Do U Want It? at New Orleans Film Fest Oct 18th
It's been four years since Papa Grows Funk's final historic show at Tipitina's on June 29th, 2013. Filmmakers Josh Freund and Sam Redutsky wanted to make a simple "Thank You YouTube" video to commemorate our thirteen years of Mondays. That video evolved into a 92...
Papa joins Little Feat in Jamaica
Dreams do come true! Bill Payne, Little Feat's legendary keyboardist, called me and asked me if I would fill in for him with Little Feat for a week long event in January. He was contractual obligated to play with The Doobie Brothers that same week and was unable to...
Do Facebook Stats Mean Anything?
I was asked if facebook/social media stats measured progress and/or success. here's my answer.... my thought on measuring stats/content is this. Do people show up at my shows? that is the bottom line. when papa grows funk was playing every monday night, my goal was...
Words to Live By
"It is the hardest of roads and the steepest of climbs but the reward of accomplishment will rise to the top and last forever." This was a comment I made on a friend's Facebook post challenging other musician's to be creative and to quit bitchin' about playing gigs...
Gumbo
"New Orleans music is like a pot of gumbo, where all of these different ingredients are thrown into the pot and what comes out is a s unique as the cook stirring the it. I play New Orleans music." this is a common analogy to describe New Orleans music. It's overused...
A nice quote…
It's nice to be recognized for the hard work that gets put in year, after year, after year. John “Papa” Gros is a bedrock New Orleans artist, a keyboardist, singer and songwriter who draws on funk, rhythm & blues and Americana songcraft; he also knows his way around...
I am very energized ….
I am very energized with the new band because I am able show a more complete picture of who I am as a musician. There are funk songs, rock n roll songs, heart-breaking ballads, and even a reggae tune. With Papa Grows Funk, I was known for playing the Hammond B3, but...
I’m Excited About Music…
In 2005, I was totally focused on keeping Papa Grows Funk together after Hurricane Katrina. There was grave uncertainty about the future of New Orleans as a city. I made a commitment to the guys that we would keep working and find a way through the worst scenario New...
New Orleans is My Home
Being a native New Orleanian has been an honor and a responsibility, especially as a musician. As a child, I grew up in Baton Rouge, 80 miles upriver from New Orleans. I was lucky enough to have New Orleans as a second home, because my Mom would bring me to stay at my...