Flow Tribe was founded in 2004 by six students at New Orleans' Brother Martin High School, who began writing music and playing live shows together while still in school. After graduation, the group went their separate ways, but Hurricane Katrina brought each member back to their hometown to help rebuild — and revived the band with a new mission: to bring the next generation of New Orleans' unstoppable rhythm and passion to the world.
Flow Tribe's sound, which the band has dubbed "backbone cracking music," fuses second-line brass, Afro-Cuban and Caribbean rhythms, funk, rock, R&B, jazz, and hip-hop into a distinctive, danceable style Relix Magazine called "bizarrely irresistible." The band's lineup has included K.C. O'Rorke (lead vocals, trumpet), Chad Penot (bass), Bryan Santos (guitar), John-Michael Early (percussion, harmonica, keyboard), Mario Palmisano (guitar), and Scott Sibley (drums). A September 2010 appearance on MTV's The Real World: New Orleans introduced the band to a national audience, with cast member Sahar Dika joining them for three songs at a Tipitina's concert.
Since 2010, Flow Tribe has headlined main stages at the Voodoo Music Experience and French Quarter Festival and played the Acura Main Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, alongside regular appearances at the Gretna Heritage Festival. Their 2017 album BOSS, produced by Cash Money Records legend Mannie Fresh, led the band to build their own Downman Sounds Studio, where they recorded "Keep Pushing," a collaboration with Ivan Neville of Dumpstaphunk and the Rolling Stones. More than 20 years and upwards of 120 shows a year later, Flow Tribe remains a New Orleans festival staple, bringing a traveling street parade feel to every performance.
