All About That Funk

Georgia Funkadelic gets its grooves from having fun

Kinetic: the most applicable word to describe a Georgia Funkadelic show.

Itโ€™s not just the music, though the groove does constantly weave through the seven-piece Evansville band during every performance.

Whatโ€™s kinetic is the action on stage that broadcasts from bandleader Matthew โ€œGeorgiaโ€ Frankic. With his bass guitar strapped on, he canโ€™t stop dancing, boogying, and swaying. And the band moves with him. Then it hits the audience. The feeling is electric. The groove splinters out from Georgia Funkadelic, leaving the stage and swimming into the crowd. No one is safe.

โ€œThe gyrating is natural. I canโ€™t control that. I canโ€™t turn it off,โ€ Matthew says as his bandmates laugh while lounging in the backyard of his East Side home.

Thatโ€™s the Georgia Funkadelic experience โ€“ itโ€™s all about having fun and dancing.

The group was formed in 2020 and has grown from an instrumental trio, with Roy Micah Carter on keys and Ben Ganster on drums, to adding โ€œThe Funkadellasโ€ (powerhouse vocals from Cherโ€™Rita Horne and Lindsey, Matthewโ€™s wife), and guitarists Lucas Pate and Nick Rhoades.

The name may suggest a pure funk sound, but the band integrates soul, blues, rock, jazz, and other styles to create the โ€œGeorgia Grooveโ€ that comes out.

What glues the kinetic sound and movement together is the familial bond the members have for each other. Sundays are rehearsal days. The band meets up at the Frankicsโ€™ home, known as โ€œThe Muckโ€ to the band, to rehearse, commune, and connect.

Those connections foster their inspiration.

โ€œIt takes a lot of vulnerability to be creative,โ€ Lindsey says. โ€œYou have to be in a safe space with people you know are going to be encouraging.โ€

What also separates Georgia Funkadelic from the rest of the music community is its costumes, often matching.

At the Victory Theatre for the Evansville African American Museumโ€™s Beyond the Mountaintop concert, the men wore matching black tuxedos, and the women wore dashing blue dresses. For ParksFest 2022, they all donned green tracksuits. And, of course, matching pink tracksuits as well. Itโ€™s all for the sake of the experience.

โ€œItโ€™s all about fun and having fun,โ€ Matthew says. โ€œAnd dancing.โ€

Georgia Funkadelic releases
โ€œGeorgiaโ€™s Pool Partyโ€ (2020)
โ€œGeorgiaโ€™s After Partyโ€ (2021)
โ€œLove Tangoโ€ (single) (2022)
โ€œflamboyanceโ€ (2023)
โ€œpure loveโ€ (coming soon)

Upcoming performances
7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana rooftop, 212 Main St.

Jodi Keen
Jodi Keen
Jodi Keen is the managing editor of Evansville Living and Evansville Business magazines.

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