Thu 4/24 @ 8PM
It seems like current audiences just can’t get enough of soul and R&B classics, with new bands cropping up everywhere performing those songs or writing new material in that style. Young Detroit-based quintet the Drew Schultz Funk Machine is one of those, offering Motown and funk hits along with originals.
Drummer Schultz acquired his love of the genre while growing up in Shaker Heights, studying privately with veteran Cleveland percussionist Bill Ransom and also playing with his percussion ensembles at the Music School Settlement. He headed off to New York University in 2006, but left at the beginning of his senior year to go on the road with the Four Tops, getting another kind of musical education, and causing his relocation to Detroit.
He eventually finished school and released his aptly titled debut album Back to Class. He’s also released a series of ‘Back to Class” singles wth various Detroit vocal legends. They go to a truly noble cause: they benefit music programs in the Detroit public schools, surely cut to the bone considering the state of Detroit today. His latest features Detroit vocalist Charles “Buddy” Smith whose 1969 single “When You Lose the One You Lose,” is one of those obscure singles dearly beloved by hardcore collectors.
Schultz will be bringing Smith along when he comes to Nighttown to play a hometown show.
Tickets are $10.