NEPA musicians play New Orleans-inspired Fat Tuesday Celebration at Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Feb. 25
From a press release:
Today, the F.M. Kirby Center in downtown Wilkes-Barre announced a special Fat Tuesday Celebration of New Orleans-inspired music featuring Wilkes-Barre’s own Indigo Moon Brass Band with special guests The Mule Team on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. as part of the “Live from the Chandelier Lobby” concert series.
Tickets, which are $15 in advance or $20 the day of the show, plus fees, go on sale this Friday, Jan. 17 at 10 a.m. and will be available at the Sundance Vacations Box Office at the Kirby Center (71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre), online at kirbycenter.org, and by phone at 570-826-1100. A Kirby Member pre-sale begins Thursday, Jan. 16 at 10 a.m.
The Indigo Moon Brass Band is a jazz/funk ensemble from Northeastern Pennsylvania rooted in traditional New Orleans second-line music. They feature horn players Nick Driscoll (sax), Dan Coil (trumpet), Gary Rixner (trombone), and George Levandowski (sousaphone), with AJ Jump (drums) and Rick Statsmen (percussion) supplying the rhythm.
The band is very unique to the Northeast region. Inspired by the music of NOLA, its three founding members spent a few years in the culturally rich “Big Easy.” These musicians may have moved back north, but you can still find them performing in authentic New Orleans fashion with the addition of more local members.
“We bring New Orleans to you,” founding member Nick Driscoll said.
The group, who often takes their music to the streets for roaming outdoor performances, can play a wide range of music, from R&B and hip-hop to traditional New Orleans favorites to funk and free jazz improvisation. This is the kind of music that gets audiences to jump up and dance no matter where they are.
Over the years, the Indigo Moon Brass Band has performed with the famous Dirty Dozen Brass Band and opened for Maynard Ferguson.
The Mule Team is an Americana group from Scranton pulling from traditional country, folk, rock, and R&B, featuring three-part harmonies and songwriting from Chris Kearney (guitar), Roy Williams (piano, guitar, pedal steel) and JP Biondo (guitar), with Ian O’Hara (bass) and AJ Jump (drums) rounding out the rhythm section – a talented cast of NEPA musicians coming together for the greater good of the song.
The band recently debuted nearby at Karl Hall in Wilkes-Barre, playing their own original music as well as favorites from Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, The Band, Neil Young, and John Prine on Jan. 11.
Photo by Rich Howells/NEPA Scene
