For the thirteenth time in nine years, and in spite of the fact that, once again, they weren’t even asked to play the Center for Southern Folklore’s annual Music & Heritage Festival, local band “Confluence” is about to hit the big time, according to band founder and drummer Neil Downs.
Confluence has been a staple of the Memphis music scene since 2002, appearing at local clubs, area dives, and private parties. Downs describes the band’s sound as “a magical exploration of rock, country, reggae and jazz”.
“The record label guys started sniffing around in 2004, but the deal has always fallen apart because we want to keep our integrity,” said Downs while taking a break from his day job with a local tree service. “You can’t put a price on that, you know?”
According to Downs, despite repeated deals going South with major labels for reasons involving “creative control,” “money issues,” and “weird vibes”, Confluence is going to go big in the next few months. “Yeah, we’ve been approached by a major label to do a three CD deal,” Downs said. “This time it’s for real.”
Other members of Confluence are not as optimistic. “I don’t know,” said guitarist Paul Fret. “Last time Neil told us the deal fell apart because they wanted us to do the Tonight Show, and Neil thinks Leno is a ‘stooge,’ so he refused to do it. And in 2010 he told us the A&R guys pulled out because of an argument over book rights. We don’t even write books. I don’t know, man. I don’t know.”
According to Downs, Confluence will be headlining at Coachella next April in advance of the release of the first album under the three CD deal that he says is all but certain to go down.
“But, hey, if anything does go wrong, Confluence will be rocking out that weekend at our regular El Banditos gig in Raleigh,” Downs added.
