Meet the 2027 Artists
Get to know the artists bringing the funk to Olympia January 29–31, 2027.
Cimafunk
In Havana, Cimafunk worked as an arranger and producer, performing with the Cuban group Interactivo before establishing his solo identity. His breakout in Cuba came with the 2017 album Terapia and the 2018 single “Me Voy”. By 2019, he was recognized by Billboard as a Latin artist to watch. In 2020, his band appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. His 2021 album El Alimento achieved international expansion through collaborations with artists such as George Clinton, Lupe Fiasco, CeeLo Green, and Chucho Valdés, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album. After relocating to New Orleans in 2022, his backing band was reorganized as La Tribu. The 2024 album Pa’ Tu Cuerpa featured significant production input from band members like Dr. Zapa and Bejuco. To date, Cimafunk has received three Grammy nominations: for El Alimento, the track “Todo Colores” with Ibrahim Maalouf and Tank and the Bangas, and Pa’ Tu Cuerpa.
The group's sound is characterized as Afro-Cuban funk, blending Cuban soneos, guajira, rumba, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms with 1970s funk, soul, R&B, hip-hop, and New Orleans brass-band energy. Their style draws influence from James Brown, Otis Redding, and Benny Moré. The live performance is centered on a dance ensemble dynamic featuring percussion, bass, guitar, keys, horns, and call-and-response vocals.
Toyesauce f. NOLA All Stars
Headed by Nashville guitarist Leon Toye, Toyesauce is an experimental collaborative funk music project, uniting killer artists from New Orleans, Nashville, and Austin. Featuring a rotating cast of all-star guests, Toyesauce has featured the music industry’s tightest musicians, including George Porter, Jr. (The Meters), Stanton Moore (Galactic), Aurélien Barnes (The Rumble), Ivan Neville (Dumpstaphunk), Jeff Coffin (The Flecktones), and countless others.
While no two Toyesauce performances seem to be identical, all in attendance can count on a few things: tight grooves, stellar musicianship, unique improvisation, and good times by all.
Toyesauce will feature at the 2027 Olympia Funk Fest:
Tony Hall, Lanita May, Brad Walker, Alex Wasily, Aurelien Barnes, Andriu Yanovski, Terrence Houston, and Leon Toye.
Super Sonic Shorties
Super Sonic Shorties is a collective of like-minded, experienced, accomplished musicians who just happen to be women—led by the fearless Nikki Glaspie! Nikki has traveled the world over with artists Beyoncé, Maceo Parker, Snarky Puppy, Yemen Blues, Dumpstaphunk, her own bands The Nth Power, KAMANI, Mike Dillon & Punkadelick, Trouble No More, and her 15-piece funk big band Nikki Glaspie & The Homies.
Super Sonic Shorties features a rotating cast of incredible, musical ladies. Former lineups have featured Nikki Glaspie (drums/vocals), Amy Bellamy (keys), Kat Dyson (guitar), Tonya Sweets (bass), Marcie Chapa (percussion), Natalie Cressman (trombone/vocals), Jennifer Hartswick (trumpet/vocals), Shira Elias (vocals), and Kanika Moore (vocals).
Members of Super Sonic Shorties have tour and/or recording credits with many artists, including Prince, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Lizzo, Herbie Hancock, Bruno Mars, Klymaxxx, JLo, Phish, Stephanie Mills, George Michael, Kanye West, Milton Nascimento, Cyndi Lauper, Maceo Parker, Snarky Puppy, Nicholas Payton, Stephen Marley, The Neville Brothers, Eric Benet and Erykah Badu.
Polyrhythmics f. Adryon de Leon
Polyrhythmics’ sound originated in Seattle’s underground deep funk scene combining impossibly tight grooves with bold brass and hypnotic percussion that showcased elements of R&B, progressive jazz, and Afrobeat which defined the instrumental group’s early era sound.
