Bayou Boogaloo Music Festival | New Orleans, LA May 23-24th 2008

Billy Iuso & Restless Natives will play Bayou Boogaloo Festival at the Orleans Stage from 1:40 to 2:40 p.m. on Saturday, May 26. A transplant to New Orleans in the mid 1990s, Billy Iuso is an accomplished, professional musician – a soulful songwriter, a dynamic vocalist and a powerful guitarist – whose time has arrived.

Though still in his 30s, the New Orleans-based performer has been a bandleader for more than 20 years, and as such, his musicianship and abilities have a certain polish and maturity that true music aficionados look for in artists. As he moves into 2007, leading the critically-acclaimed Restless Natives, it’s clear that Iuso possesses that special something to take his band to the next level – an “it” factor that cannot simply be acquired.

After leading the highly-popular Brides of Jesus for more than a decade, Iuso (guitar, vocals) came to a decision to make a change shortly after releasing the third Brides album “Saints and Sinners” in the fall of 2002. With the Brides, Iuso had toured and played with some of the biggest names at the forefront of the so-called “Jam-Band” movement of the 1990’s, including the Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, George Clinton and the Funky Meters.

The Restless Natives became a solid project when drummer Bryan Besse was brought in full-time Unlike the Brides’ rotating drum throne manned by “Mean” Willie Green (Neville Brothers) and Russell Batiste (Funky Meters, Vida Blue). Besse brought his recent found love of Elvin Jones polyrhythms to the table, yet he didn’t ignore his old-rock love of a John Bonham backbeat or the funky New Orleans street beat.

Using Musicians from both the funk and jazz scene, the Natives’ sound continues to evolve into a new hybrid of improvisation-based music. A typical show brings together Keith Jarrett-inspired keyboard runs surrounded by a sonic environment that remains accessible while pushing the line toward the abstract. Original songs subtly change to one of many eclectic covers, the seamless flow pushed by dynamic funky drumbeats.

After fine-tuning their sound and chemistry in post-Katrina New Orleans, Billy Iuso & Restless Natives are aggressively touring the country. Bringing the sounds of a career spent in music to the masses is Billy Iuso’s mission … don’t miss the opportunity to be inspired.