Garbanotas Bosistas (Curly Bassist), the psychedelic rock / indie folk fivesome from Vilnius, Lithuania, is a proof that the old hippie ideas of love, peace and rock'n'roll can find their place in today's Baltic music scene. The band was formed by two brothers, Mantas (solo guitar) and Šarūnas (rhythm guitar, vocals) Joneikis, whose first guitar teachers were franciscan monks from a local church. Their first stage appearances were with a Christian band. But then the unexpected happened - the brothers discovered psychedelic rock. In 2008 they started as Garbanotas Bosistas, retro rockers, modern enough for indie kids to like them. The band had a curly bass player then. Garbanotas Bosistas was soon dubbed "Lithuanian Led Zeppelin" because of the similarity between Šarūnas' and Robert Plant's vocals, but eventually their music became lighter and more indie oriented. If you go to the band's gig now, you'll hear both the trippy, 60's inspired rock'n'roll and the folky sound reminding of modern indie bands such as Fleet Foxes. Due to their energetic live shows and positive attitude Garbanotas Bosistas became one of the cornerstone bands of today's rock music scene in Lithuania and the Baltics. They played almost every music festival in Lithuania, performed at TEDx conference in Wroclaw (Poland), had a successful show in Positivus (Latvia), the biggest festival in the Baltic countries. In 2014 Garbanotas Bosistas performed in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the annual Lithuanian Days festival. In 2012 the band recorded and self-released their first EP Venera which received positive reviews in local media. Currently they are working on their first LP which is expected to be out in 2015. Garbanotas Bosistas now consists of 5 members: the Joneikis brothers, Gabrielė Tamutytė (backing vocals), Kipras Pugačiauskas (bass) and Jonas Narbutas (drums). They may no longer have a curly bass player on stage, but the band's passion for sharing love, freedom and the music that connects it all remains the same. http://www.garbanotasbosistas.lt
