Harmonious Junk

NEW LINEUP!!! While I’d like to thank all the previous members of Harmonious Junk, we’ve got a new lineup now that I think will be the best ever. With Nathan Peoples on sax and keys, a tremendous player who jumps from keys to sax so fast sometimes you realize he’s playing both at the same time, as well as the additions of Kalin Capra, who can read with his feet!! (don’t ask) on bass and former Stanky and Side Dish drummer Mike Goletz, we’ve already brought in brand new originals and some covers I’ve always wanted to do, such as Frank Zappa’s “Peaches en Regalia”, and “Magic Fingers”. Warren Haynes’ & ABB’s “Soulshine”, Stevie Wonder’s “Jammin’ Master Blaster”, and we’re working on many more including Phish’s “Stash”. That one’s gonna take a minute. We’ll be debuting some new originals and covers this Sunday, March 15 at Cactus Jack’s Saloon in Evergreen, daytime show starts at 2pm. Later this month we’ll be at Chipper’s Lanes in Ft. Collins on the 19th, we’ll be doing Live at Lunch in the radio station for live broadcast on KFTC at noon in Ft. Collins on the 23rd, and we’ll be back at the Paramount Cafe in downtown Denver on the 26th. The Ft. Collins shows will feature the 3 piece band with special guest bassist Brian Efros and the Paramount show will include Nathan Peoples. Thanks everybody, go PHISH!! C ya soon DW

Music Interview By Charlie Owen Vail Daily 2/20/09 Harmonious Junk’s Damon Wood ‘Answers’ The funky jam band from Denver visits Avon for a free show at Finnegan’s Wake tonight Damon Wood, one-time guitar player for James Brown’s band, no longer has to stick to someone else’s set list or play the same songs over and over again to please the crowd. He formed his own band, Harmonious Junk about six years ago. But that does’nt mean he’s forgotten about his days with Brown. He said he learned a lot on the road with the Godfather of Soul and uses much of it to lead his band. Harmonious Junk is a lot of things-soul, funk, rock, blues, jazz-but it can’t be called boring. As far as jam bands go, it can hold it’s own. It has released two albums-“Space Cadet” and it’s latest, “Too Cocky In Nagasaki”-with plans for a third in the works. The Denver-based band comes to Avon for a free show at Finnegan’s Wake tonight. Wood talked to us from his home in Denver about the freedom of having his own band and the effect James Brown has had on his music. 1) Vail Daily: After having played for James Brown and various other bands during your career, what is it like doing your own thing now? DW: There’s a lot more freedom when you get to do your own thing. It seems like you develop better and at a more rapid pace. My band will go through all kinds of changes all the time because it’s just three or four or five of us. It’s not like the same show. With the James Brown show people are expecting all these hits,… We’re fortunate-I guess unfortunate, really-to not have any hit singles, so nobody expects some song from us, so we can do whatever we want. 2) Vail Daily: How has working for Brown and getting to study him on stage influenced the way you perform? DW: I think I learned a lot of good band leader things from him. Say you’re leading the band-you have to be listening all the time making sure everybody’s playing the song right, making sure everybody’s heads are together. You’ve got to keep eye contact with the band so that you can make quick cues and go to different places, and I learned a lot of that from him. He was a master at that. 3) Vail Daily: When you first formed this band, did you have a clear vision of what you wanted to accomplish? DW: I don’t know if anybody really knows what their end goal is when they start something, but I knew what I wanted to use it to help me for. I wanted to use it as an avenue to keep soloing and keep playing over different progressions, and over the years I started singing, so that’s been a nice platform for me to develop the vocal thing, which I did’nt have eight years ago before I started this band. 4) Vail Daily: How do you guys write songs? DW: Basically I’ve been the leader of this band, and a lot of people have come and gone, so from the first album to the second album there’s really none of the same people. So these songs are basically all my songs. I’ve written all these songs. 5) Vail Daily: Your last album, “Too Cocky In Nagasaki”, was named after a song on the album. Why did you pick that song when you had options like “Zombified” and “Galactic Glove” to choose from? DW: That was tough. "Too Cocky In Nagasaki’ is just kind of a spoof of rappers and rap-rock kind of stuff. A tongue-in-cheek, Zappa-esque sort of joke. People seemed to think that was catchier than anything else. 6) Vail Daily: Was there a particular album or song that made you want to play guitar? DW: I had a buddy growing up at about 14 who started playing guitar, and in about a year he was playing all kinds of really cool stuff, so I was very intrigued by that, and I kind of thought, “Wow, if I could get half as good as him in a couple years, that would be pretty awesome.” So he lent me and my neighbor friend a guitar and showed us some stuff, so it was mostly through our friend. 