Sarah Clarke has always been singing. That hobby of singing since she was a kid turned into a profession, something that helped her hit the ground running when she joined Colorado-based funk, world-beat and jam band The Motet in 2023. At that point, they were already an established group with decades of club and festival dates under their belt, so when Clarke saddled up to the Dave Watts-led band, she was ripe and ready to make music.
The Motet will return to Durango on Sunday, performing at the Animas City Theatre.
Singing as a kid led to playing in bands, which is how she found her way to The Motet.
If you go
WHAT: Funk, jam, world beat with The Motet.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Sunday.
WHERE: Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive.
TICKETS: $45 plus fees.
MORE INFORMATION: www.animascitytheatre.com.
“When I was a kid, I think I annoyed my mom singing nonstop. In fact, I remember she made the mistake of giving me ‘The Little Mermaid’ soundtrack, and I screamed in her ear the entire time. I grew up in school choirs and studying more classical Western music, and then I took a really big break after high school. I formed a band about 10 or 11 years ago with some friends, and that band would open up for The Motet. That’s when I first met Dave and the guys doing a few runs here and there, around the West Coast,” Clarke said. “I think I’ve always been singing; not always professionally, that’s been about the last 10 years or so.”
She was a solid fit from Day One. Again, this is a band that has been banging out hard-hitting funk and then some for over 25 years; they’re as strong of an instrumental group as they are a band with a proper lead singer. For now, they remain both, a force of a band that can lay down funk-heavy grooves, while also being a band that also digs into vocal melody and lyrics. Drummer and band leader Watts remains stoked with her joining the band.
“We were messing around with the idea of doing instrumental music, which we had done quite a bit of over the years, but we really like having an actual voice there. We love vocals, we love lyrics and we love the way that brings the audience in, it gets people into the music even more. It wasn’t really that hard for her to jump in. She crushes it every time. Once we got Sarah in the mix it was like, forget about it, this is it, it wasn’t even a decision. It renewed energy for sure with the band,” Watts said. “Sarah is really good at learning our old music, so we don’t have to throw away songs. We’ve got all these songs written with other singers, and she crushes all of those. We fortunately are not having to start over, but at the same time we’re really focusing on moving forward. For us, it’s like making new music and making new records is really a priority.”
That priority resulted in their latest release, “Love Time,” which dropped back in November, a solid record for lovers of classic and gritty, 1970s era funk and 21st century funk and jam. From the opening track of “Job Site,” which remains a funk-heavy groove with Clarke’s thick vocals, to the closer in “Daydream,” which is a blast of dreamy psych-funk, the band is in a best of both musical worlds realm – there’s loads of rhythm that can stand on its own, while also supporting Clarke’s dynamite voice.
They also continue to look toward making new music.
“We’re constantly writing and working on music, so we already have some more tracks that we have started and almost finished for the next record,” Watts said. “We feel like it’s good to always kind of be in it, to exercise that muscle.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
