By Sarah Schumacher, Special to Bootleg Essential Culture
With influences like Robert Johnson, Dr. John and Jimi Hendrix, Michael and the Voodoo Brothers look to add to American music.
Less than a year ago, Michael “Wolf” Ingmire set out on a journey. He needed a new scene and a new band.
Ingmire’s search came to an end one night at the Double Door Inn in Charlotte, N.C. when he found bassist Bill Buck. But the twosome lacked percussion. With a little more perusing and some valuable networking, Ingmire found John Cuff, who notably played drums during halftime of Super Bowl XX in New Orleans.
“It was an immediate connection,” Ingmire said of the conversion of minds that would become “Michael Wolf and the Voodoo Brothers.”
Ingmire said he was first “corrupted” by the guitar sounds of Jimi Hendrix. A $9 night of back-to-back Hendrix enveloped Ingmire into the world of guitar playing. $9 concert tickets…for two concerts?!
“At the time, Hendrix wasn’t all about the theatrics,” Ingmire said. “He just stood there and played and it grabbed a hold of something real deep.”
Buck accredits Motown great James Jamerson and jazz double bassist Ron Carter for his musical influences. Cuff admits that he is new to the blues world, but that hasn’t slowed him or the band down.
The band is not out to compare themselves to others, even though Ingmire has been held to the likes of Eric Clapton and Van Morrison.
“I am part of a product,” Ingmire said. “All American music is framed by the Mississippi River. I have Robert Johnson’s right hand, Jimi Hendrix’s left leg, and Dr. John’s butt.”
Studio albums are not of immediate concern. The men of “Voodoo” are holding out for a deal, not just a contract. And, Ingmire said he would like to offer downloads of the band’s songs for 49 cents on the Web instead of the normal 99 cents just to undercut the competition.
Fifteen to 20 minutes. That is all the time it takes for Ingmire’s words to hit the page and for a song to be born.
“1800HOPE” is one of those songs. Ingmire was inspired to write what he calls “a happy song about someone ripping his heart out of his chest” after a woman did just that to him. A 3 a.m. help-line number inspired the title of the song
For now the band is keeping itself busy with several Carolina stops throughout the summer. What comes after that is not their biggest concern.
“We all really desire money,” Ingmire said with a semi-joking snicker. “And to make good music.”
