After joining the band two years ago, the original blues musician has been enjoying his foray into the soul style while also playing with rockabilly band Shotdown from Sugartown, swing sextet The Darling Buds of May, songwriting and teaching guitar lessons.
Matthews is currently preparing for Stratosfunk’s Fringe World Festival show Shake Down! where the nine-piece band will be joined by the Beehives go-go dance troupe to pay tribute to the songs that took the world by storm during the ’50s and ’60s, resulting in people doing the Twist, the Monkey and the Mashed Potato.
‘We’ll be covering artists like Ray Charles, James Brown and Wilson Pickett so you can’t go wrong with those guys,’ Matthews said.
‘We just want our audiences to have an awesome time and our bass player Gary Benness, who is our musical director, has made some really interesting arrangements.
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READ NOW‘It’s just a band that seems to be going from strength to strength and we’re always working on something new.’
Stratosfunk will follow-up their Fringe World season with a performance during the sunset@subi concert series at Lake Jualbup, Shenton Park on February 23.
Matthews said the gig would be more like their standard Motown show, sans go-go dancers.