Bill Engebretson Leader, Drums
Some might consider growing up in a small rural town such as Glenwood, Minnesota to be limiting. But Bill says that musically he was exposed to a wide variety of styles at an early age. Thanks to his parents the recordings of Doc Evans, Buddy Rich, and Ray Charles were frequently heard around the house. "I also liked rock oriented music and listened to Jethro Tull, Yes, Rush, and a host of other groups. I didn't really care what style of music it was - just as long as it was good."
Like many others just starting out, Bill gained his early experience in the school band programs and also through private piano lessons. Although piano and the concert band were of interest, he began gravitating towards the drum kit and jazz program. Eventually, Bill bought a kit and began performing with local groups in the area. "That was around 1981. It was a real growth period for me because the musicians in these bands were older and a lot more experienced than I was. Luckily, they were very patient and offered a lot of useful advice that really shaped my playing early on."
After graduating in 1985, Bill enrolled at St. Cloud State University and studied classical percussion under Morris Brand. Morris had studied with Fred Hinger - the former principal percussionist for the Philadelphia Orchestra and former timpanist for the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. "I took a lot of the things Morris had learned from Fred and applied them to the drum kit. Like pulling the sound out of drum rather than pounding sound into the drum."
In 1988 Bill moved to Minneapolis and spent the next fourteen years powering a variety of Twin City groups and artists including No Warning, The Dirty White Boyz, Hip Bone, Elijah Blue Band, 2nd Generation and Don King. Bill has shared the stage with such artists as Chicago's Barbara LeShoure, Twin City legend Cornbread Harris, and 1991 W.C. Handy Best Single Record co-recipient, Curtis Blake. Bill has opened for national country recording artists Brad Paisley and Don Williams, and was a 2005 University of Minnesota Morris featured drum set artist. In 2011, he appreared with the Joe Carucci Trio on the popular PBS series, Pioneer Presents. Bill has also performed at various festivals in Minnesota including Winstock, WE Fest, and Moon Dance Jam.
Although Bill enjoyed the wide variety of music he was performing in the Twin Cities, he decided to move his family back to Glenwood in 2002. "Naturally, the music scene wasn't comparable to that of the larger city. So the only way to make it happen was to form a band of my own. In Funky Gumbo, we play a lot of blues, funk and R&B covers. But we usually take them way out. I'm playing my versions of classic grooves by Ray Charles, The Meters, James Brown, Average White Band, Stevie Wonder, and many others. I'm very happy with the band because my drumming style - which is decidedly funky with a good dose of jazz thrown on top - is able to really shine through. Most importantly, we stay pretty busy!"
