The upcoming performance by The Wooten Brothers at the Peace Center’s Coach Music Factory venue on Sept. 10 is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to see one of the most talented musical families in the country.
There’s Victor Wooten, the master of the electric bass, recognized as one of the best bassists ever by Rolling Stone and winner of five Grammy awards with his other band, Bela Fleck and The Flecktones.
There’s keyboardist Joseph Wooten, who’s played alongside The Joker himself, Steve Miller, since 1993.
There’s the inimitable Roy Wooten on his own invented instruments, the percussive-but-portable Drumitar and the RoyEl Keyboard, two of the most fascinating machines you’ll ever see. Eldest brother Regi leads the band and handles the searing, funky, lead guitar.
Together, the brothers form an inimitable ensemble that can blend jazz, funk, rock, fusion and more into something bigger.
To hear Victor tell it, making this music is a family tradition.
“My parents knew music very well, even though they didn’t play any instruments,” Victor said in our recent interview. “They came from an old religious tradition where there were no instruments allowed in the church. So most of them didn’t play but they knew who the real musicians were, who the real artists were. People who were playing and singing and writing music from their soul, not just for money.”
Now all grown up and then some The Wooten Brothers have been so busy with individual projects that they’ve only made one album together in 40 years. That’s about to change, and Peace Center fans will be able to hear new material at the show, along with a lot of improvisation.
“There’s a great deal of on-the-fly kind of playing,” he said. “Plus we have some new songs because we have a record coming, and we haven’t done a record in 40 years. So people will hear a little bit of that. But I always say that our audience will see something guaranteed that they’ve never seen before on stage, guaranteed, because it’s not a polished show. We keep you on edge.”
If you feel a little extra energy in the air at The Wooten Brothers’ Coach Music Factory show, that might be because this is a vaguely hometown-ish show for the guys.
“We grew up in Newport News, Virginia, but our parents are from North Carolina,” Victor said. “So we have a lot of family, friends and memories there. And so it seems like it just works out that we get to be in the area quite often.”
Want to go?
Who: The Wooten Brothers
When: Thurs., Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Coach Music Factory, 310 S. Main St., Greenville
Tickets and info: peacecenter.org
