Above: Metzger and the Band of Changes at a past Freaks Ball. Photo by Aaron Stein.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the influential New York City Yahoo! Group the NYC-Freaks. The invite-only email discussion group, which has furthered the development of bands like Robert Randolph & the Family Band, The Duo, RANA and Bustle in Your Hedgerow, will celebrate its birthday with the Freaks Ball X this Saturday, January 23, at New York’s Sullivan Hall. As previously reported, the evening will feature performances by New Orleans staple Anders Osborne and rockers The Black Hollies. In addition, the show will feature a special opening set by RANA guitarist Scott Metzger (this will be Metzger’s 8th consecutive performance at the Freaks Ball). Metzger will debut a new more groove-oriented band featuring bassist Ron Johnson (Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Brett Dennen), keyboardist/vocalist Nigel Hall (Soulive, Lettuce) and drummer Eric Kalb (Deep Banana Blackout, Greyboy Allstars).