The Three F's 10-year tradition began with burgers at The Branch.
Brett Fitzgerald and Matt Farinelli convinced their manager to let them play one night. And the night turned out to be even more music-filled.
Fitzgerald, drummer for The Three F, said the original members were Matt Farinelli, John Fitt, and himself.
“It was really just kind of an idea,” Fitzgerald said. “Matt, John, and I used to go out to grandma's attic a couple of times and play jazz. We had people from the jazz lab and the director of the jazz lab come and play saxophone with us. We had so much fun doing that that we thought, “Well, why not go to The Branch?''
After consulting with their manager, the group began performing at The Branch every Tuesday night for several years.
Fitzgerald said they played all kinds of music at the time, but their main focus was jazz. Farinelli then welcomed his father, Carl, into the band and incorporated some blues and Cajun songs. Matt then left the group to play with another band in Nashville, and Joe Mack also now plays with the band.
According to 3F guitarist Carl Farinelli, the band has undergone several changes over the years, and the band's name has occasionally changed from The 3Fs. To the four F's. To Joe Mack and Three F. It depends on who is playing in the group.
“The current setup is John Fitt on piano, Carl Farinelli on guitar, harmonica, fiddle, Joe Mack on bass, and me on drums,” Fitzgerald said.
The group had been performing at crawfish festivals for several years, initially playing all kinds of music, but one night no Cajun band showed up.
“A band that was supposed to come from New Orleans didn't show up, but they asked us, 'Do you know Cajun music?'” And Carl is 100% Cajun, so we played that set. I used it to play Bourbon Street from A to Z. It was a lot of fun,” Fitzgerald said.
This led the group to play more Americana, and what Farinelli calls “swamp boogie.”
“That's kind of where we've come to now. We mainly play what's called swamp boogie. Some people call it swamp rock or swamp pop or whatever they want. I’m there,” Farinelli said. “It includes older Zydeco and Cajun songs, as well as more modern songs.”
Although the group has gone through some changes over the years, Threeev still focuses on having fun performing.
“It's also a really, really fun band,” Fitzgerald said. “I think that's what the audience likes most about us. They know we're having fun, and they're having fun with us. That's the key. As long as I enjoy it, I’m going to keep doing it.”
what's next
Three F's will be performing at the Crayfish Festival on April 12th at 6:45pm and April 13th at 3:15pm. They will also be performing at the Red Fern Festival at The Branch on April 27th from 10pm.