Tank and The Bangas on the List for 10 Artists You Need to Know About for the 2019 Festival Season
Josh Brasted/Getty Images // Tank & The Bangas performs at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at Fair Grounds Race Course on May 6, 2017 in New Orleans.
Tank and the Bangas
From: New Orleans
Formed in: 2011
Signed to: Verve
Listen if you love: Janelle Monae, Esperanza Spalding, Vulfpeck
See them at: Firefly Music Festival (June 21-23, Dover, Del.)
Tank and the Bangas are a big ol’ pot of musical gumbo — and not just because the nine-piece group is from New Orleans. Led by chameleonic singer/poet Tarriona Ball, the band shifts between a laundry list of genres, most prominently neo-soul, gospel, hip-hop, funk and folk. No two songs sound the same, and the group puts on a thrilling live performance — good enough to win them NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2017. Now’s your chance to see this electrifying unpredictable Big Easy outfit: get to Firefly early this June.