Opie Gone Bad

A few weeks ago, during a B-B-Q at Ginny and Kim’s, he mentioned having heard a local treasure – Opie Gone Bad. Kim is so knowledgable about music; his passion comes through clearly. He knows musicians, bands, their histories. Over the years, many times Rick and I had heard of Opie Gone Bad, but never heard them play. Nate’s former swim coach, Anthony, is also a huge music buff. When he lived in Evergreen, there were two bands he made every effort to see when they plaved at Evergreen’s world-famous Little Bear. One was the Young Dubliners. The other was Opie Gone Bad. Remembering this, makes it even stranger that Rick and I hadn’t heard Opie Gone Bad. We spent about ten years worth of ‘vacations’ with Anthony, traveling with Nate to different parts of the country for swim meets. We took the opportunity to see sights and hear music. Top all of that with our own love of music…went to Memphis this past May just to hear music on Beale Street…and, well, it’s unbelievable we hadn’t heard Opie Gone Bad.

Last night we did! Wow! Julie, it seems ‘funk’ has entered our lives! Savion Glover. Opie Gone Bad. Bring on the funk!

 Here’s a description of their music, taken from a review:

Opie Gone Bad’s self-titled debut album drifts between rock, reggae, and rap, but the heart of the band’s sound is pure funk. Jake Schroeder’s diversified stylistic vocals complement whichever musical genre the band chooses to employ. Opie Gone Bad’s influences come through loud and clear on several tracks, but the combination cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” and Stevie Wonder’s “Livin’ for the City” is a masterpiece. Thousands of bands play covers note for note and word for word, but Opie Gone Bad has taken the art of covering a song to a new level. By lyrically combining the two songs and adding a layered groove to the music, they have created a fresh sound that will fill a dancefloor anywhere they play.