Legendary delta bluesman Son House spoke about a passion for his music and was quoted as saying "I'm talkin’ 'bout the blues. . . I ain't talkin' 'bout monkey junk!" MonkeyJunk is a band that draws heavily on the legends of the blues and translates that influence into a contemporary blend of swamp R&B, soul boogie and bedroom funk. This triple threat trio comprised of Steve Marriner, Tony D and Matt Sobb draws on over 56 years of combined experience playing blues live and in studio . . . and it shows.
In the fall of 2008, MonkeyJunk was nominated for a Maple Blues Award for best new artist - a rare feat only having been in existence for 6 months and not having released a record yet . . . In February 2009, MonkeyJunk represented Ottawa, Canada at The International Blues Challenge held in Memphis, TN competing amongst 100 bands from nine different countries. After the smoke cleared on Beale St., MonkeyJunk had placed third overall!
STEVE MARRINER is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist widely recognized as one of Canada’s premier harp players. Steve has toured and performed internationally with Harry Manx and Sue Foley. He’s appeared on a number of other artists’ recordings including Harry Manx, David Gogo, and Steve Dawson. In January 2009 Steve won the best harmonica player award at the Maple Blues Awards.
25 years of experience has garnered TONY D a widely-known reputation as a guitar player/singer/songwriter with the goods to deliver. In that time he has lead own band as well as recorded and toured internationally with such artists as Buddy Guy, Dutch Mason, Andy J. Forest and Bernard Allison. With 8 albums to his credit, Tony has become a respected veteran of the Canadian blues scene.
MATT SOBB has been a student of the beat for nearly two decades. His “less-is-more” approach, power and versatility have made him a popular drummer on the Canadian music scene. His resume includes live and studio performances with the likes of Jeff Healey, Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds), Lee Oskar (War) and David Gogo.
Matt proudly endorses LOS CABOS drumsticks and DREAM Cymbals.
MonkeyJunk's debut CD “TIGER IN YOUR TANK” has been very well received. After being released in April 2009, it is currently in it's third 1000 copy production run thanks to strong support from radio internationally - namely satellite radio, CBC Radio (Canada Live and Saturday Night Blues) as well as many specialty blues radio shows from all over the world including North America, Europe, and South America. MonkeyJunk's song Small Time Evil was featured on fellow Canuck Dan Aykroyd's internationally syndicated "House Of Blues Radio Hour" Oct 4th 2009 as the "bluesbreaker of the week".
2009 has seen the band tour from coast to coast in Canada playing at many favorite juke joints, divebars, theatres and festival stages such as Fredericton, NB’s Harvest Jazz & Blues festival, Montreal International Jazz Festival, Ottawa Bluesfest, Mont Tremblant Blues festival, Toronto Beaches Jazz festival and others . . . The band will make it’s first trip to Europe in November 2009 to play at the much heralded Blues-Sur-Seine festival in Mantes-La-Jolie just west of Paris, France.
HEAR MONKEYJUNK LIVE FROM THE 2009 OTTAWA BLUESFEST HERE:
http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/MonkeyJunk
View MonkeyJunk's EPK
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