To the delight of many local fans, spring semester will begin with a performance by local Tuscaloosa band CBDB.
They will be performing Friday at Jupiter – one of the band’s favorite venues.
“They’ve got the bigger space, the good lights and the big sound system,” CBDB’s lead vocalist Cy Simonton said.
This time last year fans could hear CBDB’s progressive and experimental sounds each night in Tuscaloosa if they wished, but more recently, due to popular and expanding demand, CBDB must share the love with their quickly growing fan-base across the South.
“Honestly, our goal is to grow as big as we can. We want to make a living playing music, writing music – to travel and have as much fun and make as much money as we can,” Simonton said.
At the rate they are going now, with a successful debut album known as “phone.keys.wallet” and another currently in the works, the band is growing closer to their goal. CBDB is a six-person band made up of Simonton on vocals and guitar, Kris Gottlieb on lead guitar, Glenn Dillard on saxophone and keys, Donald DeLoach on percussion, Paul Oliver on drums and David Ray on bass. Although most commonly recognized as a “jam band,” they have branded their sound as “joyfunk.”
“[Joyfunk] is kind of evolving really. I started out on acoustic guitar, so I guess the sound was a little more mellow,” Simonton said. “But now we’ve added a new bass player named David Ray, a much more progressive player, and I’m on electric guitar now, so the sound has definitely taken a turn more toward progressive rock.”
Although Tuscaloosa has to now share the CBDB’s sound and energy with the rest of the South, the band’s joyfully funky tunes remain a favorite amongst Tuscaloosa’s live-music lovers.
“The band is charismatic – it actually has personality. You start out listening to a college band that’s jammy and good for easy listening, and then all of a sudden they play “Slow Foxes,” and a jazz feel breaks out, and everyone is dancing. We always love when CBDB plays,” Caroline Hiott, a senior majoring in international relations, said.
CBDB’s “phone.keys.wallet” is on Spotify and iTunes. After CBDB’s Friday show they will be making their way to open for The Wailersperform next Wednesday at Workplay in Birmingham.
