Click on the WAMU link below to read the entire article on Granny & The Boys.
But first, read a few related tweets:
IF YOU MISSED THE @wamu885news @wamumetro STORY ON DC'S #1 HOUSE BAND 'GRANNY & THE BOYS', LISTEN IMMEDIATELY: http://ow.ly/J1B5B
4 middle-aged black men
+ 1 octogenarian white woman
= D.C.'s neatest funk bund.
@OberandOut w/Granny & the Boys: http://wamu.org/programs/metro_connection/15/02/13/granny_and_the_boys_get_funky_as_dcs_most_unexpected_house_band …
MT @ScottRobertsDC: hear @wamumetro's awesome profile of @Showtime_DC's Granny & The Boys http://tinyurl.com/lfvrt8j #BloomingdaleDC @OberandOut
'Granny And The Boys' Get Funky As D.C.'s Most Unexpected House Band
Sundays aren't usually great bar nights. But on this night and every Sunday, the Showtime bar in Northeast has a special draw. And it’s not the $3 cans of Natty Boh. It’s Granny.
Granny is Alice Donahue, the 82-year-old keyboard player with Granny’s Ball of Odds. Or Granny and the Boys as they’re called at the bar. They're a funk fusion band that plays every Sunday at Showtime.
“We like to call ourselves an ‘old school’ band. Emphasis on the old,” said Roberto Santos, the band’s bassist. “I'm the baby of the bunch now. I’m 58.”
It should be noted that Santos and the other men in the band are black. Donahue is white. As such, they're not exactly your average bar house band.
Richard Lynch, the band’s drummer, knows Donahue is an oddity.
“A black couple walked up to her and the wife said, ‘Do you really play with them black boys?’ And they were black!” he said.
Visually, it is a little jarring. With her head of loose white curls, long skirt and Velcro sneakers, Granny, well, looks like a grandma. You half expect her to invite you over to her house for some milk and cookies after the show.
Donahue has definitely gotten some confused looks from people in the bar.
“Some of them will come up at the bar and watch my hands and look at my shorthand music to make sure I'm actually playing that. That I’m not just a prop, sitting there pretending, you know,” Donahue said. “I shouldn't say it this way, but I’m almost like a gimmick.”
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Here is the audio link.
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