2006 TRB Music Review
Here's my review of the artists I saw on the boat this year.......
New finds
Danielia Cotton
WOW! Never heard of her before the boat, but after her first set, there was a buzz around the boat for her and after the 1st jam session up on Lido Deck, I could see why. She has an amazing, powerful voice coming out of this little tiny body. She was described to me as a Janis Joplin sound, which fit perfectly. I was too sea sick to catch her 2nd set, but got to see her again during the jam session the last night. Unfortunately, the only time I got to catch her was during the jam sessions so both songs were covers. I checked her out on myspace and she has 4 songs listed. I've added one to my page and I'll leave it up for a week before I change it to someone else from the boat.
Mat Kearney (last name pronounced Carney)
Mat had been recommended to me the week of the boat, but I hadn't really listened to him yet. His songs got stuck in my head and we enjoyed his performances. He has this style of adding in spoken word in with the music which is very entertaining and gives it a different sound than most of what I hear out there. Also fun because he would throw in different lyrics related to The Rock Boat. I checked him out on myspace and he'll be in San Francisco soon, so I'll be checking him out again soon.
Florez
Another band that I didn't get to see their set because of the storm and sea sickness. However, I can tell you that members of the band were popping up on stage with other artists everywhere and each time I was impressed. Their cover on the last night jam rocked the house and was very impressive. I would definitely keep an eye on these boys.
Good times from those I already knew
Marc Broussard
Marc and the boys were great. When you open the set with Home, you know the bar is already set high. The boys were on fire and having a great time. DRH came out during Rocksteady, 2 of Josh Kellys boys came up to help out on Lonely Night in Georgia and Martin Sexton came out and played the washboard during Gotta Be More (I think, sorry, I could have the song wrong, it's hard to think back). The set list was the normal line up for the recent shows (meaning - Don't change horses, Come Around, In the Groove, Beauty, Let Me Leave and such), but the energy was phenomenal. The 2 level room was packed and to listen to the crowd sing during Home and Lonely in particular was an amazing experience.
David Ryan Harris
Seeing him Live and Electric lived up to the expectation. Dela, Lovejoy and JJ compliment David so well. Strong Enough played with a full band was like hearing a whole new song and I always enjoy Goodthing and couldn't think it could get better, but I was wrong. No matter how many times I have told you to go check DRH out, I am now insisting, if Live and Electric comes to a town near you, you have to check it out!
Blue Merle
Caught the second show. Enjoyed it more than I remembered from seeing them open for Marc. Still not over the moon about them, but definitely more of a fan than I was before the boat. Luke's voice is impressive and the compilation of instruments they use makes them a little different. Unfortunately, I still hear from the crowd, "these guys sound like Coldplay". Want a good laugh? Go listen to Luke call bingo at 10am. Good Lord!
Misc notes
Matt Wertz was impressive with a full band, I still think Josh Kelly's band is good, I think Aslyn has a good voice, just not my thing, the new Barnes cd sounds like it'll be good, Vaco is fun to watch, Ari's voice is so smooth with amazing range and Marc's new stuff is not going to disappoint.
New finds
Danielia Cotton
WOW! Never heard of her before the boat, but after her first set, there was a buzz around the boat for her and after the 1st jam session up on Lido Deck, I could see why. She has an amazing, powerful voice coming out of this little tiny body. She was described to me as a Janis Joplin sound, which fit perfectly. I was too sea sick to catch her 2nd set, but got to see her again during the jam session the last night. Unfortunately, the only time I got to catch her was during the jam sessions so both songs were covers. I checked her out on myspace and she has 4 songs listed. I've added one to my page and I'll leave it up for a week before I change it to someone else from the boat.
Mat Kearney (last name pronounced Carney)
Mat had been recommended to me the week of the boat, but I hadn't really listened to him yet. His songs got stuck in my head and we enjoyed his performances. He has this style of adding in spoken word in with the music which is very entertaining and gives it a different sound than most of what I hear out there. Also fun because he would throw in different lyrics related to The Rock Boat. I checked him out on myspace and he'll be in San Francisco soon, so I'll be checking him out again soon.
Florez
Another band that I didn't get to see their set because of the storm and sea sickness. However, I can tell you that members of the band were popping up on stage with other artists everywhere and each time I was impressed. Their cover on the last night jam rocked the house and was very impressive. I would definitely keep an eye on these boys.
Good times from those I already knew
Marc Broussard
Marc and the boys were great. When you open the set with Home, you know the bar is already set high. The boys were on fire and having a great time. DRH came out during Rocksteady, 2 of Josh Kellys boys came up to help out on Lonely Night in Georgia and Martin Sexton came out and played the washboard during Gotta Be More (I think, sorry, I could have the song wrong, it's hard to think back). The set list was the normal line up for the recent shows (meaning - Don't change horses, Come Around, In the Groove, Beauty, Let Me Leave and such), but the energy was phenomenal. The 2 level room was packed and to listen to the crowd sing during Home and Lonely in particular was an amazing experience.
David Ryan Harris
Seeing him Live and Electric lived up to the expectation. Dela, Lovejoy and JJ compliment David so well. Strong Enough played with a full band was like hearing a whole new song and I always enjoy Goodthing and couldn't think it could get better, but I was wrong. No matter how many times I have told you to go check DRH out, I am now insisting, if Live and Electric comes to a town near you, you have to check it out!
Blue Merle
Caught the second show. Enjoyed it more than I remembered from seeing them open for Marc. Still not over the moon about them, but definitely more of a fan than I was before the boat. Luke's voice is impressive and the compilation of instruments they use makes them a little different. Unfortunately, I still hear from the crowd, "these guys sound like Coldplay". Want a good laugh? Go listen to Luke call bingo at 10am. Good Lord!
Misc notes
Matt Wertz was impressive with a full band, I still think Josh Kelly's band is good, I think Aslyn has a good voice, just not my thing, the new Barnes cd sounds like it'll be good, Vaco is fun to watch, Ari's voice is so smooth with amazing range and Marc's new stuff is not going to disappoint.