arts X music
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road Warriors touBaB kreWe
Host inaugural local fest
“We’ve done a lot sitting on each others’ steps”: Toubab Krewe has played festivals everywhere from Vermont (their own) to the Desert Music Festival in Mali. And they’ve jammed with the likes of Donna the Buffalo and Ivan Neville, both of whom are slated to play Carnavalito.
BY alli marsHall
ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10AM! THE RECKONING 2012 TOUR
with special guests Parachute and Drew Holcomb
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 • 7:30PM
THOMAS WOLFE AUDITORIUM
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE U.S. CELLULAR CENTER BOX OFFICE, ALL TICKETMASTER OUTLETS, TICKETMASTER.COM, AND BY PHONE AT 800.745.3000
40 JULY 11 - JULY 17, 2012 • mountainx.com
Asheville-founded Afro-Americana fusion outfit Toubab Krewe knows a thing or two about festivals. The band has done a few Jam Cruises. This summer alone Toubab plays Afro Roots Music Festival, gathering of the Vibes, Nottoway Nights, Floyd Fest and the newly created Gnarnia Music Festival (see sidebar). The band is also celebrating the 10th anniversary of Manifestivus, a Vermont-based “local festival with a global vibe” that Toubab Krewe curates. “It was founded by our bass player, Dave [Pransky], on his family’s land,” says percussionist Luke Quaranta. “It’s world-class bands in the backwoods of Vermont.” Quaranta says that this year’s focus is on up-and-coming talent, and the annual July date has been moved to August. Why? Because this month, Toubab Krewe is putting its festival-making magic to work closer to home. “We’ve been talking about doing something in Asheville for a long time,” says Quaranta. They’ve performed at Goombay (that was in ’05; they were a mere 10 months into
being a band and headlined LAAFF a month later), at Bele Chere in ’10; and they’ve been on an every-other-year New Year’s Eve streak at the Orange Peel. “We always had the idea of doing something outdoors, at a really neat location somewhere outside of Asheville,” says Quaranta. “That’s still a goal. That’s why we decided to do two nights at Pisgah Brewing Company; a mini-fest. We could bring a couple bands that people would really enjoy.” That list includes Roosevelt Collier (who will join Toubab Krewe on pedal steel); Dumpstaphunk, whose frontman (multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ivan Neville) has sat in with Toubab Krewe; Donna the Buffalo (“We’ve played a lot of their festivals — Grass Roots and Shakori Hills,” says Quaranta. “We know they have a loyal following around North Carolina, and we’ve done a lot of sitting on each others’ steps.”); as well as local kid-hop artist Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, fiddler and Toubab Krewe collaborator Rayna Gellert, DJ Chalice and DJ Equal (the brother of Toubab Krewe guitarist and soku player Drew Heller).