Whether they’re singing about free-spirited dancers, blue bossas or just giving audiences an alluring beat to move their bodies to, the Salsemos have jumped onto the stage as Knoxville’s first salsa band.
The Salsemos is a premier group of individuals with entirely different backgrounds but all brought together by their strong interest in salsa.
General manager and piano player Matthew Laney orchestrated a search for members just after the winter break, saying the search would’ve been sooner but with “everyone scattered during the holidays, it would’ve been difficult to put a band together.”
The Lee University alumnus was an instrumental music director at West Park Baptist Church for two-and-a-half years before joining the Air National Guard as a systems administrator. He became part of the choir group, majoring in music business. On his free time, Laney has studied different dancing styles, such as ballroom dancing, salsa, cha cha cha and bachata.
Salsemos made its debut at the Red Hot Valentine’s Party at the Flynn Dance Center back on Feb. 12, just a month and a half after the first rehearsal.
Among the recruits were UT students Kyle Bothof (saxophone), James Cook (trumpet), Steve Corrigan (percussion) and Bowman Townsend (percussion).
Townsend was asked what he thought about the idea of playing the Latin genre, and he replied that “the dancing’s real sexy.”
UT alumnus Craig Sowby (percussion), Gabe Noonan (bass), Hernando Gevera (trombone) and Freddy Vargas (vocals) were the other band members recruited.
Bothof said he liked the idea of playing salsa because it’s “a different style of music.”
“Watching people dance to our music was very motivational,” Cook said of his experience playing in the Salsemos’ debut.
When asked about what their favorite song to play was, the band members all looked at each other but then came to an agreement that it was “Sandunguera,” a song about a girl with a strong will to dance out on the floor with no means of resistance to those who dance with her.
Those in attendance enjoyed the performance put on by the new salsa band.
Maria Mares was among those who attended the Salsemos debut.
“The band played very well for a band in their debut,” Mares said. She said that hopefully the band can “grow more as they start to get out there.”
UT student Leigh Redmond also attended the salsa group’s debut and said the band was “fabulous” and that she was glad to hear, in particular, one of the group’s songs.
Mares and Redmond won’t have to wait long for an encore. The Salsemos will return to the Flynn Dance Center on Saturday as part of the “Knox Salsa Fest” hosted by the premier dancing studio SalsaKnox.
The band is only in its early stages, but Laney has been eager to help get the band’s name out there. The salsa band’s general manager said he is “working on a (great) show to get us going.”
Any information regarding the Salsemos can be found by reaching Laney at [email protected].
