Wooten Brothers On Playing Music Together, How They’ve Evolved

The Wooten Brothers – Regi Wooten, Roy “Futureman” Wooten, Victor Wooten and Joseph Wooten – continue to enjoy making music together as they each pursue their separate careers. The brothers united for a good cause on Dec. 15 at New York’s Highline Ballroom for a benefit concert benefiting Dreamality, a group which supports music education in the schools.

The Wooten Brothers

These days, Victor, a living legend on the bass, plays with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and works as a music educator. Futureman plays drums for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones with Victor, but has an impressive solo career as well. Joseph continues to serve as the keyboardist for the Steve Miller Band. Regi, who has been compared to the likes of Jimi Hendrix, performs with other artists and teaches music in Nashville, Tenn.

“It’s a special event when we get together,” Joseph told uInterview about him and the rest of the Wooten Brothers, who’ve been playing together since their early childhoods.

“I can’t not remember playing. I can’t remember not playing with them,” said Victor, the youngest of the brothers, who first picked up a bass at 2 years old. “They’re the ones that taught me.”

Victor, who learned the bass from guitarist Regi, added, “Growing up, we played together all the time, so we really knew how each other thought and worked.”

Over the years, the musicality of the brothers has evolved, mirroring the way they’ve grown as people. Their musical evolution has also been a product of each of them furthering their skills on their respective instruments.

“When you start out and you’re born with the personality that you have. The same way a personality grows your music grows,” Joseph said. “Music changes as you get better.”

Victor added, “Since we’ve grown up and developed our own careers, everyone has gone off and seen the rest of the world. When we come back together, it makes it even better. We now have other influences that we can bring back to each other.”

Futureman, who says that all of the brothers are genuine fans of each other, believes that while their journeys together and apart thus far have been vital, the best is yet to come.

“We started at a young age. We going to catch the Rolling Stones, man. So Mick Jagger, watch out, man. We right behind you,” Futureman quipped, adding, “It’s been a lifelong journey of love, just living this life of music and letting it take us around the world. It’s been a good journey.”

You can donate to Dreamality here.