On Saturday, August 7 from 10pm until 2am, the legendary Junkyard Band will celebrate their 30th anniversary with a show entitled "30 Years in 1 Night out". The show will be held at the Capitol Skyline Hotel, which is located at 10 Eye Street, SW, for the 25 and older crew.
Junkyard Band was formed in 1980 by a group of young men ranging in age from 8-13 from the Barry Farms Housing Project in Southeast DC. After seeing and hearing various bands play, they knew they were going to have to be creative since there was no money for instruments. They gathered items such as plastic buckets, hubcaps, toy horns and cans which would emulate the sounds that come from the drums, cowbell and other traditional, but unattainable, instruments for these kids.
Now, 30 years later, with only two original members, Steven "Buggs" Herrion at the helm along with Vernell "Wink" Powell, they still perform more often than most other Go-Go bands in the DC area. With the tragic loss of three of the original members, Willie "Heavy One" Gaston, Shelton "Shorty Pop" Watkins and Derrick "Lil Derrick" Ingram, the band has had various incarnations such as Art of Junk, JY Band and J-Mob with some of the original members over the years.
The original Junkyard Band can honestly boast their success as one of the best in the Go-Go business. Appearing in several movies, "Tougher Than Leather" and "DC Cab", the most prominence came from the Def Jam release "Sardines" and "The Word" in the mid 80's. "Sardines" has been voted the Best Go-Go Record of all time. The band has also played at the legendary Apollo Theater and at the Kennedy Center.
Derek "House" Colquitt, who joined the band in 1997 and is the current manager and bass player for the group expects to "see a lot of old friends and faces" and to "play all of the old songs".
If you are unable to make this anniversary show, former manager, Moe Shorter, has assured that there will be a Junkyard Reunion show later this year with many of the former members performing which will coincide with the 30th Anniversary of Junkyard Band.
What is your favorite memory of Junkyard Band? Comment Below.
Comments
My favorite moment was when I was a member of the Art of Junk Band and Buggs and Demi Doc came up to play with us and I was playing the boards along side with Demi Doc and Baker
LIL DERRICK WAS MY BROTHER
Great article. My favorite JYB moment was watching them in the movie Taxi. I was truly proud of them.
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