Artist description A 7-piece latin-funk band from Portland, Oregon.

Music Style Latin-Funk

Musical Influences Maceo Parker, Prince, Parliament, Santana

Similar Artists Prince, Santana

Artist History Since their inception, Portland, Oregon's Rubberneck and their soulful Latin-Funk (a musical hybrid they call "Lunk") have made them one of the Northwest's biggest draws. "Now all of a sudden the major labels are interested in what we've been doing since the beginning," says Ricardo Ojeda, the band's co-founder and frontman. Now it's become acceptable for us to return to our cultural roots because people are looking for something real. Everything ends up coming back to roots - if you dilute something long enough you eventually end up coming home." The band has mounted three national tours since the release of their last album, El Niņo (March 1998). Playing in nearly 40 US states, the band has made in-roads with fans from the Lion's Den in New York City to Cicero's in St. Louis to the Auburn Summer Solstice in Alabama. Their last East coast tour encompassed 34 gigs in 16 states over a six week period. "A lot of bands stay home because it's hard to take chances, scary to live with day-to-day uncertainty," says Ricardo. "It's made us stronger as a band and helped us establish a footing in a lot of places. We made up our minds to go for it and let everyone in America hear us." Rubberneck's sound could be described as a musical alliance of Santana, James Brown and Matchbox 20. "We're the second wave of what Santana started," explains Ricardo. "James Brown represents our funky rawness, while Matchbox 20 emulates the genre splicing we've been doing for years." As a vocalist Ricardo has been compared to Joe Cocker and Stevie Ray Vaughn but with the soulfulness of Al Green. It's the voice of a Latino who grew up listening to Latin music but also to old Motown and Stax records. Ricardo and Pablo Ojeda were born to a musical family in Valdivia, Chile. When the boys were toddlers the family relocated to Dallas, Texas and as teenagers they expanded their Latin tastes to include all kinds of music - from Vivaldi to AC/DC to Prince. After moving to Portland, Oregon, the brothers recruited like minded players to form their own Latin-influenced funk band. With Ricardo writing the songs, singing and playing lead guitar and Pablo contributing to arrangements and playing bass, Rubberneck debuted in 1992. Since then Rubberneck has experienced many musical adventures and personnel changes, all leading to the band's current ascendancy as a regional musical force. Rubberneck performs over 200 engagements a year and fills rooms like Portland's 1000-person Crystal Ballroom or clubs like Seattle's Crocodile Cafe, San Francisco's Paradise Lounge and The Zephyr in Salt Lake City. Early in their career the band also spent a five month residency in Spain, playing six nights a week to packed houses. Their recent albums, Nosotros (1995) and El Nino (1998), have sold a combined total of over 15,000 copies and regularily appear on the Northwest Top-Selling Bands Chart. Ricardo remarks: "Rubberneck keeps changing and growing and moving forward, and this line-up takes us to a whole new level. The band is stronger than ever. We've refined our true sound through playing and touring and we're recording the next album all live to capture our synthesis of the Latin/Funk sound."

Group Members Ricardo Ojeda (voc, gtr); Pablo Ojeda (bass, voc); John Morrow (sax, flute); James Gregg (trumpet, voc); James Travers (drums, perc); Carl Smith (perc)

Instruments guitar, bass, drums, horns, percussion

Albums El Nino (1998), Nosotros (1995)

Press Reviews "El Niņo gives up the funk with a storm blast that makes the real El Niņo look like a summer breeze. The band's hybrid of Latin-based jazz-tinged funk cements the band's potent and musicianly sound. With punches from the horn section and spicy grooves from guest percussionist Raul Rekow of Santana, 'El Niņo' is a welcome storm." (The Oregonian) --- "One band under a stoney groove, Rubberneck cultivate an aggressive blend of high-energy funk colored by sizzling Latin jazz that keeps crowds in a frenzy of motion." (High Times) --- "South American-born brothers Ricardo and Pablo Ojeda like to call the music that their band Rubberneck plays "lunk"--an ass-shaking alchemy of Latin, urban, and funk. And who are we to disagree? With its roots firmly planted in the Afro-Latin rock style of Santana and the full-on soul revue assault of James Brown, Rubberneck plays music perfect for "gettin' down with your bad self," as the Godfather of Soul himself would say. Fans [of] everyone from Santana to Bootsy Collins." (CitySearch.com) ---

Additional Info www.rubberneck.com

Location Portland, Oregon - USA

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