Now on their 16th year as a recording project and touring ensemble, the band’s sound continues to evolve with the 2023 release of their seventh full length album Filter System. As journalist Bee Getz writes, “it feels something like a new beginning for these fellas; Filter System is filled with uptempo dance tunes, crunkadelic bangers, and dusty blunted safaris-in-sound”.
Polyrhythmics virtuosic musicianship and musical conversation has been built on a relentless touring schedule of the previous decade which has led them to their current sound that fills a room with an impending mood where anything could happen - sometimes evoking their brighter and cinematic Fela-influences, but also a more sinister and darker turn toward a more a progressive sonic palette combining psych-funk with dub reggae, film noir “and galaxies beyond.”
Polyrhythmics recently released their full-length LP, ‘Life from Below’, featuring vocalist Adryon De Leon to support the brave new direction the band has taken. Look forward to Adryon (one of the 2027 Olympia Funk Festival artists-at-large!) joining Polyrhythmics on stage!
Diggin Dirt
From behind the redwood curtain of Humboldt County, California, the seven piece funk-soul band Diggin Dirt has carved out a niche as a live party not to be missed. Shoveling their own path, Diggin Dirt has seen sustained growth over the past few years, with multiple national tours and festival stops at Jam Cruise, High Sierra, Same Same but Different, Live Oak, Cascade Equinox, Joshua Tree Music Festival and many more.
Per a 2024 Jam Cruise writer, “This was the soul music I grew up with in the ‘60s and ‘70s, but I confess I wasn’t expecting [Diggin Dirt] to be throwing it down this hard. This group is impossibly tight, and Zach Alder might be the best soul shouter I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a few.”
Their infectious sound is fueled by blazing horns, searing guitars and a relentlessly driving rhythm section, and tying it all together is the band’s frontman who launches the ensemble into rarefied air with his pipes, charisma and natural-born soul. With flashes of James Brown or Sly and the Family Stone, Otis Redding or Tower of Power, the band’s sound is both familiar and yet refreshingly original, layering psychedelic rock, Motown soul, afrobeat and even reggae atop a thick foundation of late-60s inspired funk.
River Eckert Band
River Eckert (b. October 9, 2009) is a 17-year-old pianist and vocalist born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. From a very young age, River has been surrounded by music. Immersed in the styles of legends such as Professor Longhair, James Booker, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Fats Domino, and Art Neville, among others, he is passionate about and dedicated to “carrying the torch” of the New Orleans piano tradition.
Coming from a musical family, River began playing piano at the age of three. Initially studying classical music, his teachers eventually encouraged him to explore blues and jazz, recognizing his natural ability to quickly grasp those styles. Today, River sings and plays in both solo piano and full-band settings, rapidly gaining local, national, and international popularity. River recently completed his debut studio album, which was released in April 2026. Collaborators on this project include George Porter Jr., Ivan Neville, Terence Higgins, Cornell Williams, Raymond Weber, John Fohl, and others. His debut single, "Pass That Torch" (feat. Ivan Neville), was released in October 2024, followed by his second single, "Hey Hey Hey (Fi Nah Nay)" in February 2025, and a third, "Painting Pictures," in April 2025. He has also been featured in several Playing for Change video recordings and has been involved in helping score a documentary film about New Orleans. Recently, River and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews performed together as a duo for the inauguration of New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno. Further cementing his rising acclaim, River was recently honored with the "Emerging Artist Award" from the High Sierra Foundation at the High Sierra Music Festival 2026. River’s live performance schedule remains full, and he has just completed his first tour in Europe this past summer of 2026.
Despite his youth, River has already had the privilege to perform and record with an extraordinary roster of notable artists, including Taj Mahal, Trombone Shorty, Oteil Burbridge, George Porter Jr., Cyril Neville, Irma Thomas, Ivan Neville, Stanton Moore, Pedrito Martínez, Eric Krasno, Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith (Dawes), Anders Osborne, Luther Dickinson, Cory Henry, Nikki Glaspie, Fred Wesley, Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr., The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Adam Deitch, Raymond Weber, Terence Higgins, Tony Hall, Jennifer Hartswick, Big Sam Williams, Craig Robinson, and Bill Murray.
