Variety Pack

Variety Pack is: Charles Wicklander (keyboard/vocals), Evan Strauss (bass/vocals), Patrick Lenon (drums), Luke Knezevich (percussion), and Woody Frank (guitar/vocals). This group brings together widely diverse influences ranging from ritual healing music to Band of Gypsys, from Ween to African and Indian traditional musics. The fusion of these five unique musical personalities (on top of a solid grounding in funk, rock, jazz, and improv) results in songs that catch your ear and light up your brain.

Wicklander, Lenon, and Strauss, along with then-guitarist, Zach Meyer, founded Variety Pack as high-schoolers in the fall of 2005. Soon Meyer left and Woody Frank stepped in to meld his unique guitar and song writing abilities with the rest of the group. Within a year and a half, Variety Pack had recorded and self-released five CDs and were playing regular shows at Mr. Spot’s Chai House in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, WA.

Variety Pack’s sound is augmented by Luke Knezevich’s congas and timbales, giving their already eclectic mix another textured layer. The band’s latest self-release, “The Cadillac Walker EP” was recorded in summer 2007 and the title track has received airplay on WVTC (Vermont Technical College Radio).

Variety Pack is a sea of vital paradox. Within a single tune they may careen amongst Latin flavors, rocknroll textures, intricate polyrhythms, ambient wash and goodtime boogie, all underlined with an absurdist sensibility and straight-faced humor.