STIG, the popular all-instrumental funk band whose member are from Berklee College of Music students, is making quite a name for themselves as they tour the United States.
The founding members are Ryan Stigmon and Thomson Knoles. They got their start back in high school playing in clubs throughout Flagstaff and Phoenix Arizona.
Stigmon, a saxophone player has performed with great artists such as The Temptations, Mel Brown, Chris Finet, Mike Crotty and John Willis.
Keyboardist, Knoles, a talented funk/jazz/R&B pianist and composer, has been writing original songs since his high school days.
Knoles attended Berklee and friend, Stigmon, joined him.
Their sound and style were widely accepted at Berklee and immediately, three friends joined the fun or “funk”—Riley Hoover on guitar, Artie Sadtler on bass and Jack McChesney on drums—“STIG” was born.
They spent most of their first year together playing in sweaty, overflowing basement shows in Allston. That has certainly changed. In 2016 they were invited to play on the main stage at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show in Anaheim California.
Since then, they have been performing at venues all around the US, while successfully, writing, producing and performing their own music.
They released their first live album, “FLEX”, in September of 2016 and their EP, “Downtown Tom” was released in July of 2017. “Live at The Orpheum” was released in October of 2017.
They are finishing up their twelve-state Spring Tour in New Orleans in early May and will perform June 8thand 9that the Sprout Music Collective in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
I highly recommend that you attend one of their shows—you will not be disappointed! Over the years they have developed a large following of dedicated fans that travel with them and sport their apparel.
They will be back in Boston in the fall if you can’t get to a show sooner. You can also follow them on Facebook or check out their website stigfunk.com for more information.
They are a great group of friends and talented musicians whose energy is absolutely contagious. I am so glad I got to see them perform live last time they were in Boston—I can’t wait to see them again!
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