I found myself upstairs at Wall Street anxiously awaiting the sweaty bodies around me’it was freezing! The Homegrown Band (THB), freshly back from the 20th Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, was about to lay down some funky jams. I knew the air would be noticeably warmer within one song.
THB can go above and beyond when it comes to motivating the ’dance energy’ inside everyone, which is why they had the wonderful privilege of also playing with American rapper and actor Redman while overseas. Any band that has a song about cheesecake is amazing, and that number is limited. The vibe just keeps growing with THB.
Pumping out even funkier sounds from a mere couple of weeks ago when THB played a two-night run with Bonnaroo-tented reggae band DubConscious, Wall Street came alive.
Glenn Rohrbach’s six-string bass was a nice addition from last year in the same venue. Even though the trumpet and trombone players have gone on to other projects, Glenn adds incredible bass technique with his talent and added strings. Even SkyHi tenor sax player Nick Timmerman added some nice flows in a few songs throughout the night. A really positive change in THB that was different from last year was the addition of ’hype front man’ Luke Sauv’. He is such a wellspring of encouraging energy, getting people to move in ways they didn’t think possible. He’s a lot of fun!
Adding to the family flavor, long-time friend Luke spent a lot of time on The Farm with THB and learned a wealth of knowledge. This created a turning point in his life and the decision to be surrounded with positive energy as much as possible. They consider him to be ’adopted family’ at this point. He really does fit in well with the rest of the band, adding the perfect spark to the evolution of THB, especially on stage. His laughing face already enjoys funny memories with the band as he tells the story of ’Lenny poopin’ in the snow,’ among other things. Lenny’s favorite funny memory is the food fight that broke out in Waffle House. I guess these guys know how to have a good time everywhere, right? Boredom is never the case when these guys are around.
’Fear and Loathing in Amsterdam’ is a more accurate description of their far-from-boring trip after listening to the stories. Lenny blurts out, ’Redman is my bitch!’ This is an obvious indicator that we all wish we could have been there. They met icon Tommy Chong, who was inducted into the Counterculture Hall of Fame while on stage with THB. Wow! They also met ’420 Dave’ who started the whole ’420’ hype by looking for a particular patch of flowers via a treasure map. The ’flowers’ were never found, so anyone that is up for a challenge . . . good luck.
Drummer and younger brother to Lenny, Mike Cramer, says Amsterdam’s ’special flowers’ were actually a pretty equal match to what one could find in America. Either America is getting better in this regard or Amsterdam is getting worse. The latter is probably not the case. Mike also said the food is higher quality and Glenn added that Heineken tastes better too! Overall, with two shows at the Cannabis Cup under the THB belt, the experience ’added a certain quality of professionalism’ to the band, explains Mike.
Yes, they are still our guys, but even better. They evolve into a more well-rounded experience with every passing year. The THB goal in the universal language of music is to be a part of the unity in world funktification!
Look for the Lionsgate full-length feature film documenting the 20th Annual Cannabis Cup coming soon. Hopefully some of you checked THB out on Feb. 6 at Bluesboro with Col. Bruce Hampton, but if not, check them out at the Walnut House live recording session on Feb. 15 to feel tha love!
