Funk Yeah, the funkiest band south of the north pole, will be performing at the Prince George Conservatory of Music Saturday night at 7:30.
Funk Yeah! is a recently-assembled band of 13 musicians that were recruited by local musician Chris Smith.
"There's six horns, four in the rhythm section and three vocalists," said Smith. "We started last September. I played in a funk band a few years ago and I thought it was a lot of fun so I thought I'd start up a band. I've been in the community playing music for a long time and I know all the musicians."
In the band are Chris Smith, leader and trumpet; Jon Campbell, trombone; Kevin Higgins, trumpet; Danielle Cody (Smith's daughter), alto sax; Kayleigh Francis, tenor sax; Leah Hanson, baritone sax; Nic Cheung, drums; Metin Toyata, bass; Cam Cochlan, guitar; Kristen Thomson, keyboards; Carmen Werner, percussion; and vocalists include Keri Rudolph, Brooklyn Derksen, and Melanie Nicol.
"The music that we're doing is funk, you know, James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Earth Wind and Fire from Motown in the 70s and to that we've added some old rock and roll stuff like Mustang Sally, old Powder Blues stuff, Chicago and everything from Funky Town to Knock on Wood, a few ballads and a few things to highlight the musical talents of the band members," explained Smith, who did the musical arrangements for the band.
Smith played a lot of music through high school, studied music at UBC, since then he's played in the big band In The Mood, the Community Band, the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, the Conservatory of Music's Symphonia, and was part of the bands that provided musical accompaniment to many theatre company productions presented by Excalibur and Judy Russell over the years.
"I'm very much into music, I play lots, I play guitar, saxophone and trumpet and I just really like the funk style of music," said Smith. "It's really upbeat, it's a lot of fun and it's going to be a great time Saturday night."
Funk Yeah! will play at the Prince George Conservatory of Music, 3555 Fifth Avenue, Saturday night at 7:30. Tickets are by donation.
