Tamarindo Band History - by Tom Funk

When asked about their rise to popularity, have you ever heard a popular artist, actor or public personality say something like: “I didn’t plan for this to happen, it just did!”? Have you ever wondered if it’s really true? Well, to the extent that the Tamarindo Band is popular, in our case, it is true. We didn’t plan for this to happen, it just did!

To trace our story, let’s go back to April, 2008. The Tamarindo Foundation was hosting its first “Coffee House Fundraiser” at Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis. Knowing that there were a large number of musicians (mainly amateur, but more on that later) with involvement in the Foundation, it was decided that we would provide our own entertainment. The “Tamarindo Band” was formed and played for what turned out to be the Foundation’s most successful fundraiser to date. Not that raising money is what the Tamarindo Band is exclusively about. It turns out that the Band members have great fun together, love to play together, and somehow magically transmit that feeling to its audience.

After that first fundraiser, we still didn’t consider ourselves “A Band” or anything that concrete. We were a collection of like-minded friends, family and musicians who occasionally came together and then dispersed to our regular lives.

As time went on, we were asked to play at more and more events. Typical gigs have included an evening at a few local bar/restaurants, birthday parties, high school faculty Christmas parties, parish fundraisers and, most recently, at a “Tune The Hall” performance at the world-class Palladium in Carmel, Indiana. We always pass on all of the income that we receive to the Foundation, which has totaled about $6,000.00 thus far. We like it that way.

A typical performance would include tunes from the likes of Johnny Cash, Elvis, Jimmie Buffet, John Lennon, Willie Nelson, Wayland Jennings, Old Crow Medicine Show and a number of originals by Mary Sukup or John Funk. It is not unusual for folks to sing along and for the occasional guest artist to appear.

The Band is composed of:

Chris Dietrick - Acoustic and lead guitar; vocals.

Chris Funk - Percussion. Brother of Ryan Funk and cousin of John Funk.

John Funk - Acoustic and electric guitar; vocals; occasional percussion. Son of Tom Funk.

Mary Sukup - Acoustic guitar; lead vocals.

Mike Qualters (“Q”) - Lead vocals. Current president of the Tamarindo Foundation.

Ryan Funk - Acoustic guitar, vocals.

Tom Funk - Bass guitar, vocals.

Many of the band members have traveled to El Salvador and all except Mary Sukup, (who hails from Wyoming) are graduates of Bishop Chatard High School in Indianapolis. None of the band members are professional musicians except for Mary Sukup, who has been a music teacher for many years and has performed in many venues. Our guest artists have included Jim Funk (father of Ryan and Chris and brother of Tom) and Dawn Sukup (daughter of Mary). At the Palladium in January of this year and at our first Coffehouse Fundraiser, we had the pleasure of being joined by singer/songwriter Liz Fohl who is living and performing in Los Angeles after attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

So the phenomenon of the Tamarindo Band really is something that “just happened” and continues to happen for the benefit of our friends in El Salvador and our fans here in central Indiana.