Big Sam’s Funky Nation
When you think of New Orleans, the city’s foremost flambeaux-lit traditions of Mardi Gras, Bourbon Street, voodoo, Po’ boys, beads, gumbo, and second line undoubtedly come to mind. You can also count Big Sam’s Funky Nation amongst those NOLA treasures.
Known for a boisterous blend of funk, jazz, rock, and hip-hop, nothing short of seismic live “experiences,” and a whole lot of Southern charm, Big Sam’s Funky Nation might very well be The Big Easy’s best kept secret. No other place could birth such an undeniable, unpredictable, and downright unique collective.
“By playing on these streets, you learn how to work your craft and entertain an audience,” exclaims Sam. “You can go to Julliard and Berklee all you want, but they won’t teach you how to rock a stage. It comes naturally in New Orleans. I’ve been here my whole life and rocking these streets. Even during Hurricane Katrina, I drove nine hours from San Antonio every weekend for two years just to play live. The sound out here is unlike anything else in the world. It’s not just a figure of speech—there’s music going all night, literally.”
Psycodelics
Once every millennia, the forces of nature and the stars above align to give the human race a gift from the Gods. For this chapter in our existence, that gift is The Psycodelics.
The group embodies and glorifies Black American Music. Elements from Funk, Blues, Gospel and R&B leave the audience in awe with sounds that hit you like a freight train. Audience members and fans have compared the band to the likes of Parliament Funkadelic, Prince and Morris Day & The Time. Their debut album “Please Keep Off the Grass” has already garnered Grammy Recording Academy attention.
The band has already established a buzz amongst the festival scene by capturing audiences at Peach Fest, Joshua Tree Music Festival, Jam Cruise and many more. The Psycodelics have supported Neal Francis, Fearless Flyers and Durand Jones and the Indications.
Champagne Bubblebath
Psychedelic funk and soul meets golden-era instrumental hip-hop. Featuring members of Polyrhythmics, True Loves and Parlor Greens. Their debut record, “Mixtape: Vol One” is a fantastic voyage from the annals of funkafied late-60’s rare-groove into mid-90’s crate-digger backpack boom-bap; Champagne Bubblebath delivers the goods, a medicinal expression session that’s sure to move the crowd.
Scott Law & Friends
Scott Law is a Portland, Oregon based guitarist, singer and songwriter dedicating his life to music through live performance, improvisation and his own compositions. As a solo artist and well-traveled accompanist, Scott’s intuitive musicianship, articulate tone and deep repertoire welcome the unpredictable with exhilarating results.
Law’s sound and style are well-spoken of rock, jazz, blues and folk music forms with “The reliability of a musician you can always trust… a continuator of the (timeless) scene that exploded in San Francisco in the mid-60's, and who, apart from being an extraordinary guitarist and a warm singer, always gives off a good vibe. A quality that, although not necessary, always adds up... a lot.” (Dirty Rock Magazine, OCT 2023)
Mentored by extensive stage experience with bassist Phil Lesh of The Grateful Dead, Melvin Seals (Jerry Garcia Band) and pioneering violinist Darol Anger (Republic Of Strings), Law’s quick ear and keen knack for elevating the potency of any collaboration creates pathways for audience connection. Whether curating unique cover takes or his own songs and instrumentals onstage, his joy for creating sound and bringing people together radiates.
Law has also performed, recorded and/or written music with Brokedown In Bakersfield, Cosmic Twang, Nicki Bluhm, Bob Weir, The String Cheese Incident, Aoife O’Donovan, Bill & Jilian Nershi, The Mother Hips, Peter Rowan, Tim Bluhm, The Travelin' McCourys, Keller Williams, Tony Furtado, Everyone Orchestra and many others.
