The Real Nasty


The Real Nasty is a Berkeley, California country/rock music-based band. Members are Ryan Lukas,Sean Williams and Brian Huston. The music has been described simply as "", and draws from a range of musical genres including bluegrass, world music, and country music.
In 2009, The Real Nasty was signed to Ninth Street Opus, an independent record label out of Berkeley, CA. They immediately released Paper City, a double disk album. The disks were EP's unto themselves as they each had their own title and genre. The Sticks contained country while Downtown was rock-based. In October 2010, the follow-up to Paper City was released. Strangers and Friends was described as compelling fusion of countrified rock. October 2011 saw the release of their third studio album, Dirty Dollars, which incorporates elements of rock, country, blues, funk, and soul.

History

The Real Nasty was formed in Berkeley, California, in 2009. Groopman and Smith were also part of the San Francisco-based Afrobeat band, . Lukas later joined Groopman and Smith to form The Real Nasty. Within one year, they were signed by .

Band members

Ryan Lukas attended the and has played bass professionally since 1996. His involvement in other projects include Persephone’s Bees, Alex Torres and His Latin Orchestra and the Brian Patneaude Quartet. Ryan also teaches bass at the .
Brian Huston began playing orchestral drums at age 11, started gigging in rock bands at age 16, and went on to earn his B.A. from Berklee College of Music in 2001, where he specialized in Funk/Jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and West African music.
Matthew "Smitty" Smith is a former member of ALBINO! and a student of West African master drummer . He was the original drummer, but now works as the band manager.

Albums