First of all, congratulations to all our fine friends in New Orleans who survived last Saturday’s 11:30pm – 3:30am onslaught of super-charged funk at the Maple Leaf.  The combination of old friends returning to the fold, an incredible all-star horn section and a rowdy crowd ensured that it was a gig for the ages.  Special kudos to Afroskull co-founder and bassist Bill Richards for delivering a massive bass performance on all fronts, including the challenging compositions from our NYC set. Stay tuned for some photos from the show!

These last two shows were truly fitting celebrations of our 10-year anniversary and we are grateful to everyone who helped to make it happen.

For you New Yorkers, we’re back from the Big Easy and in the mood to throw down.  How lucky for you that we’re at the Ace of Clubs on Great Jones St. in Manhattan this Thursday night?  We’ll be joined by two other fantastic bands, the Van Davis Trio at 8pm, and GromKo at 9pm.  We’re due on around 10pm and we have a nice set cooked up for ya.  We welcome back Jeff Pierce (trumpet) and Mark Nikirk (tenor sax) to the horn section, as well as Bearded Jon on the bass.

AFROSKULL live at the Ace of Clubs
Thursday, 10/25/07, 10pm
with the Van Davis Trio (8pm) and GromKo (9pm)
9 Great Jones St. (corner of Lafayette and Great Jones)
NYC

Hello to all our fine friends. Believe it or not, this month we are celebrating Afroskull’s 10th birthday with a show at the Parkside Lounge in NYC this Friday (10/12), and then on Saturday 10/20 at the Maple Leaf in New Orleans. The press release below has all the gory details. We hope you can join in the celebration!

AFROSKULL CELEBRATES TENTH ANNIVERSARY

Twin blowouts in New York and New Orleans to commemorate a decade of hair-raising funk

New York based funk/rockers Afroskull have announced a pair of shows to celebrate the band’s 10th anniversary, on October 12th at New York’s Parkside Lounge, and October 20th at the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans.

Afroskull formed in New Orleans in the summer of 1997 around a core of well-schooled musicians who had first met in the suburbs of NYC years earlier. Using the music of Funkadelic, Frank Zappa, Charles Mingus and Black Sabbath as their guides, they developed a unique style that is equal parts funk, hard rock and jazz. A devoted local following quickly followed along with a reputation for unrelenting funk-drenched sets that lasted well into the wee hours. In 2002, after the release of the locally acclaimed CD “Monster For the Masses,” several national tours and two legendary “Afroskull Does Black Sabbath” sets, the core of the band pulled up stakes and got back to their roots in New York City. In the years since, Afroskull has gained a whole new audience (along with several new band members) thanks to their red-hot live shows and is now becoming known among hard-core live music fans as one of the city’s best-kept secrets. And now October 2007 brings a 10th anniversary party to each of the band’s hometowns, featuring special guests from throughout Afroskull’s history.

October 12, 2007 @ the Parkside Lounge
317 E. Houston St (corner of Attorney St.), New York City
8:30pm

The New York version of the 10th anniversary brings the band back to their long-time homebase on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and will feature Jason Marshall on bari sax (of Roy Hargrove’s RH Factor), bassist Bearded Jon Stonbely, and a special appearance by NYC guitar mercenary The Wild Koba.

October 20, 2007 @ The Maple Leaf Bar
8316 Oak St., New Orleans
11pm

The New Orleans party will be an epic Afroskull marathon, a true melding of the NOLA and NYC lineups, featuring original bassist Funky Dollar Bill Richards (of I Tell You What fame), and the Horns of Doom: Chuck Arnold on trumpet, Rick Trolsen (of Bonerama) on trombone, and Jason Mingledorf (Papa Grows Funk) on tenor sax. Other scheduled guests include Big John Shaffer on vocals and the Madd Wikkid a.k.a. Earl Scioneaux on keyboards.

Once again we find ourselves about a week away from another Afroskull live extravaganza. We’ll be back home at the Parkside Lounge next Friday, 9/7 and we want YOU to join us. The band has been sounding better then ever lately and we want all our friends and fans to come bask in the glory of the funk!

AFROSKULL live at the Parkside Lounge
Friday 9/7, 8pm
317 E. Houston St. (corner of Attorney St.)
NYC

And mark your calendars folks, because we are proud to announce the two-part Afroskull 10th Anniversary Party, coming to New Orleans and New York City in October! It was a strange October day in 1997 when a band called Afroskull took it to the stage for the first time. Naturally, we were shut down after playing only one song because the sound man thought he wasn’t getting paid that night … at any rate – New Yorkers can come party with us at the Parkside Lounge on 10/12. And New Orleanians, we’re bringing the whole enchilada down to the Maple Leaf on 10/20, complete with special guest bassist (and Afroskull founding member) Funky Dollar Bill Richards! So come join us this October as we celebrate a full decade of super-heavy monster funk!

The next Afroskull show is less than a week away, and it’s going to be a good one. We’ll be at the Ace of Clubs next Wednesday, 8/15, at 9pm – this is our only show for the month of August, and we’ve got the whole night to ourselves. We’re back to full strength with our main man Jeff Pierce returning on trumpet and Bearded John locking down the low end on bass. So it’s gonna be all killer and no filler – we might even drop a couple of JBs covers on you, just to keep you on your toes. Aww, yeah.

AFROSKULL Live @ ACE OF CLUBS
9 Great Jones St. (corner of Lafayette), downstairs from the Acme
NYC
Wednesday, 8/15, 9pm

This Friday night Afroskull will funk up Two Boots Brooklyn in Park Slope at long last! Our first scheduled gig at Two Boots was snowed out over the winter, but we’re pretty sure that won’t be a problem this week. We’ll be joined by a couple of special guests this time around. Bearded Jon has gone into seclusion to prepare for the bar exam, so we have recruited special guest bassist Brian Anderson, best known for his excellent work with Raisin Hill. We’ll also be welcoming back Jason Marshall to the horn section. You might have heard and seen some of Jason’s work on baritone sax with Roy Hargrove and the Mingus Big Band, among many others. Also, In case you don’t already know, Two Boots has great Italian and Cajun food too. So come and join us this Friday for a loose funky set in Brooklyn!

AFROSKULL LIVE @ TWO BOOTS BROOKLYN
514 2nd St.- Park Slope – Brooklyn (between 7th and 8th Avenues)
Friday, July 13th – 10pm

Join your friendly neighborhood Afroskull for our debut at the Bowery Poetry Club!  Don’t let the name fool you, this will not be a poetry slam (although if you ask politely perhaps we’ll read a poem or two in between songs).  This WILL however, as you may be guessing, be a funk-rock slam – featuring master slammer (and bassist) Bearded Jon Stonbely.  We’ll be hitting the stage at 10pm, and will be followed by our old friends Wounded Buffalo Theory, who will also kick out the jams proper.  That’s this Thursday, March 29th, at 10pm

AFROSKULL LIVE AT BOWERY POETRY CLUB
Thursday, March 29th – 10pm
308 Bowery (across the street from CBGB)

This Friday, it’s the third annual Afroskull Mardi Gras Throwdown at the Parkside Lounge. Join us for a nice long butchering of our original material and a couple of New Orleans classics. We’ll warm you up real good after a cold week and get you launched into the best weekend of the year – Mardi Gras!

We’re back to announce our first live gig of 2007! Join us for a solid hour of horn-laden funk and rock next Saturday (1/27) – 10pm at the Ace of Clubs in Manhattan. We’ll have our old friend Bearded John Stonbely along for the ride as we stretch out for the first time in ’07. Take a look at our calendar for other upcoming shows around NY!