Dave Watts started The Motet in Boulder in 1998 as a rotating collective under the name The Dave Watts Motet, only shortening it later to make the whole thing feel less like a solo bandleader's project and more like an actual band.
That lineup has since settled into six members — Watts, guitarist Ryan Jalbert, bassist Garrett Sayers, keyboardist Joey Porter, saxophonist Drew Sayers, and singer Sarah Clarke — built around funk, afrobeat, and soul with electronic touches, and an annual Halloween show built around full thematic cover sets has become as much a tradition as their own catalog; they've headlined Red Rocks seven times since, a long way from a drummer's rotating side project.