Lettuce

Lettuce is a funk band formed in 1992 when its members met as teenagers at a summer program at Berklee College of Music in Boston. The original lineup—guitarists Adam "Shmeeans" Smirnoff and Eric Krasno, drummer Adam Deitch, bassist Erick "Jesus" Coomes and saxophonist Ryan Zoidis—began jamming informally before reconvening as undergrads and building a following at Boston jazz clubs, drawing on heroes like James Brown, Tower of Power and The Meters. Over more than three decades the band has grown from Berklee dorm-room jam sessions into a modern funk institution, releasing nine studio albums and headlining major theaters and jazz festivals worldwide. Their Cincinnati show on August 21, 2026 continues the band's partnership with the nonprofit Music Is A Language, directing $1 from every ticket toward a scholarship at Berklee, the same school where Lettuce's members first came together. Expect the horn-driven, groove-heavy instrumental funk the band has built its reputation on across a quarter-century of touring.