McTuff
Hammond organist Joe Doria brings together some of the best of the NW music scene to create a powerful and jaw-dropping funk and jazz sound like you’ve never heard, exhibiting a mix of stellar musicianship, seasoned songwriting and deep groove where no musical stone gets unturned. McTuff is best experienced LIVE. It’s a movin’ and groovin’ adventure that you will not soon forget.
McTuff began in 2008 as an ode to jazz organ greats Jimmy Smith and Captain Jack McDuff, and has since evolved into a versatile and exciting group that has performed across the nation. The band has two albums under its belt, their 2009 release OG McTuff Vol. 1, and the 2011 trio follow-up ‘McTuff Vol. 2: After the Show. McTuff Volume 3: The Root followed with the addition of drummer, Tarik, Abouzied.
And now the latest McTuff incarnation is underway with some fiery, new music featuring Cole Schuster and Ehssan Karimi.
McTuff has performed at Bumbershoot, the New Orleans Jazz Fest, as well as festivals and venues all over the US. The band has also held a residency at Seattle’s legendary Seamonster Lounge for over five years. Their Tuesday night show has become regular stop for local and traveling musicians including Skerik, Allen Stone, Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band), G Love (and Special Sauce), Blake Lewis, Kevin Sawka, and many others.
The members of McTuff have performed and toured with an impressive list of world-renowned groups and artists including Carlos Santana, Stanton Moore, Ravi Coltrane, Bobby Previte, Michael Shrieve, Mike Stern and many others.
Funkways
American music artist, Joel Ricci (Lucky Brown, and The S.G.’s), writes and records in his tiny forest cabin in the foothills of the North Olympic Mountains on the Olympic peninsula. When called to do so, he assembles and conducts dynamic live public ceremonies/spectacles employing some of the most sought-after Funk and Jazz artists in the Seattle area. Via his dozens of self-produced "deep funk" vinyl singles released in Europe over the past two decades, he has been hailed by music mavens worldwide as a deep funk pioneer.
His latest live ritual, “Funkways” is an all-original rhythmic endeavor kicking up dust at the crossroads of primitive funk and vernacular jazz. In the words of the artist: “Funkways’ mission is to commemorate, celebrate, and consecrate true soul music as played from the heart, and to engender cultural health by promoting greater neighborhood social cohesion through the ancient practice of collective dance and community voice-raising. It is our aim to publicly generate live dance music that encourages the metabolization of body-held trauma as the result of survival in the belly of a brutal empire that seeks to disconnect, dominate, and dehumanize its subjects.”
20 Grand Funk
20 Grand is a 9-piece funk powerhouse with influences ranging from hip-hop, jazz, and soul. To list influences would be way too long and would involve another protracted band meeting to decide who to list. We only got time for the funk. This diverse and socially conscious tribe has dedicated ten years to elevating minds and parties - from weddings to some of the most remote funk parties in the lower 48.
The proud funk unit started as a 5-piece instrumental band by founding members Jamie Simpson on guitar, Vincent Rannazzisi on circular items, and Rebecca Nelson on tenor saxophone. But like most bands, 20G has evolved over the years. First, adding more horns with Eric Gates on baritone sax/keyboards and Nick Simko on trumpet as well as cowbell master Toby Ferguson on percussion/vox. Soon after, came the addition of local freestyle rapper E-Roc on vocals and percussion and Zac Fawcett on trumpet/keyboards/vox.
After going through bass players like drummers in Spinal Tap, the band has had the funky stylings of Chris Arndt back in its' pocket after a few years away. In recent years the band has swelled to nine members, with the latest addition of Sarah Williams' powerhouse vocals. Come down to a show and see for yourself, let the funk fill your soul, and move your feet.
Are You Ready? A Tribute to Sly & the Family Stone
Headed by Andrew “Seamonster” Nunez (Haiku Chi, Funky 2 Death), ‘Are You Ready’ is the Pacific Northwest’s premiere experience to relive the timeless music of Sly & the Family Stone. Nunez has assembled Seattle’s best rhythm section and horn players to recreate dozens of memorable Sly hits for your dancing pleasure. Hop into their time machine set for the 60’s and 70’s and join Are You Ready to boogie to funk’s biggest influences.
