Hi all!
I’m the bandleader for one of the hottest bands paying tribute to P-Funk around at the present, ToNY CaMM & The Funk Allstars out of Virginia.
We just recently headlined Funkateers Ball 6 in Bethesda, MD. and I currently have music released with members of 3GP (3rd Generation Parliament-Funkadelic).
My question is WHERE are the P-Funk hubs in the country?
Cities/areas that are “P-heavy” where a band like mine can draw a decent crowd in a cool venue.
We would like to stretch out and spread this funk…need to know target areas.
Where are the Chocolate Cities?
Comments appreciated.
TC
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Welcome @ToNYCaMM. I have heard great things about the Funkateer’s Ball, but have never made it out to one as I am on the west coast.
Here is my thought: the funk is all around the world these days. You will literally find the active members of this forum in a variety of different countries. Some markets are more ‘chocolate’ than others, but in my 20+ years seeing P-Funk shows, the audiences have gotten less and less chocolate…
I think that for your band it is more about finding the right venues than it is about finding the right cities.
I will never forget, 20 some years back, Gabe Gonzales brought his group “Enemy Squad” here to Seattle. They chose the wrong venue, a pub in the Pioneer Square area in Seattle that was not particularly known for funk music and did not have good built in foot traffic. The show was not promoted well, and there were literally about as many people in the band as there were paying customers in the audience. The show was funky as hell, but the lack of an audience was sad and I feel certain that the door revenue did not pay for their lodging for the night. 
I talked to some of the members of the band and they were a bit baffled; they told me that the night before they were east of here (somewhere in Idaho or Montana, maybe Spokane, WA - but somewhere even less diverse than Seattle that surprised me). And that night the place was packed! I feel pretty confident that at the right venue in Seattle, they could have had a different outcome. I’ve played in local funk bands here (including some P-Funk tribute gigs) and also had varying results based on the venue and other circumstances.
I think you should start in places of close proximity to your home base and focus on seeking out FUNKY VENUES. Places that have a reputation for funk, soul and groove music and either have a built in crowd or strong foot traffic. There may also be some small towns that rarely get funk music, so people are starved for any kind of funky bands, but that may be a little harder to forecast. Maybe connect with other funky bands in the vicinity that have had success bringing their show on the road and you may be able to trade notes about what venues have been fruitful?
Good luck!
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I dunno man. Sometimes I feel like the country is drifting into a major zone of zero funkativity. I appreciate all you are doing to keep that good groove going. I’ve heard some of the stuff y’all do and it is nothing less than amazing.
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