Blue Tongue

Austin-based funk fusion collective Blue Tongue’s music is served with equal parts funk, psych and electrifying live performances. Now for the average band, “electrifying” means solid musical chops and maybe a few jumps. But if you’re irrepressible Blue Tongue frontman Tre Pham (guitar, vocals), it also includes actual gymnastics of the backflip and splits nature. Combine that with drummer Matt Keiser’s mastery of groove and cavernously deep pockets, Rowan Smoot’s muscular slap bass artistry and Savannah Thieme’s buoyant synth textures, the infallibly tasteful Renuka Jayasinghe on saxophone, and the additional colors of guitarist Lee Chavez, now you have a Show. With live shows this dynamic, it’s no surprise that opportunities abound in the form of festivals, national tours and club shows opening for beloved acts like Ghost Funk Orchestra (twice), Giacomo Turra, and Snarky Puppy spin off band Ghost Note. In fact, a recent west coast tour culminated in a stellar official performance at NAMM (the popular music industry convention) in Anaheim, and a recent performance included an after party show immediately following Vulfpeck at Stubb’s. The band’s sonic exploration is supported by an impressive lineup of endorsements, including ADV-Sound, Marco Bass Guitars, and Tsakalis Audioworks. But Blue Tongue's collaboration with an Austin-based hot sauce company might be their most unique partnership yet, boasting a limited edition salsa with local salsa masters, Fantastic Fuego, with whom they produced a blue colored hot sauce called ‘Blumitas’ based on the garlic, serrano, habanero, corn and basil Chilean dish called Humitas.” Spunky and self-sufficient, the band has their own recording studio where Pham taught himself production and mixing, so they could keep creating at will on a modest budget. This kind of magnetic tenacity shines through not just in Blue Tongue’s music, but in their overall approach in navigating their steady ascension. As the indefatigable Pham sums up, "Through enough effects, pedals, creatine, and sheer determination, anything is possible.