Outer Orbit
Outer Orbit is a Portland, OR based funk soul collective led by Galen Clark (Patterns Fly, Anna Tivel, Sleater-Kinney) and fronted by vocalist Sarah Clarke (The Motet, Dirty Revival, Portugal, The Man). The band features an all-star lineup of PDX musicians including members of Ghost-Note, Allen Stone, Portland Cello Project, Mono Neon, Skerik Band, Swatkins and more. Outer Orbit brings original soul and pocket heavy funk while drawing on a range of influences from Sly Stone to Emily King.
Outer Orbit’s latest release, ‘A Heart Shaped Plane’ is a shining example of Outer Orbit’s new direction and has received critical acclaim upon it’s 2026 release.
Mr. Vale’s Math Class
Mr. Vale's Math Class is more than the sum of its parts—the six-piece funk band brings rollicking dance-party vibes backed by zippy horns, wink-and-a-nod lyrics, and an energizing stage performance to the Pacific Northwest and beyond. If only high school math class were this much fun.
Oscillating between playful and serious, the band riffs its way through blues, funk, and jammy notes from bygone eras, with modern, fresh lyrics that feel plucked from a math wizard's hat. Rest assured, Mr. Vale's Math Class will have you grooving to the golden mean, even if you can't find your protractor or remember how to do quadratic equations.
Led by the multi-instrumentalist and math tutor Jordan Vale on keys, trumpet, and vocals, the group includes musicians Nick Hamel on guitar, Milo Fultz on bass, James Ford on drums, David Burrows on auxiliary percussion, and Lhanna Writesal on saxophone, along with a rotating cast of dynamic guest musicians.
Patterns Fly
Seattle based guitarist Andy Coe (ACB, Skerik Band, McTuff) and drummer D'Vonne Lewis (Digable Planets, McTuff, Industrial Revelation) join forces with Portland keyboardist Galen Clark (Outer Orbit, Trio Subtonic, Sleater-Kinney) for a blend of pocket heavy organ trio funk and psychedelic mind-bending groove music. The resulting sound fuses high energy synth bass heavy funk and experimental electronic tinged jazz.
A Love Electric
A Love Electric is a psychedelic power trio hailing from Mexico City's vibrant jazz scene, blending raw energy with experimental flair across genres. Formed by guitarist and vocalist Todd Clouser, a Minnesota native now rooted in Mexico City, alongside Jorge Servin (originally Hernan Hecht) and Mexican bassist Aaron Cruz, the band embodies a cross-cultural fusion of rock, jazz, and psychedelia. Emerging from the city's underground music circles, they have carved out a space for unbridled creativity, refusing to conform to market-driven labels and instead channeling imagination into soundscapes that defy categorization.
Over a decade of relentless output, A Love Electric has released seven albums on labels spanning the US, Mexico, and Europe, while touring the world on their own terms—performing over a thousand shows across four continents. Their commitment to artistic freedom has earned acclaim, with La Jornada hailing them as "the tomorrow of creative rock" and "one of the most progressive and important groups of recent years," Jazz Times calling their work "a celebration of the creative," and Vive Latino describing the lineup as "a savage guitarist, a ruthless drummer, an enormous bassist."
Yarrow
Yarrow is a psychedelic rock band from Olympia, Washington. Drawing equally from the psychedelic rock movement of the 60s and electric blues of the 50s to create new sounds, songs and music. Yarrow is ready to lay down the groove and take you to a timeless place where warm analog sound reverberates your bones to a feel-good frequency you may have thought was a thing of the past.
The New Immortals
The New Immortals is an experimental musical collective based out of Portland Oregon. “We try not to confine ourselves to a specific musical style or genre. Things change...”
Jim Olsson - Guitar
Tucker Mastin - Bass
Andrew McVey - Drums
Alfredo Rivera - Tenor Sax