 Raised
on their parent's rock & roll, brothers
Tony and Damian Grasso are the heart of
Uncle Chunky.
"I was hitting the drums at five and
Tony was playing the guitar at six. We've
been pretending we are rock stars ever
since," states Damian Grasso,
frontman and co-songwriter for Uncle
Chunky.
Tony and Damian formed Uncle Chunky at an
open mic in 1990. "There's really no
good explanation for the name. Uncle
Chunky was just a brain fart that sounded
cool," explains Tony Grasso, lead
guitar, vocalist and co-songwriter.
Not happy to just groove, the Grasso's
strive to write music that touches on the
meaningful moments in life. "My
brother and I are focused on songwriting
that works from your head to your toes. We
want our audience to move and be
moved," states Damian.
Uncle Chunky's
originals show off the bands'
versatility and command of a wide variety
of styles including classic and modern
rock, reggae, blues, soul, funk, and DC's
own go-go. "We take our fans on a
tour from the soul ballad 'Peaceful
Surrender' to the low-down funk of 'Your
Momma'. And it's always a good ride,"
says Tony.
On bass guitar is Tom Kirk, whose melodic
bass lines, complete the unique Chunky
sound. Currently, the band draws from
a pool of talented drummers including
Brandon Finley (Dog Eat Dog, Chuck Brown,
Queen Latifah), and Barry Sherrard (Black
Sheep, Robert Lighthouse, Orange Whip).
Uncle Chunky has played hundreds of live
shows at Washington's best and worst
live music venues including the 9:30 Club,
Black Cat, various DC street festivals,
and local colleges. "We've been
called DC's hardest working band. I don't
know about that, but I think we've played
everywhere in the DC area and probably
more than once," says Damian.
After
twelve years, Uncle Chunky finally released
their first CD this past February to a
sold out crowd of cheering fans.
"We're all committed to working hard
to take this band to the next level. Uncle
Chunky is ready for more than Washington,
a lot more," states Damian.
|