7) Vail Daily: What is your live show like? DW: We try to keep it heavily danceable, party, fun stuff. We don’t like to play songs that people have heard a million times on the radio. In Colorado, you’ve got such music fans that we can play some obscure things that someplace else nobody would know, and like half the bar knows that song here,…We’ve got some new covers we’re looking to try this week and some originals. Thanks Fred Thomas!! The CD Release Tour went great with 10 shows in 10 days and three tv filmings. We want to thanks all the clubs that had us, Jazz at Jack’s, Jonny G’s, The Hornet, Cactus Jack’s, Owsley’s, Wash Park Grille, Conor O’Neill’s, Oskar Blues and Herb’s Hideout. We also want to thanks Fred Thomas for his great work, inspiration, funk lessons and overall catsmanship. Thanks to Altitude TV for coming down and filming us and for taking the extra time to get more material for the show. Thanks Ray and Shelly and the crew. The show will debut on Channel 25 July 22nd at 9pm. Thanks to Tony and the crew at Fox 31 Studios for having us as well. We have compiled a live CD from the tour that will be available at shows, and our new CD is out now. Look for it at cdbaby.com, itunes, rhapsody, etc. shortly. Thanks also to everyone who came out and supported us. We had a great time and could’nt have done it without all of you. Much Love HJ

Press Release for Harmonious Junk CD Release Tour with Fred Thomas Former lead guitarist with James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, Damon Wood, plans the release of his Colorado based Funk/Jam outfit Harmonious Junk’s second studio CD, entitled “Too Cocky In Nagasaki”. The “Too Cocky” release tour begins July 3rd with a string of shows featuring another James Brown alumni, Bassist/Vocalist Fred Thomas. Thomas makes guest appearances on 3 songs on the new disc, on bass and lead vocals and, during his time with James Brown and the JB’s, was featured on dozens of top 40 hit singles including “Pass The Peas”, “Gimme Some More”, “The Big Payback”, “Doin’ It To Death (Gonna Have A Funky Good Time)”, “Make It Funky”, “Hot Pants”, “Get On The Good Foot” and many more. Thomas, now fronting his own Fred Thomas Band, based in Brooklyn, NY, showcases his amazing vocal talents and classic hard driving, legendary Funk Bass style on the new tracks, “My Friend and Me”, written by Wood especially for Thomas’ vocal, “Pipe Fitter Blues”, an innuendo laced shuffle, and “Get Real With Me”, written for James Brown’s Soul Generals, the Funk pioneer’s backing band in which Wood and Thomas played 400+ shows together with The Hardest Working Man In Show Business. Brown, knowing he had an incredible vocal talent in Thomas, would occasionally hand him the lead vocal duties for blues standards such as “Sweet Little Angel” and “How Blue Can You Get?” and give the solos and fills to Wood, invariably bringing down the house. This led to Wood and Thomas’ further collaborations, now grown to include these guest appearances and the “Too Cocky” release tour. The tour begins on July 3rd, at Jazz at Jack’s in downtown Denver, with several songs from the show also being filmed for Altitude TV’s “On Stage” music series. The first CD Harmonious Junk released was 2004’s “Space Cadet”, featured in national Jamband publication Relix Magazine and helping to garner HJ the “Best Jamband” of Denver award in 2005 by Westword Magazine. Wood played with James Brown for 8 years, leaving the group in January 06’, to go full time with Harmonious Junk, and Thomas played with the Godfather beginning in 1972 and continuing off and on up until the very last tour. Also featured in the group are keyboardist Chad Aman, who fronts local Nu-Jazz group Cocktail Revolution, awarded Westword’s "Best Jazz Group’ in 2007 by Westword, Sam Smith on Bass and Jeff Brink on drums. The CD Release tour Schedule is as follows: Harmonious Junk CD Release Tour w/ Fred Thomas July 3 Jazz at Jack’s Denver CO 8:30pm (Altitude TV filming) July 4 Jazz at Jack’s Denver CO 5pm July 4th Upstairs at Jonny G’s Frisco CO 10pm July 5 The Hornet Denver CO 10pm July 6 Cactus Jack’s Saloon Evergreen CO 2pm July 6 Mountain Sun Brewery Boulder CO 10pm July 8 FOX 31 Studios fiming for myfoxcolorado.com July 9 Wash Park Grille (Tentative) Denver CO 9pm July 10 Conor O’Neill’s Boulder CO 10pm July 11 Oskar Blues Brewery Lyons CO 9pm July 12 Herb’s Hideout Denver CO 9:30pm

