Tarbaby February was one of those bands that defied the norm and burned brightly in the early ’70s rock scene, blasting through the Southern music landscape with a mix of raw energy and relentless passion.

Born out of a reunion in Tallahassee between Brewster Banks and Patrick Muth, the band quickly grabbed the attention of the local scene, adding the fiery beats of drummer Walter Knoelke into the mix. Brewster, who swapped his piano for a bass guitar, became a fast-mastered dynamo, driving the band’s sound to new heights. Their breakthrough came with the single ‘Gotta Find Me A Woman,’ which shot to number one on WGLF’s chart, making waves and packing venues across a 300-mile radius, including an electrifying slot opening for Eric Carmen and the Raspberries in Panama City. Tarbaby February didn’t just perform—they took over the stage, setting records and blowing minds as the house band at the renowned “Trawlers” in Tallahassee. Their “Bullseye” album has to be one of the most overlooked gems of good old rock.

“The name “Tarbaby” was adopted because we thought it reflected our blues style of music influenced by black culture.”

Where and when did you grow up? Did you have a family music background?

Patrick Muth: I was born in 1949 in Detroit, Michigan, to a very musical family. Both of my aunts were piano teachers, and my dad was an awesome piano player who played all over Detroit and Michigan when he was in his 20s! On my grandmother’s side, the famous German composer Richard Wagner (pronounced Vagner) is in our direct bloodline, or so I’m told!

When did you begin playing music?

I played in my first piano recital when I was 4 years old. Every Christmas, all of our families would gather at my grandmother’s house, where she had a Steinway grand piano. Piano playing began in the morning with the youngest starting first, and then the older cousins and relatives playing, going all day long. It would always culminate with my two aunts playing last for the grand finale! Also, my dad had many parties at our house in the basement on the weekends, which were fantastic examples that if you sing, dance, and eat one of 8 or 10 different sandwiches on the table, alcohol has minimal effects! These blasts frequently lasted till 4 a.m.! Two people playing piano and three ladies singing at the same time with people dancing all around, don’t you know! When I was 7 years old, my family moved to Panama City, Florida, where the same tradition has continued to this day!

What bands were you and other members in before Tarbaby?

When I was 19, I started a band called “The Faculty” with my 17-year-old younger brother Tim and drummer Sam Hayes. We were popular because we played original songs and because I also played the harmonica while singing and playing electric guitar. All three of us sang!

While attending Florida State University, SAE fraternity brother Brewster Banks signed both he and I up for the FSU talent show—without my permission! I was furious! Brewster just laughed and told me the only thing I needed to worry about was how I was going to spend the first-place money! FSU had a large musical program and there were 155 entries, most of whom were music majors. Brewster signed himself up right before me. When it was his turn, he sat down at the grand piano, solemnly looked at the audience, held his hands up in the air, and then proceeded to randomly pound the hell out of any and as many keys as he could hit!

This cracked the audience and judges up with hysterical laughter! I went next and was selected as one of the ten finalists. The finals were held three days later at the famous Ruby Diamond Auditorium, and dang—I won first place! I got to play with Jerry Jeff Walker (“Mr. Bojangles”) at the Down Under coffeehouse on the FSU campus. There were no recordings of these early musical happenings, dang it!

Can you elaborate on the formation of “Tarbaby”?

Brewster and I both graduated the next year and went our separate ways—but not for long! About six months later, I was in Tallahassee, in Opperman Music Hall, playing the piano. I had finished a soulful song and was crying for some reason when I heard someone next door playing the piano. It was Brewster Banks—of all people! We spent the afternoon at his place out in the country on Old Bainbridge Road, and both of us agreed that if we were ever going to chase our dream of having a band, the time was perfect!

I moved back from Panama City to Tallahassee, moved in with Brewster on Old Bainbridge, and we started practicing right away. Brewster was a piano player, but we decided he should play bass guitar. So, Brewster bought a bass guitar and amp, and I’ve never seen anyone learn an instrument as fast as Brewster did! I swear, in four or five weeks, he mastered the bass guitar. My brother Tim, who was a seasoned bass player, absolutely couldn’t believe it!

We put an ad in the newspaper for a drummer, and the first person to answer it was none other than Walter Knoelke. Walter was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his father was also a drummer. The band was complete! We started practicing four to five hours a day, and in about two weeks, it was Showtime!! We played everywhere and anywhere we could set up! It didn’t matter if we got paid or not! Brewster and I had some very strong vocals, and people would say all the time that our vocals were killer!

How did you decide to use the name “Tarbaby”?

The name “Tarbaby” was adopted because we thought it reflected our blues style of music influenced by black culture. We added “February” because that’s the month we started playing! The response we got every time we played floored us!

You self-released a single and an album using the name Newsouth Recordings.

Not long after that, one night I was fooling around in my bedroom and had the weirdest feeling that the spirit of Jimi Hendrix was in my room, and this song just came right out of my guitar like—BOOM! There it was in an instant! I was so blown away that I called my brothers Mike and Tim in Panama City and told them, “Get over here!” They drove over the next day. When I played my new song ‘Gotta Find Me A Woman,’ they both said, “That will be a KILLER HIT!”

