great music in several genres and styles, nothing compares to the energy and magic that is a live SCATFR show. Check our Links on the right for a couple typical acoustic and electric shows or click on the following link to visit many complete shows https://archive.org/search.php?query=spongecake. SCATFR plays both electric psychedelic funk grass, as well as straight up old fashioned bluegrass and old time music.
SCATFR has been joined on stage by an amazing bunch of guest Ramblers including Tom Constanten ( Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane ) Keith Allen ( The Mantras ) Casey Cranford ( The Big Something ) Jason Stander ( Worldwide Zoo, Green Sunshine ) Chris Story ( Blue Martian Tribe ) Dennis Stadelman ( Cope ) Randy Clamons ( Top Dead Center ) Dave Campbell ( Dark Star Orchestra, Blue Dixie, Kerosene Willy ) Mace Hathaway ( Dirty River Ramblers ) David Peel and many, many other wonderful musicians.
SCATFR percussionist Bill Shadden has performed with Railroad Earth, Robert Randolph, Rob Wasserman, Merl Sunders, The Schwag and several others. He appears on Eric Delaney's album " What It Is " along with Steven Perkins ( Jane's Addiction, Porno For Pyros ) Stephen Molitz ( Particle ) Rob Wasserman ( Ratdog, Lou Reed, Ricki Lee Jones, Elvis Costello ) John Avila ( Oingo Boingo ) Daniel Schulman ( Garbage ) Tony Austin, Willie Waldman, and Dave Aron ( Snoop Dogg, Prince )
SCATFR is Steven Davidson - Bass, Mandolin, Vocals
Wavey Davey Roberts - Guitar, Vocals
Adam Lawrence - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Ryan Winters - Keys
Will Glarner - Drums
Dave " Hollis " Clark - Saxophone
Bill Shadden - Washboard, Percussion, Q-Chord
Band Members
Links
