In the past 10 years, Papa Grows Funk has taken its New Orleans jam-band sound all around the world, including Japan, France, Germany and Prague.
The band will perform for Baton Rouge with a show at the Blind Tiger on Friday.
This will be the first time Papa Grows Funk will play at the Blind Tiger. The performance starts at 10:30 p.m.
After starting in different bands, the five members met through the active New Orleans music scene and began a jam session. After a night of drunken deliberation on band names before their first show, Papa Grows Funk was born, said lead vocalist John “Papa” Gros.
“It’s been a while since we’ve played so close to campus, so we’re excited,” Gros said.
Papa Grows Funk is no stranger to Baton Rouge, having played multiple shows at Chelsea’s Cafe. Two members graduated from local high schools — Gros from Catholic High and bassist Marc Pero from University High.
“It’s always great to be in Baton Rouge,” Gros said.
Papa Grows Funk takes a unique approach to playing live, having neither rehearsals nor a setlist.
“When writing an album, you are composing music. When playing live, you are decomposing,” Gros said. “We play for ourselves, and that’s great, but when we do it in a different club for a different crowd, that’s what makes it fun.”
The band is familiar with both large and small crowds, with major festivals like Voodoo Experience and The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival under its belt, along with its usual Monday-night shows at Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans.
Gros said Maple Leaf Bar is his favorite venue to play, and Japan is his favorite foreign country to play in because of the audience’s energy.
“A lot of people don’t even speak English, and they’re signing along,” Gros said. “How do they even know about our music?”
Experiences touring around the world have led to interesting stories.
“The audience didn’t clap after our first few songs, and we were playing pretty well,” Gros said describing a show in France. “We were concerned until the end of the set, and the audience burst into a standing ovation. We ended up playing three encores. They didn’t clap out of respect for the music.”
Throughout the band’s 10 years of existence, it has played alongside major influences The Meters and Art Neville. Gros said it’s “one of the coolest parts of being a musician.”
Gros said the biggest challenge over the years has been keeping the band together.
“Starting was easy. Keeping it together after [about] 11 years is the hard part,” Gros said.
The band plans to put out a fifth album this summer, which will be produced in part by members of Better Than Ezra, which the group is very excited about, Gros said.
 
 
 
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contact Christian Grimaldo at [email protected]