Ten Pound Elephant (TPE) was born in late 2006 with the vision of creating funk-based, edgy, psychedelic, and jazz influenced music to make people dance. Mission accomplished! By mid 2007, this Denver-based quartet comprised of fresh and skilled musicians has begun to hone in on a sound that blends elements of Galactic, The Meters, Jimi Hendrix, MMW, Thievery Corporation, and Miles Davis. The result of this mixture is best described with one word: FUNKY.
So how did these guys find each other? The same way you buy used skis, find football tickets, or get your next roommate: Craigslist. After months of independently searching for the right combination of musicians, guitarist Jeff Settle (30) and bassist Kevin Neimond (29) responded to each others ads, began playing together, and discovered a unique chemistry that yielded tight grooves with lots of potential. Talented drummer Joe Brennan (37) was soon located and the group's potential was quickly becoming a reality.
A powerful and expressive melodic player was needed to supply another piece of the puzzle, and the trio located the perfect player. Accomplished horn man Eric Anderson (31) on sax stepped right in with Settle, Neimond, and Brennan. Then a former band mate of Brennan's, Tom Marsh, whose uncanny ability to tickle the keys has found him playing with some of the world's best musicians, joined the group; completing the core of what has become a powerful funk machine.
The five-piece funk outfit pride themselves on collaborative and intelligent song writing that has brought forth a canon of tunes guaranteed to make heads bob and feet hop. Neimond and Brennan lay down a rock solid rhythm section that keeps the bodies moving, while Settle, Anderson and Marsh weave beautiful melodies and complimentary rhythms that stick in the listeners head well after the performance.
2008 has been a great year for TPE, as they began an ambitious schedule of gigs across the Front Range of Colorado and into the mountains. Each live performance brings out new dimensions of the band's sound, while constantly leaving the audience wanting to dance until morning.
