The
Funk Box - Be there or be square there, or be square
By Karen
Gardner
News-Post Staff
Staff photo by Sam Yu
BALTIMORE -- It may only be
six months old, but the Funk Box already has the makings of a Baltimore
landmark.
Sandwiched between funky
shops and cute restaurants, the little nightclub in trendy Federal Hill
has big ambitions of becoming Baltimore's premier live music venue.
It is housed in that very
Baltimore-style of building, the row house. The night spot is actually
two row houses opened into one, and the music is a mix of styles that
the owners hope will draw listeners from all around Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Washington and other surrounding states.
The music is blues, funk (of
course), jazz, R&B, rock, bluegrass, reggae, alt-country, fusion,
latin, folk and singer songwriter. Earlier this month, the
singer-songwriter duo the Kennedys performed. A week or so later, a Pink
Floyd wannabe band played to a far different audience.
Within a 45-minute drive
from Frederick is a live music venue that will host the groove strains
of Garaj Mahal on Sunday, Feb. 29, the bluegrass group Railroad Earth on
Thursday, March 4, the Jarflys on Friday, March 12, Jordan Knight on
Tuesday, March 23, and Jonatha Brooke on Sunday, March 28.
This variety is a little
more cohesive than it might seem, according to Tim Walther, co-owner of
the Funk Box and the talent promoter for the club. "I call it
Baltimore blue-collar heritage music," he said. Some of the music
is acoustic, while some bands use little amplification.
But the club is all about
presenting the music in a cozy listening atmosphere with a high-tech
sound system and a spring-loaded wooden dance floor.
The Funk Box fits its name.
Its boxy appearance has a touch of the funk with its purple-painted
brick exterior. Inside, the 30-foot by 80-foot building hardly looks big
enough to hold up to 400 people, the capacity allowed in the building.
Listeners can surround the
16 by 18-foot stage on three sides, or watch from the balcony above as
dancers shake on the spring-loaded dance floor, which sways when dancers
fill the floor.
"We imported the dance
floor from Oregon," said Dave Rather, who with Walther co-owns the
nightclub. "It adds a little bounce to your step.
"We like funky music
that makes you move and dance, although sometimes we have seated
shows."
Mostly the Funk Box shows
are for a standing audience, although there are bar stools scattered
about for seating and there is seating at a bar in the front of the
club.
The club's owners aim for an
audience ages 25 to 35, but depending on the show, ages and cultural
backgrounds vary widely. When Malian guitarist Habib Koite and his band
Bamada played, many Africans living in the Washington area and embassy
officials from the various African embassies attended.
The audience was very
different for a Pink Floyd tribute band, Rather said. DaVinci's
Notebook, the Nighthawks, Deanna Bogart, Sam Bush and the Seldom Scene
have all appeared at the club since it opened in September.
The club actually re-opened.
For the past 20 years, it had been known as the Eight by Ten Club, named
after the club's address at 8-10 E. Cross St. Over the years, the Dave
Matthews Band, Phish, Bo Diddley, Billy Joel, Widespread Panic, the Red
Hot Chili Peppers, the String Cheese Incident and Robert Cray played at
the tiny club. It closed in July 2002.
Walls and floors were taken
out, and what was once a cramped concert venue now has a little more
room for listeners to breathe and move. Rather said listeners can
actually converse while most bands are playing. And, there is a
smoke-eater.
The 8,000-square-foot space
is bordered by the original brick wall on one side and by painted
acoustic tiles on the other. In between is lots of black and mood lights
that give the place a sophisticated urban feel.
Rather, 35, is the owner of
Mother's Federal Hill Grille, a neighborhood tavern and seafood-style
restaurant around the corner on South Charles Street. He had been a fan
of the Eight by Ten for its last 10 years. The club had seen better days
when he approached the former owner about buying it.
"We had a grand
closing, and started renovating in September," Rather said. He
brought in an architectural firm that specialized in refurbishing
historic buildings into unique uses. The 19th-century building was
gutted. "We only left the back wall, the side wall and part of the
front wall," he said.
Workers dug a basement and
installed large, airy, monochromatic bathrooms with colored tiles and
mood lights. "The old bathrooms here were notorious," Rather
said.
The walls are fire
retardant, with the ability to resist fires for three hours, preventing
the possibility of another night-club tragedy. "It's night and day
compared to the old standards," Rather said. Pyrotechnics,
responsible for two nightclub fires last year, will not be part of the
club's special effects.
"Ours is more subdued
lighting," he said.
Rather is most proud of the
sound system. "It's made for a listening room where you can hear
the vocal harmonies," he said. He hired an acoustic engineer for a
state-of-the-art sound.
Rather has always been a fan
of New Orleans jazz, and usually attends the New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Festival. He met Tim Walther and his wife Junipa, who run
Walther Productions, and began attracting the bands needed to make the
venue work.
Tickets average $15, with a
range of $5 to $25. Audiences range from 100 to 200 on a slow night, to
sellout crowds of 400. A typical night will draw 200 people to the Funk
Box.
He named it the Funk Box to
showcase the club's variety. "It was a little box, and it just
stuck in our head," he said. 'You don't want to pigeonhole yourself
into one style of music."
Most shows start at 7 or 8
p.m. on weeknights, and 8 or 9 p.m. on weekends. Local bands with a
younger following may play later, but singer-songwriter bands and bands
that appeal to older people often start earlier.
Jefferson couple
key to booking live
music venues
JEFFERSON -- The key to
survival as a live music night club is good music.
For the Funk Box, a night
club that opened six months ago in the Federal Hill district of
Baltimore, Tim Walther and his wife Junipa hold that key.
The couple co-owns the Funk
Box with Dave Rather, who also owns Mother's Federal Hill Grille, a
neighborhood tavern and seafood restaurant.
"Our primary focus is
to bill it as the premier live music venue in Baltimore," Walther
said.
Walther, 37, first spoke
with Rather, 35, about opening a night club about eight years ago when
Walther was handing out flyers for various bands.
"We built some really
good relationships with the bands," he said.
Walther and Junipa, 36, who
has a different last name but who goes by Junipa, met at a music
festival, and they have been booking for and publicizing bands ever
since.
They also book bands into
the State Theatre in Falls Church, Va., the Recher Theatre in Towson,
and other venues around Baltimore and D.C.
Their music festivals have
attracted Bela Fleck, Leftover Salmon, the String Cheese Incident and
Government Mule.
"We have a good ear for
music and a good sense for who will attract a crowd," Walther said.
Each May, the company hosts the All good Music Festival and Camp Out on
a mountaintop near Morgantown, W.Va., and for several years running,
sponsored Walther's Grassroots Music and Arts Festival at Oregon Ridge
Park near Baltimore.
"It's up to us to make
sure the band is of value, and it's up to us to make sure people
come," Junipa said. "We have a reputation of fulfilling
promises."
"It seems like it's a
business of osmosis," Walther said.
Walther Productions
specialized in bands on the way up. Two thirds of the bands signed to
play at the Funk Box tour nationally. These bands may not fill the big
arenas, but often have a following.
Some of these bands include
the jazz-rock band Garaj Mahal, the roots band Railroad Earth, the
Toasters, a ska band and the Edwin McCain Band, a roots pop band from
South Carolina.
For more information, go to
www.walther-productions.com.
[email protected]
