Motenko’s sound soars with a spirit reminiscent of a different time. The soul band out of Austin, TX combines classic feel with modern urgency – bringing honest emotion to the forefront and soaking it in unmistakable groove. Sweet and vivid, sincere and jubilant, Motenko will move your heart and your feet.

Motenko calls on the soul singers and funk rhythm sections of the late 1960’s and early 70’s but does not seek to imitate. Instead, the 4-piece combines classic and contemporary, creating something that is true to who they are as modern musicians. They move smoothly between songs reminiscent of Bill Withers, Dr. John, and D’Angelo. Motenko’s music comes from a place of personal connection rather than admiration; collectively the band members deliver that authenticity to the crowd.

In early 2018, front man Micah Motenko started a project centered around the music he loved as a child. “I wanted it to sound like the music I listen to between gigs, like the music I first fell in love with, that made me want to play in the first place.” Micah wrote his first songs while living in Cleveland in 2015 working as a high school music teacher.

“I had just been through a bad break up, I felt no sense of direction in my life. I felt like I had been trying to please everyone else without paying attention to what I needed; I felt really frustrated. The songs that came out of me felt defiantly groovy. They centered me and made me feel empowered to take charge of my life; and they made me want to dance.”

Motenko’s first release features songs grounded in emotional integrity. Communicating fundamental truths about loss, loneliness, connection and unbridled joy, the songs take you to a space where you feel free to lay your feelings bare, shedding the layers that have been keeping you from being unapologetically yourself. Sincere and sensitive, the songs are just enough to leave you wanting more...which is why you play it again and again.

Motenko is the union of instrumentalists who have spent years backing up various artists spanning many different genres in the busy Austin music scene. Together, they play songs that tap into their own musical roots, evoking the genres that inspire them. Their energy on stage follows suit – they constantly interact and play off one another, making each performance as dynamic and playful as a conversation between long-time friends.

The band is led by Micah Motenko playing wicked keys, with a voice like a hot knife cutting through cold butter—reminiscent of Sam Cooke with a little John Mayer thrown in. Lead guitar duties are left to Cat Clemons III, a young man with a big easy laugh and a staggering aptitude for fretboard gymnastics. Josh Flowers provides the foundation with his stalwart and nimble playing on the upright bass. The fourth member of Motenko is James Gwyn on drums, who’s tight technique provides a pocket so deep you could fit the rest of the band in it and still have enough room to jump in yourself.

All four of these kind and talented musicians are true staples of the Austin music scene, heralded for their musicianship and professionalism, and each of them can be found most nights on a stage somewhere in the city, supporting another project as only they can. But when they come together as Motenko, playing their own tunes free and easy, improvising, harmonizing, laughing, they make a kind of music magic that is joyful as it distinctive.