Kinetic: the most applicable word to describe a Georgia Funkadelic show.
Itโs not just the music, though the groove does constantly weave through the seven-piece Evansville band during every performance.
Whatโs kinetic is the action on stage that broadcasts from bandleader Matthew โGeorgiaโ Frankic. With his bass guitar strapped on, he canโt 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.
โThe gyrating is natural. I canโt control that. I canโt turn it off,โ Matthew says as his bandmates laugh while lounging in the backyard of his East Side home.
Thatโs the Georgia Funkadelic experience โ itโs 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 โThe Funkadellasโ (powerhouse vocals from CherโRita Horne and Lindsey, Matthewโs 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 โGeorgia 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 โThe Muckโ to the band, to rehearse, commune, and connect.
Those connections foster their inspiration.
โIt takes a lot of vulnerability to be creative,โ Lindsey says. โYou 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 Museumโs 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. Itโs all for the sake of the experience.
โItโs all about fun and having fun,โ Matthew says. โAnd dancing.โ
Georgia Funkadelic releases
โGeorgiaโs Pool Partyโ (2020)
โGeorgiaโs After Partyโ (2021)
โLove Tangoโ (single) (2022)
โflamboyanceโ (2023)
โpure loveโ (coming soon)
Upcoming performances
7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana rooftop, 212 Main St.