Docksider Gets Freeky with Funk

He's a superhero – a magician – a bump-bump-bump music-makin' Freek.

With bass guitar in nimble hands – and the Bump Assembly beside him – Freekbass is bringing the funk to State Street when he and the band fly from their Cincinnati home base into the Docksider on Saturday, Nov. 15.

He was brought up and brewed up in the same funky hotbed that gave the world James Brown's King Records and Bootsy Collins and the Ohio Players – and that sure shows – but anyone who's at all familiar with Freekbass' signature funk knows he's doing his own thing, and doing it right.

"As much as I listen to Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, OutKast, or George Clinton, I also listen to, groove [to], and feel groups such as Radiohead, Daft Punk, STS9 and DJ Shadow," he said in a Relix Magazine interview. "So, just like when P-Funk started and were influenced by groups like Zappa, Bowie, and The MC5, these groups of our era are what crawled into my funk."

His current album, Junkyard Waltz, features an eclectic collection of acclaimed musical guests like Mike Gordon, Buckethead, Bernie Worrell, Jen Durkin, and Gary "Mudbone" Cooper, whose sounds feel right at home alongside the mighty Freekbass.

And anyone who appreciates funk of the groundbreaking variety will feel right at home at the Docksider this Saturday night. – Ryan Smith

7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, // 1015 State St.  //  facebook.com/DocksiderErie