-- Jon Wiederhorn
In October, when soul-funkers Mofro were gearing up to support their
just-released Blackwater, disaster struck as they were leaving a show
in their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida.
"Some guy was just driving real fast and lost control and hit us from
behind," recalled singer/guitarist John "JJ" Gray. "He spun our Jeep out,
and we started flipping and all got slung out in different directions. It
was unbelievable that nobody got killed."
Keyboardist and saxophonist Nathan Shepherd was hurt the most, suffering a
fractured hip and broken collarbone. Mofro took a break for more than four
months to recuperate, amassing huge medical bills in the process. While they
were recovering, friends scheduled benefit shows and booked a comeback tour
that kicked off the moment their injuries healed.
"I was a little nervous at first when I got behind the wheel again," Gray
said, "but we've been doing this too long to stop because of a car wreck."
Mofro's roots date back to 1998 when Grey and guitarist Daryl Hance went to
London to record an album for the label Acid Jazz. When that didn't pan out,
they placed an ad in Melody Maker and met bassist Fabrice "Fabgrease"
Quentin.
"They sent me their tape, and I really liked it," Quentin said. "I loved the
instrumentation, the keyboards and the rhythm section, and that's me, so I
was in."
The band played the London scene for a year, then returned to the States.
Mofro exhaustively toured through Florida, and to their surprise, started
winning over fans not usually attuned to their Southern soul grooves.
"Jacksonville's pretty much a heavy metal town, and my biggest influence is
Otis Redding," explained Grey. "We're into old blues, old soul and early
funk."
Thanks to a rigorous tour schedule and a bootleg-friendly attitude, Mofro's
fanbase quickly spread past the land of the Everglades, earning them a spot
on this summer's three-day Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee.
"It was fun because about a month before that we had played for four people
in Chattanooga," Hance recalled.
But just because thousands of people have caught Mofro's groove, that
doesn't mean the band's losing its laid-back Florida vibe.
"If I can surf when the waves are up, fish when the fish are bitin' and eat
good food, I'm stoked, man," concluded Grey. "[Other than that], I don't
really care."
###
 What do you think of this story? You Tell Us...
E-Mail this story to a friend
|
