The Witzard

My wife and I first heard about "Funk Powerhouse" Brownout a few years ago on an episode of A&E's Ozzy & Jack's World Detour . It was during Season 2 on an episode entitled Texas, Bloody Texas, wherein son Jack was treating Ozzy Osbourne to covers of Black Sabbath , as well as his own solo songs. Brownout were then moonlighting as Brown Sabbath (their Black Sabbath cover band) and treated Ozzy & Jack to spirited renditions of a few Sabbath staples, whilst bargoers played Chicken Sh*t Bingo. As a direct result of their appearance on Ozzy & Jack's World Detour and praise from Ozzy himself, Brownout/Brown Sabbath were invited to play Ozzfiesta in Mexico. Brownout has released three EP's-worth of Black Sabbath covers with an expanded line-up including vocalist Alex Marrero and in 2018, released a full album of Public Enemy covers entitled, of course, Fear of A Brown Planet . Brownout has, additionally, served as a highly in-demand backi...

"Shawn Lee is one of the most prolific musicians of his generation. A multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer/song-writer, and composer who has released [42] albums as an artist to date. He has played, produced, and written on hundreds of records. He has worked with a diverse range of artists, including Jeff Buckley, Kelis, Money Mark (Beastie Boys,) Amy Winehouse, Darondo, Adrian Younge & Venice Dawn, and Princess Superstar. Lee's music has been used extensively in both film and TV: Monuments Men, 20 Feet from Stardom, Oceans Thirteen, Eastbound & Down, Ugly Betty, Nip/Tuck, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Cinemax, Jaguar, BMW, Clarks Shoes, Head & Shoulders, and many many more. He has also, created bespoke music for Hermann Miller, Ace Hotels, and Wallpaper Magazine. As a composer, he has scored two documentary films: Elevate and Under The Sun. Lee also created the original soundtrack for the feature film Save Angel Hope and composed the original score for the Rock...

Not only is guitarist, keyboard player, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Adrian Quesada one half of newly-minted Karma Chief/Colemine Records Deep Soul signees Black Pumas , he's also, one of the founding members of Brownout. An 8-piece Latin Funk group hailing from Austin, Texas, Brownout has Soul/Funk/Breaks ties to like-minded ensembles such as GRAMMY-winning Grupo Fantasma, Blue Noise Band, and The Blimp. Brownout lists drummer/percussionist John Speice, percussionist Alex Marrero, bassist Greg Gonzalez, guitarist/keyboard player Adrian Quesada, percussionist Matthew "Sweet Lou" Holmes, guitarist Beto Martinez, trombonist Mark "Speedy" Gonzales, trumpeter Gilbert Elorreaga, and baritone sax player Josh Levy amongst its current members. I, like many music fans, I would assume, first heard about Brownout on an episode of Ozzy & Jack's World Detour last year entitled Texas Bloody Texas. Ozzy's son, Jack Osbourne, managed to track down the band, ...

It must go to say something that the song that plays directly after Black Pumas' "Black Moon Rising" on YouTube Music is Wah Wah Watson 's wah-wah pedal-drenched "Goo Goo Wah Wah" from his 1976 Columbia Records Soul-Funk masterpiece, ELEMENTARY . Black Pumas consists of Austin -based singer-songwriter Eric Burton and musician/producer/composer Adrian Quesada , who are the inaugural signees to Colemine Records' newly-launched sister label, Karma Chief Records . As the story goes, Quesada was taking a break from his main bands, Brownout and Brown Sabbath —as seen on Ozzy & Jack's World Detour —to record a batch of " Soul -leaning instrumentals with the intent of eventually, making a full album." Although, he did not have a vocalist to accompany his instrumentals and started putting out feelers around Austin and across the country, as far-reaching as LA . However, it wasn't until local producer Bryan Ray , a mutual friend of ...