Funk Farm

"You people have had enough. It's time to get funky," lead singer and bare-footed band-leader Josh Suhrheinrich said to the crowd at Uncle Festers last Thursday. His power trio, Boomerang Farm, then launched into an eight minute funky song at their third weekly gig, which will continue all summer long at Festers with a five dollar cover.\nAfter touring the United States and Canada with San Francisco's progressive funk-rock fusion quartet Global Funk, Suhrheinrich found himself in Bloomington. He looked up his old playing buddy, bassist Jeremy Allen, who was back in Bloomington as well after some time in New York.\n"Josh called me and said we should start playing again," Allen said. "It's been good. He has a lot of experience traveling and handling the business side."\nAllen, who is working on his PHD in musicology at the Jacobs School of Music at IU, said the first week was sparsely attended. He and Suhrheinrich attributed word of mouth to the big fan increase at the second show. \n"The crowd was really into it last week," Suhrheinrich said. "People told me they're going to keep coming back. Boomerang Farm connotes work in progress. It's a building process where music can evolve and change each week."\nThere are three drummers in the Farm which will share playing time after the dismissal of the previous drummer over internal band conflicts. The previous drummer found that the little Buddha the band keeps on stage interfered with his religious beliefs and the Farm had to let him go.\nTerrance Dennie, recent IU grad and rhythm section coach at Neal Marshall Center music camp, made his first appearance on drums with the band last Thursday. His R&B and soul background provided an interesting sound to the mix. He practiced with the band the day of, and was pleased with the results despite apprehension from the band on only having a day to prepare.\n"There's only so much you can do the day of," Dennie said. "We're still gonna go out and do our thing though."\nThe Power trio comes from different backgrounds and styles, but fuse together to produce a unique sound. Allen said his bass parts are jazz and funk based and largely improvised. His influences like Bootsy Collins and Paul Jackson who played with Parliament Funkadelic and Herbie Hancock show his versatility in taste and background. \nBoomerang Farm plans on playing mostly original songs with complicated rhythm parts, but was forced to play more covers the first few weeks as the band learns to play together. \n"The covers help the audience," Suhrheinrich said. "To throw them a bone, something they're familiar with to hold on to."\nResponse was strong from the crowd with many dancing and getting down to the farm.\n"They're good funk fusion," said Bloomington resident Noel Niehaus. \n"I love this bassist. He walks."\n"I've known Josh for years and this is the best I've heard him play," said IU graduate Ron Kadish who played with Suhrheinrich in jazz ensembles years ago.\nSuhrheinrich was pleased with Dennie's first showing on drums and learned at rehearsal that Dennie doesn't even consider himself a drummer, having focused on piano and keyboard most of his life.\n"Terrance told me he has cousins that are better drummers than he is, but I thought he sounded great," Suhrheinrich said. "He has a really good ear and he had a feel for what we were doing."\nThere are plans to make a CD at Farm Fresh Studios before the summers over. Suhrheinrich runs the bands business end from booking to recording.\nA 10-month old baby and a dedicated wife have Suhrheinrich feeling the strength to follow his musical dreams with the support of his family.\n"I've worked out a balance looking after the little guy and playing gigs, Suhrheinrich said." "Tonight my wife is at the show and I've got my parents looking after him. It's really helpful to have them around. I love spending time with my son, but sometimes I have to say, OK- this is daddy's music day."\nOne of Boomerang Farm's biggest fans is Suhrheinrich's wife, Sabra Wright, who can be seen dancing at their shows and is responsible for the elaborate set design. Her work includes fuzzy mats and mushrooms, colored hanging boomerangs, and a mini Buddha which liven up the set. \nWright met Suhrheinrich when he was touring with Global Funk in Canada. Wright said she met the band after the show when she was looking for her dog and said should stay and extra day and see all that Canada had to offer. The next morning their drummer said, 'let's call that girl up.' She took them on a hike; made them dinner and said her relationship with Suhrheinrich just took off from there.\n"I guess I'm kind of like Yoko," Wright said. The band broke up and we had a kid, but it's been great. Boomerang Farm is about returning to something. I think having a family has given him a chance to do what he wants- growing something that we believe in."\nWright said Suhrheinrich's sound has evolved a lot over the years as his tastes changed, but that he has been striving to do the music he wants instead of compromising his vision.\n"Originally Josh started out loving Hendrix and Clapton and the guitar gods," Wright Said. "As he got more into jazz and blues he developed his own sound. They do stuff I can really dance to."\nBloomington resident Jim Fischer had a simpler explanation of the band saying solely, "That's some funky shit." \nSuhrheinrich plans to move to San Francisco at the end of the summer, so Boomerang Farm's shelf life is limited to these weekly gigs. Josh said he has been writing some of his best songs recently with the lyrics of a song he played Thursday invoking the spirit of the band.\n"Won't you take us to boomerang farm? The boogie will do you no harm"