East to West Coast Indie Band Dysfunctional Family Jazz Band

Indie Band Dysfunctional Family Jazz Band members are Patty Carpenter {vocalist & keyboard}, Melissa Shetler – vocalist, Scotty Shetler {tenor sax, clarinet, baritone, penny whistle, and even mandolin}, and Travis Light {bass}. This represents a snap shot of an extremely talented musical family blinding genres and fusions of Americana, Jazz, and Folk. They have been compared to Billie Holiday, The Neville Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones, The Levon Helm Band to name a few.

The musical mélange here puts the funk in dysfunctional. Patty studied Jazz at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with the great Archie Shepp and Max Roach, and was heavily influenced by many great women artists from Joan Baez and Roseanne Cash to Billie Holiday and Carmen McCrae. Scott was nearly born with a mandolin in his hand and is now a fantastic windbag. He has also scored big as a songwriter, co-writing the Jon Bon Jovi hit “Show Me the Way” with Mighty Sam McClain. Melissa danced to Coltrane from the moment she could walk and has a deep love of African and Latin music and harmony. Travis has had a fascinating journey to discovering his love of the bass guitar. The soulful, grooving result of this massive mix is kind of crazy, and kind of brilliant.

Many of the themes of their music and activism are reflections of their life on the farm, including the priority of nature and the natural world and their passionate involvement in the anti-nuclear, peace, and environmental movements.