Black Garlic is a funk/jazz fusion band that originated in Fayetteville, West Virginia. They will be performing at Summer Camp on the Road Battle of the Bands in January to potentially win a spot on Summer Camp 19. The band consists of 5 members – Josh Bibb on the guitar, Rob Gross on drums, General Jitters on bass, Duncan Mapes on the keyboard, and Christian Ray Tanzey on the trumpet. They illuminate the stage each time they perform their unique fusion of jam, funk, and jazz; traveling frequently to venues in MD, WV, and VA.

We had a chance to talk to the band before their upcoming January performance at 123 Pleasant in Morgantown, WV.

Enjoy this exclusive interview with the band to get excited about their upcoming performance and soon to be released debut album. Check out the event page here to learn more about the show on January 19th.

How did you guys meet and get Black Garlic started?

We all met at different points in each other’s lives, but we formed BG to have music at a friend’s birthday party. Our community loved it so much, they asked us to keep it going.

How have things been going after the changes that have been happening within the band over the past few months?

Things have been going pretty steady with all of the changes in the past few months. We all were devastated by the loss of Stevie and it is still heavy on our hearts, especially since we are finally going back and finishing the album we were all working on before everything was thrown into chaos. Hearing Stevie’s leads is definitely a pretty heavy thing.

I see your debut album will be released in the near future, what should fans expect from that?

We have finally started writing new material and though there have been some big changes, we still approach our music in the same way, but with a little more professionalism. The upcoming album will feature songs that have Stevie’s parts and possibly some new songs as well. Our album will also have artwork done by our good friend and artist Adam Mathews which we are all very excited about.

The Summer Camp on the Road battle of the bands is quickly approaching, do you have anything special planned to stand out amongst the other bands to ensure your spot in Summer Camp 19?

Well we are gonna do what we always do, and just play from the heart and slay it! We’ll be playing a pretty high energy set to get everyone going.

How have you guys evolved as a band over the past couple of years?

The band has been through a lot since it’s inception. We started with two guitars, a bass, and some drums. It wasn’t until later that Duncan joined up, and Tanzey joined right about the time our tragedy struck. Duncan and Tanzey have really stepped-it-up and we have all become a much tighter band together. We’ve done a lot of hard work in the past months and we are coming into our sound nicely.

Are there any big plans in the works for 2019?

Our only big plan so far this year is to finish the album and get it out there for everyone to listen to. We also plan on having some new merch and stuff that will feature some awesome artwork and we plan on getting further away from home to play music for new people this year. We of course will always be working on new songs for our fans so keep your ears peeled!


Check out Black Garlic’s Facebook page here

Watch a live performance of their song Kathydur For more information and upcoming event dates visit Black Garlic’s Website