Ten Ton Chicken - Berkeley, California
By Pat Ferris

Always admiring the amount of effort that goes into building the name for a band, I found out about Berkeley California band, Ten Ton Chicken, through a steady stream of advertising listing where the band was playing and some of the reviews that were being written about them

Sounding like a cross between The Grateful Dead and King Crimson, Ten Ton Chicken's extended jams (known by their fans as "chicken soup") are light on the lyrics, but was more than compensated by their incredible musicianship and improvisational skills. 

The description at their webpage describes what comes to mind when I think of San Francisco bands:

"Ten Ton Chicken released itself from it's shelled confines, 888 days ago in a fury of feathers and funk. Best known for their extra crispy brand of improvisational "Chicken Soup". Their shows are filled with energy, frenetic peaks of improvisation, powerfully deep funk, writhing, sweating, dancing bodies, bhs everywhere, culminating in a musical stew that becomes absolutely unglued, swirling through the eddies and currents of a hundred musical tide pools..." 

Bass, drum and guitar with Hammond organ and saxophone make their sound unique enough to be interesting, while simultaniously crossing the genre boundries of rock and jazz, creating an aural sensation (recommend headphones with their music).

They  have a busy schedule and have been doing a lot of shows including upcoming 420 Conscious Cooking Festival, an Earth Day celebration and a Cannabis Freedom Day festival all in the next month.

I'd like to get a taste of Ten Ton Chicken and Phish together for a real buffet of musical improvisation.

For more information on Ten Ton Chicken, CLICK HERE