By Marty Dubecky, Staff Writer

The Funky Ducks, a band of all Xavier alumni, released their first full length studio album on Valentines Day. The album, “College Try” features 33 minutes of all original Funky Duck work.

Since they first met in a jazz ensemble class at Xavier, the Funky Ducks have been playing local show after local show, featuring an ever-expanding setlist of jam band tunes and technically challenging covers from a wide variety of artists. But now, with the release of their first studio album, the band has 10 original songs of similar variety to add to their live repertoire. 

After playing shows at venues like the Redmoor, Stanley’s Pub and Xavier Fest– among other live music local hangouts, the Ducks decided to sit down and write a cadre of original songs inspired by their old favorites. After about a year of writing and recording amidst live shows, they came out with “College Try,” a nod to their university origins. 

In addition to playing together any time they could and in between writing and recording, the band also had to navigate their burgeoning adulthood. Member of the Funky Ducks and Xavier alum Logan Herrera spoke about the album writing and recording process. 

“With some members of the group starting jobs or grad school in the fall, the mixing and editing delayed the rest of the release until this February,” Herrera said. “Long story short, it’ll take less time next time around.”

The album boasts songs from a variety of different genres and influences. The album starts with melodic, riff driven songs like “Right Then” and “Alright.” It then slows down with the soulful “Lavender Hills” and gets funky with “Water” and “Snowed In.” Then the Ducks depart from their recognizable sound with two story songs: “The Tale of Charlie Hyde” (a western ballad) and “Chips” (the story of a local cantina set to salsa). 

“It was a complete collaborative process, which really contributes to the wide range of sounds,” Herrera said, ”each member of the band wrote their own tracks for the album.”

To write “The Tale of Charlie Hyde,” the band said they were inspired, after watching the film “The Highwaymen” to write a song about Bonnie and Clyde to the tune of a murder ballad like “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” by Jim Croce.

“We ended up writing our own storyline for that as well. (We) added in elements from the Prohibition, the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression,” Herrera stated. 

Of all the songs on the album, the last track, “Chips,” was the first original written by the band. The music came first for this track, as the band wished to create a salsa-style song.

“It started as an idea to write a salsa tune and call it Chips or Guac,” Herrera said.

With the initial idea, the band then dove into Latin influences to put together the unique sound of the song.

“We borrowed a lot from Latin influences, particularly the keyboard montuno pattern. We put a rock-influenced riff on top of a traditional flamenco style chord progression, and the storyline at the restaurant followed quickly after that,” Herrera said.

The album runs for a little less than an hour. Each song was recorded, edited and mixed by the band themselves. All 10 songs are unique, showcasing the abilities of the individual members. The vocalist is ever-changing, the mixing changes to the mood and genre of the song and the band never shies away from a solo or two. 

The Funky Ducks plan on recording some live albums in the future, featuring both their favorite covers and originals. In the meantime, their album “College Try” is streaming on Spotify and Apple Music. Their Instagram @funkyducksmusic has all the latest band updates. 

“It’s an amazing feeling to share something of our own with the world and to see how audiences react,” Herrera shared on behalf of the whole band.