 by Dwight Hobbes
The very first thing you notice when Down Lo gets up on stage is that front man Mark Grundhoefer (guitar, vocals) is stone cold serious about having real big fun. You can’t help it. The guy is everywhere at once, nodding his head, jumping up and down, turning around. Hell, I get tired watching him. Of course, you also notice that all four of these guys (Grundhoefer, bassist Ryan Nielsen, drummer Mike Cini and Will Nissen on keys, sax, vocals) came to play: from first note to last, they are dead-on with chops to burn. Down Lo works like a chain gang on overdrive. When you go to see them, be sure and bring dancing shoes.
 Amazingly enough, the band loses none of its blistering energy on their debut
studio album, Lead My Way (FSM). Taking a page from the book of thoroughbred
funk, with
a nod or two to the likes of, say, Van Morrison, Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall
and Robert Palmer, they incorporate an eclectic barrage of influences—from
blues to bluegrass—always bringing it straight home to soulville. The
opener, “Take Care,” chugs with a hip-thrusting reggae thump, Grundhoefer
sailing on the hard-charged vocal. You get thrown something of a curve when
they hit the bridge and the time signature takes a left turn, wending into jazz
territory. Stay with it. The intriguing interlude segues on a dime, slipping
right back to where things left off, locked in the pocket, grinding nice and
sweet to the end of the line. In general, notice has been served that, with
this album, your ears—and any taste you have for innovation—are
in for a fine time. “Ain’t It A Shame” is nasty as a New Orleans
alley, with Nissen getting up off some Allen Toussaint-style, barrelhouse piano
and Grundhoefer hollering like a rutting drunkard. “Pimp Junkie”
and the instrumental “Smooth” are culled from the Maceo Parker school
of getting down on the good foot and so barebones funky, you may need to open
a window. “Lonesome Train” is a good old straight shot—no
chaser, thanks—of hand-clapping, foot-stomping honky-tonk. Long story
short, you really can’t lose with Lead My Way.
Down Lo formed in, of all places, Northfield, Minn., which is better known as
pristine suburbia than a breeding ground for rocking funkmeisters. In the summer
of 2000, Mark Grundhoefer and Ryan Nielsen hooked up with jamming buddy Casey
Wasner on drums and gigged extensively around that area. As it usually turns
out with fledgling efforts, individual agendas and attendant creativity outlived
cohesion, moving the three in separate directions. Nielsen moved on to L.A.
and a band called One Fluid Ounce. Grundhoefer just dropped everything to heed
the responsibilities of daddyhood (“Kaia Marie” off the album is
named for his now 4-year-old daughter). Eventually, they reunited in Gates Avenue,
which didn’t last. Then came woodshedding with Will Nissen and drummer
Logan Schutts. Schutts graduated Carleton College, quit the band, was replaced
by Mike Cini and the rest was a matter of writing, rehearsing and staying together
long enough to start getting somewhere, working countless bars, festivals, clubs
and parties over these past couple of years throughout the Midwest and Rocky
Mountain region. Now, Down Lo is pretty much poised to take the Twin Cities
by storm. They tour their asses off, blow crowds away and happen to be signed
to St. Paul’s state of the art label Fuzzy Slippers Music.
Asked what prompted him to join forces with Grundhoefer in the first place,
Ryan Nielsen says, “Mark and I jammed together and just locked in right
off the bat. From then on, I knew I wanted to play with him.” As for what
in the world Nielson was doing, making nitty-gritty noise in Northfield, he
readily attests, “I love the funk. Whatever I do, I wanna make it funky.
If it’s funky, people dance. Even in Northfield.”
 Mark
Grundhoefer writes the lion’s share of Down Lo’s material. Though
Lead My Way was produced by the band and engineer Brian Ricke, Grundhoefer
was executive producer with label owner Rich Leone, and anytime there wasn’t
a consensus, he made judgment calls as to how the album would sound. “By
the end of it,” Grundhoefer recalls, “it had become kind of a thing
where we would change hands. Certain parts Ryan would take over on and make
production calls. If there was any point where [there was] trouble coming to
an agreement, I would make the decision. Beyond that, it was a group project.
Everybody stepped up.”
Among those who’ve influenced his songwriting and performing he notes
B.B. King, Freddie King and the legendary Doc Watson. “Country and blues,
old time folk music, all blended together, is the heart, I believe, of what
American music is.” As for all that jumping around on stage, “Music
to me is a life force. It is life. It’s one of those things that as much
as you put into it [is] as much as you get out of it. I just find that the more
energy I put into my live performances, the better I play, the more I give it,
the audience responds to that. ’Cause, they’re out there, trying
to have the time of their life. It brings people back, too. People love a good
show.” ||
Down Lo performs at the Varsity Theater on Fri., Apr. 21 supporting
fellow phenoms The New Congress’ Everybody Gets Up! CD release event with
Nathan Miller and Inebriation. 8:30 p.m. 18+. $8. 1308 4th St. SE., Mpls. 612-604-0222.
For more info on Down Lo, check out the band’s official website at
downlotunes.com.
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