Debut with OmegaBand rocked!

Chief Ike's wasn't exactly boomin last night...

I was a little concerned.
This was my first ever public performance with OmegaBand - with whom I've enjoyed 4 total practice sessions after being accepted into the group. Basically I saw them at Artomatic and loved the sound, lyrics and groove. So I straight up asked if I could join them and they said "sure."

This super cool bunch of folks gave me warmth from the beginning. They're extraordinarily unpretentious, for musicians especially, and so creative -- the lead singer, Ricke Betts (a.k.a. "Alpha Betts" writes knock 'm dead lyrics that, when read off a page, flow like existential poetry. Some are bold emotional funk ballads, others weave in and out of consciousness. All are accompanied by the solid boom-bap of drummer Bala, who I'm so happy to have grown on (it's an honor since he's got a discerning ear), bass man "white chocolate" Kirk Waldroff, also a visual artist, but who's bass riffs often light up my drums, and guitarist Earl, quirkster with an avant garde style and tons of flexibility in his playing.

At any rate, it wasn't too long (well, maybe 3 or 4 songs) after we took the stage that people started coming in from the street, which was cool. For a totally dead night, we "packed" the room - Rickie took the mic off stage and sang to the audience which was totally sweet. Her vocals beg for my harmony and I can't help but respond. We got lots of good feedback. I brought my djembe AND congas AND some shakers and bells so it was tight. I'm looking forward to more practices and future performances - this is what I've wanted for quite some time, to kick it with a good band in DC.

Here are the future shows (the next one is thursday next week, fyi):

Thursday, June 28th 9PM - The Red and The Black, 1212 H St NE (Atlas Corridor)

Friday, July 13th, 9PM - Asylum, 2471 18th St NW (Adam's Morgan)
This is an event entitled Fringe Benefits - it's a benefit show for Miriam's Kitchen. $7 cover. We'll be recording live too, so come out and holla for a good cause!

Thursday, July 26th, 7:15PM - Fort Reno, 3950 Chesapeake St NW, http://www.fortreno.com/about.html


Hope to see you there!
Peace
Kristen