The Rumble takes back the culture and sound of Mardi Gras

BY CRYSTAL SCHELLE Special to The News-Post

The Rumble is heading to Frederick and bringing with them the music and vibe of New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Sorry, but the gumbo’s not included.

The band, whose music is usually classified as New Orleans Indian funk, will play the Weinberg Center stage on July 29.

The Rumble is fronted by Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. and rounded out by trumpeter Aurélien Barnes, trombonist José Maize Jr., bassist TJ Norris, guitarist Ari Teitel, keyboardist Andriu Yanovski and drummer Trenton O’Neal.

These New Orleans Indians aren’t American Indians but rather descendants of the Mardi Gras Indians. The group is usually comprised of Black communities in New Orleans and has become known for its vibrant headdresses and beaded outfits and performing the music associated with the Mardi Gras parade.

Boudreaux is continuing in the footsteps of his father, Big Chief Monk Boudreau, and at 81 is the oldest living Mardi Gras Indian chief. He is considered a New Orleans treasure.

“My dad is one of my biggest influences with my music,” the younger Boudreaux said during a telephone interview from his NOLA home. “My dad was one of the first people to introduce me to music in general. Ccoming up in our household, we literally had instruments everywhere. Music was always around.”

His dad wanted him to play keyboards, but he “didn’t take to it.” Instead, he plays trumpet and percussion — bongos, timbales and congas.

“I’m actually still learning more instruments as we speak,” he said. “I’m kind of trying to pick up something right now while we’re on the road.”

The Rumble was formed in 2021 by seven members of Grammy-nominated Cha Wa.

“There a lot of people that don’t realize that the whole Cha Wa thing was our band’s music. It was our everything,” he said. “We just didn’t get the credit for it, which is part of the reason why we decided to leave. Because we were the creative force and the driv-

THE RUMBLE FEATURING CHIEF JOSEPH BOUDREAUX JR.

When: 8 p.m. July 29

Where: New Spire Stages, 15 W. Patrick St., Frederick Tickets: $21.75+

Info: 301-600-2828, weinbergcenter.org

“We had a lot of fans built in who loved our music, and they understood what was going on. We wanted to rerelease those songs that we created for our fans to be able to support us on our next journey,” he said. “We also added new songs on there as well.” ing force behind the entire situation, and we were just kind of written off as hired guns — and that wasn’t the case. We’re the culture bearers of the music. We are the New Orleanians that created it. So that was kind of one of the reasons that we decided that it was time for us to leave and move on to a different direction.”

They chose to name it after the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans because of its rich music history. The bar opened in 1974 and plays host to live music seven days a week, from local favorites to Grammy winners.

Boudreaux said the new songs are “taking back what that is rightly ours, not only when it comes to music but to our culture,” hence the name of the tour, Take it Back Tour.

Boudreaux said most of the music on the Cha-Wa Grammy-nominated albums, 2018’s “Spyboy” and 2021’s “My People,” was written by most of The Rumble members.

It was after the nomination for “My People” and their perceived lack of respect that they left the group to form The Rumble. Naming themselves after the sound of the backline of a parade, the group formed with their own original Mardi Gras-influenced sounds.

Although The Rumble is often labeled as Mardi Gras funk, Boudreaux said their music is more than that.

“That’s what makes The Rumble so special: It’s a combination of different things that make New Orleans music so special,” he said. “So yes, it is funk, but it’s also brass. It’s also R&B, it’s blues, it’s hip-hop — it’s all these different things. So it’s New Orleans music, and it’s packaged in a way that’s culturally influenced and culturally driven like nothing that you’ve ever seen before. So it’s not just one genre. It’s hard to break it down into just one genre.”

Although their music on the outside might seem familiar, they’re not always playing covers or standards. The Rumble writes original songs leaning heavily on their culture and its distinct sound. On the day of the interview, Boudreaux was heading into a writing session with their guitarist Teitel.

“We kind of get together and we come up with things, but it’s honestly based off experiences based on where life has taken us,” he said. “Depending on some of the people that we lead, some of the things that we experienced — that’s how we write.”

The band’s first album, “Rumble: Live at the Maple Leaf,” was released in May. The album is like a love letter to the fans who followed them after they left Cha-Wa.

He emphasized how important it is for the group to protect their culture. He said over the years, people who are from out-of-state or not even from New Orleans have used their music, “and our cultural music has suffered based off of other people’s influence or other people’s decision making when it comes down to representing the culture. We thought it was important for us to kind of make those decisions on our own.”

Those who are coming to see The Rumble in Frederick should get ready to get up on their feet to dance.

“I want them to leave appreciating simple, great music,” Boudreaux said. “I want people to leave with the fact that they have seen a band that appreciates the music and appreciate them for coming out. And just the feel of it. Just to get in touch and get in tune with the vibes that we’re bringing.”

Crystal Schelle is a journalist whose work has been published locally, regionally and nationally. She enjoys trivia, cats and streaming movies.