HARMONIOUS JUNK- “PowerBoogie 2008” Harmonious Junk’s sound is an ever evolving amalgamation of musical styles and influences. Blending the knowledge gained backing R&B/Soul star, Funk innovater, and Legendary band leader James Brown (HJ founder Damon Wood played lead guitar with the Godfather of Soul for 8 years becoming a regularly featured soloist in virtually every live James Brown show from 1999-2006) with the Grateful Dead and Fusion Jazz schools of Improvisation, the Frank Zappa & Spinal Tap schools of Comedy Rock, and always keeping an open ear and mind to new sounds and possibilities make this group a unique, powerful and unpredictable musical presence. With styles ranging from Blues to Jazz, Funk to Psychedelic Rock and Down Home to Humorous, Harmonious Junk creates a spontaneous tapestry of imagery and sound that is at once fun, irreverent, maniacal, inspirational, and most importantly, it makes you wanna get down and boogie!! With new original songs (their second CD is slated for release later this year) such as Too Cocky In Nagasaki (a warning song), Hippy Girl (a stereotype fest), Get Real With Me (a jazz funk tour-de-force featuring Fred Thomas-longtime bassist vocalist with James Brown and the JB’s), Pipe Fitter Blues (An exercise in double entendre, also featuring Thomas on bass and vox), Lady Luck (a tale of a guy and a girl and a trunk full of Acopulco Gold), My Friend and Me (a heartfelt ballad about friendship and life on the road, with Thomas showing off a soulful storytelling blues lament), and Galactic Glove (a tale of alien probing narrowly averted) the party is never a dull one and the surprises just keep on coming. Covering a diverse range of hits and cult classics alike from groups such as The Beatles, Grateful Dead, Stevie Wonder, Ween, Phish, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Frank Zappa, The Meters, James Brown, the list goes on and on, songs such as Sex Machine, Roses Are Free, and the themes from Sanford and Son and 2001-A Space Oddysey are regularly given royal and extended treatments, HJ keeps their shows interspersed with fresh bits and teases, inventive medleys and a constantly growing songlist. In summary, Harmonious Junk brings the throwdown party, but with a little more bang and style for the buck. Band members include Sam Smith bass, Jeff Brink drums, Damon Wood guitar and vocals, Chad Aman keyboards. We are also sometimes joined by special guests such as Fred Thomas on bass and vocals, Ray Brundidge on bass (both from the James Brown band), Justin Jones and Pete Wall on saxophone and many others. CONTACT - send email inquiries to harmoniousjunkband@yahoo.com Visit us at www.sonicbids.com/harmoniousjunk and www.harmoniousjunk.com CHECK OUT MOBOOGIE.net!! Great site with live videos and interviews from their loft. 5 new videos of DW in interview with Moboogie mama, Cara, and performing solo originals live, some for the first time ever. DW May 07 Thank You Fred Thomas!! We just did an 8 show (in ten days) tour with “Funk Bass Legend” Fred Thomas from the JB’s and the James Brown Band. Great tour. Fred will be appearing on our new album due out soon!!! Thanks to Ryan Conway at Conway sound. Thanks to Ed and Brian at Highland Pacific, Steve at Moon Time, everybody at Herb’s, Jonny G, Scott, Karen and Robin at The Oriental, Conor O’Neills-Boulder and Sarah and Kyle. Congratulations on your wedding!! Thanks to all the great musicians that made it happen. (Justin Jones, Chad Aman, Jeff Brink, Dan Dever, Pete Wall, Fred Thomas, Jason Kather, Sam Smith) DW July 11th, 2007. -—————-WHOA!! Last night was incredible. 4 Members of the James Brown Band, Fred Thomas bass and vocals, Jeff Watkins saxophone, Hollie Farris trumpet and yours truly, Damon Wood guitar and vocals. Plus the whole band, Pete Wall, Sam Smith, Dan Dever and Chad Aman. Truly a blessing to get to play with all these guys. Thanks to Robbie and everybody at Herb’s and everybody who came and rocked it with us. Helluva crowd. Helluva crowd. DW May 26th, 2007.——————— Also check out Damon Wood’s other studio work on Black Eyed Peas, multi platinum Monkey Business (05), local albums for Byron Shaw Projex, Dave Delacroix, Cocktail Revolution and others as well as albums by The Jimmie Van Zant Band, and Brotha Lynch’s The Plague. DW can also be seen on the LIve 8 DVD with James Brown, as well as JB’s Soul Survivor DVD and can be heard on the 06’ New Orleans Hurricane Relief CD on the JB track, “Try Me”. Visit our OFFICIAL WEBSITE at www.harmoniousjunk.com——————————————- REST IN PEACE JAMES BROWN. The world lost maybe it’s greatest living performer on Christmas day 06’, the incomparable James Brown. Having had the wonderful opportunity to play with him for almost 8 years is something I will always feel blessed and thankful for. He was an unending source of strength and determination with an incredible energy and a great sense of humor. People will always speculate on his personal battles but I will remember the man who rocked so many houses, so many towns, so many countries, and I will remember the smiles and the tears on the faces of the fans he loved and lived for. I will remember the laughter he could generate in a single moment on stage or off with his silliness and charm. He gave us all so much good advice over the years I just hope we can remember and carry on in his tradition. I know I will try my best in his honor. We send all our love to James Brown, his family, the band members current and past, and the extended family and fans across the world. See you on the gridiron boss. The world will never forget you. With love and respect Damon Wood 01/18/07