A “NOLA Supergroup” will take the stage at this year’s Family Gras festivities on Saturday, February 22, at noon. The group, helmed by musical director Chuck Credo IV, will include Papa Grows Funk frontman John “Papa” Gros, Funky Meters guitarist Brian Stoltz, Bonerama’s Mark Mullins and Craig Klein, Raymond Weber, formerly of Dr. John’s Lower 911 band, and Cassandra Faulconer of Cowboy Mouth.
Chuck Credo IV will lead a "NOLA Supergroup" at Family Gras 2014.
With a one hour set just before former Journey lead singer Steve Augeri, the band has a unique opportunity to play traditional New Orleans music to a crowd that is expected to number in the thousands along the traditional Veterans Boulevard parade route in Metairie.
“It’s going to be pretty unique for Metairie,” Credo said. “Family Gras really jumped at the idea of having a New Orleans music supergroup to throw into the mix. We play, and then it’s all national acts from then on.”
Family Gras has been attracting bigger stars seemingly every year, with this year’s lineup including such local mainstays as Amanda Shaw and Cowboy Mouth alongside big name touring acts like Augeri, Cassadee Pope, Cher Lloyd, members of E.L.O. performing as The Orchestra, Blood, Sweat & Tears featuring Bo Bice, Wilson Phillips, and Montgomery Gentry.
While playing among that level of talent can be daunting, Credo said he is extremely excited about the all star lineup he was able to put together for the Family Gras show.
“I’m excited to get everyone on the same stage,” he said. “We never get to see each other, so to get everyone on the same stage is going to be special. It’s going to be a wild musical language up there. Hopefully we will be able to get in our groove early and just go.”
So many established New Orleans musicians on the same stage at once can cause some headaches when it comes time to create a set list, but Credo said everything seems to have fallen into place with this group quickly. And while the Family Gras crowd may not be receptive to deep cuts from old school local artists, that doesn’t mean the band will shy away from lesser known material.
“We’re going to mix it up a bit,” he said. “We’re doing a lot of John Gros’ original material, some Papa Grows Funk songs, Craig and Mark from Bonerama will each sing a song, which I’m excited about because they usually just play, and we’re going to do some New Orleans standards. There’s definitely going to be a ‘pocky way’ jam at the end.”
Family Gras 2014Metairie Parade Route
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Admission is free!