Brewster, Wally, and I worked it up in our three-piece band on guitar, bass, and drums, and everybody loved it! Brewster sang it. I played slide guitar on the song, which added a special “zing” to it. So we knew right away we wanted to record it, and we saved our money and booked Norm Vincent’s Studio in Jacksonville, Florida. We recorded ‘Gotta Find Me A Woman’ and ‘I Need Your Love’ the next month. We called our new label “Newsouth Recordings.”

When we got the 45 (vinyl) back from Nashville and started playing it for our friends, we knew we had something good. Next, we wanted to get it on the radio, which is not so easy! Brewster had another great idea! He got Tricia Spillan, who worked at the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper, to come and hear us at “The Hickory House” right up the street from the SAE fraternity house where we were playing. Tricia fell in love with us and our music. Three days later, she wrote us up in her music column in the paper. When the band saw the write-up, we ALL laughed out loud! She made it sound like we were the next Beatles! We let this drive build up for about two weeks while we got all of our friends to call the radio stations asking for them to play ‘Gotta Find Me A Woman.’

“We were booked for seven months solid”

Did you get any press?

After two weeks, I called WGLF radio and identified myself as the lead guitar player of “Tarbaby February”! I’ll never forget the response from the young receptionist who answered the phone—she said, “You guys are going to be famous! We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of calls asking to hear ‘Gotta Find Me A Woman!’”

Three days later, after a hard day of fixing toilets and pipes, still in my overalls, I was pulling up in my baby blue 1963 Buick LeSabre, in my driveway on Old Bainbridge Road, out in the country, and heard on WGLF radio, “Folks, we have a real treat for you today—a song called ‘Gotta Find Me A Woman’ by a new band right here from Tallahassee, Florida, called Tarbaby February.” Then they played it! YOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! I sat there—and listened—in Crazyland! They were playing a song that I had written—on the radio—over the air—where God and everybody could hear it!

Then—it went right to number ONE on the chart at WGLF! AND then!—ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE! Our phone started blowing off the hook! We were getting booked everywhere in a 300-mile radius from Tallahassee! And for LARGE amounts of money! We were booked for seven months solid! We backed up the number-one band at the time, “Eric Carmen and the Raspberries!” in Panama City! Tarbaby February came out in black tuxedos! I wore a large white Panama hat that I threw out into the audience as we were waving goodbye! We partied with Eric Carmen and the Raspberries all night long! It was a dream come true! An absolute dream come true! We got a manager named Logan Birdsong who did good things for us all over Florida!

One of our best gigs was in Coral Gables, Florida, for the 1972 Coral Gables graduating class. They spent two years renovating the old famous Biltmore Hotel for this occasion, and the theme was “The Great Gatsby.” Everyone wore tuxedos with long tails, spats and canes—and tophats! There were four gigantic spotlights waving around in the sky when we drove up to play, and there were over 50 antique cars sitting around in the courtyard from the 30s and 40s that you could sit in and even have a cocktail with your honey! The Mayor introduced us!

Tarbaby became the house band at one of the finest restaurants in Tallahassee called “Trawlers” for two years, where we thrilled the audience and broke attendance records on a regular basis.

What happened after the band stopped?

All members of “Tarbaby February” are alive and well and still living in Florida within 100 miles apart. They are still the greatest of friends and talk on a regular basis after 50 years! Still talking about a reunion of Tarbaby!

The Tarbaby February ‘Bullseye’ album has been playing on YouTube now for 10 years, and 15 companies are selling it on eBay. Both Pat and Brewster have produced six albums each, and Pat is working on his seventh album containing his song ‘Before The World Stops Spinning,’ which hit 13 charts at #1 on Broadjam! Also playing on YouTube is the benefit for Pat’s brother Tim, who passed in 2020. Watch the whole thing on YouTube. Search for “Tim Muth’s Lifeblast.” It was filmed and recorded by Crook Stewart III, who was Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s road manager.

I’m back in Panama City and have never stopped playing. My bands “Tarbaby February” (1970-1974), “Crybaby” (1975-1978), and “The Cove Hotel Band” (1980-2008) were famously known in the area, and my music can be heard and bought on Broadjam.com/Patrick E. Muth, as well as CatnipPat.com.

I’m now known as Catnip Pat, and at 75, I’m still performing with my two sons, Patch (drummer) and Brian (bass), here and there in Panama City at special events and private parties. We’re known as Catnip Pat and the White Mouse Jugglers! You can keep up with me on Facebook!

I also play with my son Brian at the Little Village and continue to play harmonica and guitar simultaneously, as well as the blues can possibly be played!

I would like to take a moment now to personally thank Mr. Klemen Breznikar from “Psychedelic Baby” magazine in the country of Slovenia for spotlighting this 70s blues band and for bringing back the best memories that anyone could ever have! Hats off to you, Klemen!

Klemen Breznikar

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