Guitarist Felix Rentschler, bassist Edwin Hurwitz, and drummer Jonathan Abel met at Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1983. A few years later, after graduation, Edwin brought his friends in to fire up blues band Graffiti, featuring Jeff Grove on tenor sax and vocals. The seeds of Shockra chemistry were sown. Graffiti made some forays into the Boston bar scene, but Felix, Edwin, Jeff, and Jonathan wanted to break free of the blues genre and, after adding "Spaceship" Dan Coutu on keyboards, Shockra was born. The group started shedding furiously, refining their funk, fusion, and world beat sound, and started playing clubs and colleges around New England, as well as the underground party scene. As things were beginning to coalesce, Jonathan joined up and coming pop band, Storm, leaving Shockra drummerless. After many fruitless auditions, Dave Watts answered a flyer hung on a pole across the street from Berklee. The Shockra chemistry was now fully activated! In 1990, Vermont buddies Phish introduced the band to Brian Ross and Jon Bell at Family Tree Entertainment, who put Shockra on the road far beyond their regular New England haunts. Tours lasted months, through the Midwest out to the Rocky Mountains, and down the eastern seaboard. Family Tree got the band in the studio to record Garuda¹s Groove, enlisting the help of Larry St. Pierre, owner of the infamous Aikos in Saratoga, NY to finance the disc. With a CD hitting the streets and airwaves, Shockra enjoyed headline status at sold out shows from the Paradise in Boston to the Fox in Boulder, CO. They became a staple on the college circuit and shared billing and the stage with Phish, Widespread Panic, and Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit and others, sometimes ending up at after hours jams at the Shockra house, Neptune. It was an exciting time in the music world, as what would be called the jam band scene was starting to coalesce and cross-pollinate. All the bands were hanging out together, sharing ideas, influences, and exploring new ways to put music together. Shockra was right there.
Doors: 8:00 pm | Show: 8:30 pm
Tickets on sale at 10:00am Friday, September 14th at www.foxtheatre.com
$20.00 ADV | $22.00 DOS plus applicable service charges
