@OfficialMusicCoast sat down with Tarriona “Tank” Ball and Norman of @tankandthebangas at @WaterfrontBlues 2026 in Portland before the band closed the Fourth of July main stage and led into the festival fireworks.
The conversation begins with The Last Balloon, the album that officially closes the trilogy that started with Green Balloon and continued through Red Balloon.
Tank explains why it was time to let the balloons go, while the band discusses the electric, joyful, and dance-driven space they are entering next.
We also get into:
• Why The Last Balloon is the final chapter of the balloon trilogy
• Letting listeners choose the color of the final balloon
• Building the album around the energy of the band’s live performances
• How “Jealous,” “Nighttime,” and “Ain’t That Deep” have changed onstage
• “Move” featuring Lucky Daye and the freedom behind its dance energy
• Working with Austin Brown and Camper
• Alternative R&B, soul, funk, gospel, hip-hop, poetry, theater, and remaining genre-fluid
• Winning a Grammy for The Heart, The Mind, The Soul
• Why spoken word has always been central to the band
• The Liberation Lounge roots behind the group’s beginning
• Humility, fearlessness, failure, and treating losses as lessons
• Why Waterfront Blues Festival felt like the right home for their New Orleans energy
• How the band controls the emotional journey of a show
• The audience exchange that determines what happens during an encore
• Family support through the earliest years of the band
• Wanting listeners to leave inspired, energized, and carrying something they did not know they needed
• Why Tank and the Bangas still feel they have much farther to go
The Last Balloon is out now through Verve Forecast.
The 13-track album includes “Move” featuring Lucky Daye, “Ain’t That Deep,” “No Invite,” “Jealous” featuring Jelly Joseph, “Whole World” featuring Ledisi, and “Nighttime” featuring David Shaw and Austin Brown.
Tank and the Bangas also have additional U.S. performances scheduled for October and November.
🎤 Interview by Music Coast
📍 Waterfront Blues Festival 2026 — Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Portland, Oregon
