Gringo Star is not to be confused with the popular drummer who replaced Pete Best in the Beatles and now refuses to sign autographs, Ringo "Peace and Love, Peace and Love" Starr. Gringo Star is actually the name of an indie-rock outfit from the fine Southern city of Atlanta.
But before the band started touring and generating the delightful sound of media buzz a few years ago, members of the working-class gang paid their dues like so many other artists before them: They worked at restaurants. And true to kitchen tradition, the group earned its clever nickname at the workplace.
"When we started, we were all working in kitchens around town with mostly Mexican guys, and of course, we were called gringo a lot," Gringo Star cofounder Nicholas Furgiuele recalled in a recent interview with Atlanta Music Guide. "So, we decided we'd mock our whiteness."
These three alt Anglos are heading even farther South tonight to take over Respectable Street's Thursday-night wild and crazy dance party, Flaunt.
Gringo Star, 10 p.m. Thursday, July 18, at Respectable Street, 518 Clematis St., West Palm Beach. No cover. Call 561-832-9999, or visit respectablestreet.com.
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