Bushman's Blend has been providing the backyard grooves that soothe since 2004. The Blend was created while sitting in the moonlit backyard of the Philadelphia Art Museum one early spring night in 2000. Every Wednesday night there were drum circles held on the back lawn of the museum. The drums, guitars and singing that occurred one night flipped the switch and set into motion the vision quest to fuse the tribal gatherings of our ancestors and the backyard gatherings of today…THE BACKYARD GROOVE.
"These guys pack a unique brand of funk/rock/reggae/ tribal beats. It's hard to put a specific name to it, but the energy and sound makes them one-of-a-kind. Look for extended drum solos and lots of funky effects."
-The Morning Call
"With the incense burning, the nail suddenly was transformed into this 70's underground café theme house. This is a band with a true good vibe to it. Hey mon, a Caribbean sound that took me back to the isle of Jamaica. Mic'ed bongos (for lack of a better word), chimes, and an island sound that was mostly instrumental. This jam band could go on throughout the night with ease. Very tight and good timing gives this band a blend all its own. Vocals were good, but the music was very good. A reggae feel to it just makes people happy. One main drummer complimented by bongos and such was a cool stereo sound. Bass, lead, and rhythm guitars all seemed to meld into each other. This band was well versed in the preparation of this set performed tonight. Good Caribbean riffs with overtones of an island instrumental jam band. I dug this band."
-Owner of the Rusty Nail
Perhaps the most notable shows came near the end of 2007 just before the hiatus. With the addition of keys and a new percussion section the blend took their song catalog to new heights. In November 2007 the blend played their last show to date and so began a much needed hiatus.
2010: The Blend is backyard grooving once again. This time around the Blend will feature The Bushman a.k.a Chris Mabie on guitar, Mario Napoli on drums, Tryp Lov'l on bass, and Dustin Napoli on keys along with other special guests.
For the last 6 months we've been delving into our effects bins, writing, rehearsing, sitting at home playing synthesizers and bending reality with our mad scientist approach to evolving the Blend's catalog.The output in our opinion is the tightest, most energetic, version of The Blend to date. Version 7.0 to be exact.
