Cosmic Lemons fit in anywhere

July 7, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

YOUNGSTOWN

Cosmic Lemons, an eight-piece band that blends elements of funk and ska with a lot of horns, seems to fit in anywhere.

Comprised of students at the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University, Cosmic Lemons formed a year ago and has been doing a lot of shows across the Midwest. The outfit has released an EP titled “Lift Off” (find it on iTunes), and will hit the studio this fall to record its first full-length album.

In the meantime, Cosmic Lemons will perform at the Summer Festival of the Arts (SFA) at YSU at 2 p.m. Saturday at the fountain amphitheater.

The act is also on the bill at the Revive Music and Art Festival July 16 at the B&O Station grounds in Youngstown.

Michael Barkett, trumpet player for the Lemons, explained how they came to be.

“We were all listening to a ska band one day and decided to put something together with horns and a rhythm section, because there wasn’t too much around here like that, and we wanted to start playing in the area,” he said.

The band’s first show was a last-minute gig at Chipper’s in Austintown in June 2015, and their next one – which served as their introduction to the area – was at last summer’s SFA.

Since then, the act caught on quickly. In addition to Barkett, the members are Justin Randall, trumpet; Alex Miller, saxophone; Colton Randall, trombone and vocals; Anthony Kunovic, electric guitar; Frank Poncar, bass; John Vitullo, drums; and Nathan Negro, percussion.

The band’s that were the early influences on the Cosmic Lemons were Grammy-winning jazz act Snarky Puppy and ska band Streetlight Manifesto. But the Lemons quickly evolved into their own sound.

“A lot of [our music] insn’t jazzy or ska, but a funk-groove based sound,” said Barkett.