ABOUT
CUBANSTACK
"Menagerie" is the first official CUBANSTACK release in 20 years. Eric Martinez and Josh Stack's musical partnership has spanned decades and brings new material to the masses.
In December of 2000, at a Widespread Panic show, Eric Martinez handed Josh Stack a cd, "Under the Rug." Stack said "Can you do this for my songs...in case I get hit by a bus."
A couple weeks later, Stack drove across the Potomac from Leesburg, Virginia to Kensington, Maryland, where he and Eric Martinez started a recording project.
This was intended only for Stack to lay down the few originals he'd written. They soon discovered that they had chemistry and proceeded to write and record 10 songs.
In May 2002, they began playing open mics around town and getting their sea legs as an acoustic duo. And then, while attending the first Bonnaroo, they were offered a festival gig at the Wilderness Jam. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Tom White joined the band in August 2002, adding percussion to the mix. They picked up a monthly gig at Ragtime Bar & Grill in Arlington, and packed the joint. Bass player Jason Woodle jumped on board in February of 2003 and the backline was completed later that summer with the addition of Chris "Mik" Mikula, recently of Madonna's Maverick Records.
CUBANSTACK is a no frill rock n roll band that quickly lit up the DC club scene.
This lineup was relatively short lived, but Martinez and Stack maintained their musical connection, writing and recording and gigging, even if it was just the two of them.
Eric went on to join Bloodkin and the Jackmormons, respectively, gaining notoriety as a sought after lead guitarist and songwriter in the Denver music scene and beyond. He even ended up onstage with Widespread Panic in 2010 in Charlottesville, VA and did side gigs with the late Todd Nance and currently still does shows with Jojo Herrmann
But, CubanStack has remained. And their latest batch of songs is a new direction for them both.
Not to worry, it's still a no frills rock n roll outfit. That much will never change.