Junkyard Band Tickets

Junkyard Band in Concert

Junkyard Band came by their name honestly. Hailing from Washington, D.C.'s Barry Farms housing project, the group's preteen founding members grew up immersed in the sounds of go-go, the regionally popular style of funk that updated James Brown-style brass-band jams for the early-rap era. However, as they were lacking the means to purchase the horns, keyboards, and drums wielded by local heroes like Trouble Funk, the kids turned to what was readily available: plastic buckets, hubcaps, pots and pans, and other pieces of scrap they could thwack into a groove. 

Taking to the streets of D.C. and planting themselves outside popular tourist attractions, the eight-piece collective became busker sensations. They even appeared on TV commercials for local retailers and scored a cameo in the 1983 comedy ‘D.C. Cab.' But by the time they signed to Russell Simmons' hip-hop hotbed, Def Jam Recordings, in 1985, the Junkyard Band had outgrown the bucket-bashing novelty. They began to incorporate the more traditional drum-kit beats and low-end synth frequencies heard on their debut single "The Word," which epitomized the boisterous block-party atmosphere of old-school rap. The more frivolous flipside cut, "Sardines," became a dance-floor staple in its own right; the group can be seen performing the track in Run-DMC's 1988 feature film, ‘Tougher Than Leather.' Junkyard Band's Def Jam tenure would yield only that one buzz-generating single and, over the subsequent decades, the group would exist primarily as an onstage entity. And despite experiencing some tragedies along the way (the shooting death of drummer Heavy One in 1992, the loss of bassist Derek Colquitt in a 2015 motorcycle accident), the beat goes on for the Junkyard Band, with the group adhering to their same party-starting principles and infectious team spirit.