The Beat Hotel plays greasy New Orleans Swamp Funk with a full sound that’s easily accessible and loved by people of all ages.! The band captures the Crescent City’s unique musical hybrid of R&B, funk, soul and blues with a wonderful groove sensibility that is both creative and fresh. With the roots of its music deep in the bayou (The Neville Brothers, Dr. John, The Meters, Alan Toussaint, Lee Dorsey, Jon Cleary, Henry Butler, etc…), The Beat Hotel has well-crafted melodies, a kicking horn section, rich vocal harmonies and deep grooves which consistently energize Music Festivals and Club’s wherever they play.
The award winning DC Music Review team wrote this following about The Beat Hotel:
“Washington DC finally has a band that truly captures the wonderful sounds of New Orleans, and its name is The Beat Hotel. They’ve taken the heritage of New Orleans carnivals, parades and back street bars and turned it all into their own identifiable, body-rocking brand of rough and tumble party funk. They perform a high energy set rich in great songs, fabulous harmonies, creatively tight arrangements and a kicking horn section while remaining lovingly anchored in the New Orleans tradition.”
The band’s lead singer, Lauren Cattaneo is one of the city’s premier lead vocalists with a fierce touch that can bring out the juice in the funk. Andrew Ratliff, a veteran member of the DC music scene adds vocals & syncopated percussion. Lead guitarist Bruce Blaylock is the band’s musical director and a 12 year veteran of the New Orleans music scene.
Drummer Francis Thompson teaches percussion at the Duke Ellington School of Arts. Justine Miller from the multi-award winning band Chopteeth is on trumpet.
Bruce Swaim on tenor sax has won 2 Wammy Awards for Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year and has worked with Danny Gatton, Martha Reeves, The Four Tops and The Temptations among many others.
Other veteran musicians in the band include Doug Elliott on Trombone, Ariel Francis on guitar and vocals, and Mercedes Mill on vocals.
The band built a loyal following playing the mid-Atlantic region. So come on out and enjoy some real New Orleans swamp funk music with The Beat Hotel.