Tower of Power

at the Brown County Music Center March 18

~by Ryan Stacy

Funk music of the 1970s has never gone away. You’ll hear it on a TV commercial tonight, on the soundtrack of a movie you watch this weekend, and sampled by a rap or R&B artist next week. Stop in at a night spot in Bloomington or Indianapolis: you’ll hear seventies funk, through karaoke machines, from DJ booths, and on stages. At any wedding reception, bowling alley, or outdoor festival worth going to, at some point, you’ll hear seventies funk.

More important, on March 18 you’ll hear—and see, and feel—seventies funk at the Brown County Music Center, when giants of the genre Tower of Power make the only Indiana appearance of their 2022 tour. The tenpiece will bring the funky rhythms in the way only they can do it, offering our community a rare opportunity to experience the real deal.

Tower of Power don’t play seventies funk. They are seventies funk. Along with James Brown, Parliament, and the Ohio Players, their relentless rhythms and magnificent horn section carved out an instantly recognizable, irresistibly danceable style of American music. The foundations of the Tower were laid in Oakland, California in the late 1960s, when saxophonists Emilio Castillo and Doc Kupka, together with bassist Rocco Prestia, set their sights on playing the Fillmore in San Francisco, the epicenter of hippie culture.

“We started adapting to the times, growing our hair out,” says Castillo. Over time, their band grew as well, eventually to ten players. Castillo and Kupka were the group’s main songwriters, and by the mid-1970s, they’d established themselves as a funk powerhouse, with five albums and a string of hit singles including “You’re Still a Young Man,” “So Very Hard to Go,” and “What Is Hip?”

But being musical pioneers wasn’t always easy. “We made every mistake known to man,” laughs Castillo, referring to ToP’s earlier days. Something must have gone right, however, because, while most other bands have crashed and burned, the Tower has been standing as a funk icon for over five decades. Although the band’s lineup has changed somewhat over the years, with Castillo and Kupka steering the ship (Prestia passed away in 2020), there’s been a steady stream of albums, mostly of new material—and no let-up in playing live.

“It’s like clockwork,” Castillo says of his touring schedule. “At least 200 days of shows a year. My bag is always packed.” With his band no longer in the same city (Castillo’s lived in Arizona for over twentyfive years now), touring can be a bit of a logistical struggle. But they make it work: rehearsing as a full group is often done on tour at soundchecks, or in Los Angeles when they can all meet there.

All the hard work is more than worth it. “Any night can be a great night,” Castillo says. “Most of the time, it’s not work. It’s just enjoyment.” And the band, he relates, has become his family. “I’m tighter with these guys than I am with my own brothers. I need to lean on them for their help, and they’re always there for me.”

On this tour, the group welcomes a new member of the ToP family that you may recognize. Mike Jerel, a contestant on The Voice, signed on recently as the new lead vocalist, and Castillo’s excited. “I heard him sing ‘It’s a Man’s World’ by James Brown, and we reached out. We’ve been talking to him for two years because we were looking for a singer, and then the pandemic happened.”

Tower of Power may have played for huge crowds, but Castillo doesn’t expect the show in Brown County to lack any of the energy they’re known for. It’s exciting to play a smaller venue, he says, because the crowd is so close to the performers. “From an audience perspective, it’s nice to be in there with the group. There’s nothing like seeing ten guys just blowing right in your face.”

For more information on the Tower of Power concert, contact the Brown County Music Center box office at 812-988-5323, or visit their website at <browncountymusiccenter.com>.