Biography

UZO (Formerly Uncle Otter) is a four piece Funk Fusion band. Their music spans from San Francisco style funk to 70's funk fusion. As Uncle Otter (trio) they played the bar traveling jam band circuit for over 10 years. They began in a basement at 36 S. Queen St, Shippensburg, PA back in 1997. A drunken patron of the party house blurted out, when asked what should we name ourselves, "Uncle Otter!" Assuming it was a relative to Emmett Otter, which is probably what he wanted to say. So the name stuck! Uncle Otter teamed up with the bands Woodstew and the Vibe under Farmhouse Productions. They continued to play frat parties, festivals and all of the bar hot spots from Philadelphia all the way down through Maryland and Delaware. Uncle Otter made a name for themselves as a high energy three-piece. Their music prior to the millennium was your typical jam band genre with a three-piece attitude. In December of '99 after a terrible experience at Doc Watson's in Philadelphia. The Otter split up. Uncle Otter continued to make music in the studio but was very bitter to the live scene. They continued to forge a new sound, taking the best elements of their live shows and turning them into something new. Smoldering up from the ashes of what used to be Uncle Otter appeared their version of funk fusion! Uncle Otter put out a studio album called Catawampus in 2000 and continued to thrive with their follow-up, The Return, in 2003. By 2004 it was time to take their new sound on the road. 2006 brought about the album "Ionic Debris". In 2008 the band expanded from a trio to a quartet by adding keyboards as a permanent part of the mix. This prompted the name change. UZO is currently in the studio and recording their latest album, "The Demotion of Pluto" Expect a new host of shows in the 2009.