Jan.2015 Showcase

VOCAL Showcase. Jan.2015

Tonight’s showcase started off with a set by John Ellis and his electric guitar. Taking notice of the season, His first tune was “Me and My Baby On a Cold WInter’s Day” which described how great it was to be inside warm and cozy with your loved one while winter raged outside. With the aid of a backing track he sequed into a blues mode with “I’ll Be There and “Blues”, both more in the styling of a Clapton or Butterfield rather than delta style. the instrumental “Five Black Kittens” followed. After a miscued start to another song, he performed and sang “Love Is A Stranger To Me” one of the anchors in his repetoire, and then closed out his set with “T’J’s Jam” another instrumental, helped out by members of the Taters.
“The Taters” are a Richmond staple in the music scene. They are frequently seen around town at clubs and charity events to the delight of the audiences that attend. Such was the case tonight. Many of their songs fall into pop classic territory reminiscent of the late 60’s and 70’s. Made up of Craig Evans (bass) who also handles most of the vocals, T. Bradley Tucker (rhythm guitar) Greg Marrs (lead guitar) and Chris Mendez (drums) their music perks along quite happily. “No I Don’t” which led off the set, was upbeat but contained a more negative message of rejection, “Oceans Apart” was song of longing, followed by “It Seems To Me” about love requited. “I Get Lost” (help me find my way out of here) had an appropriate psycho-spooky sound to it. “Peccadillo” humorous in content, referred to the singee as “the scoundrel of my dreams” which sequed nicely into “Do You Dream” in which singer longed to share dreams with the singee. “Cat In The Window” captured in story form the wistfulness of a character a little lost in life. “In The End” featured Brad on vocal and guitar in a more mellow Dan Fogelberg state of mind and then “New Girlfriend” an upbeat, latin tinged song, featured Chris on vocals. Not to be outdone. Greg performed a new song “It’s Not My Fault” and threw in some very hot licks along the way. “Rocks” repeated that psycho spooky sound heard previously and the guys closed out their set with “Such a Good Day” a semi Beatlesque sounding song with a happy message. All in all it was such a good night, as the enthusiastic audience demonstrated with their applause.