Romantica & Carrie Rodriguez

As I have shared a couple of times in the past, there are those rare times when you go out to listen to a little music and get surprised by the gems you discover and the friends you make. Thursday night was another one of those nights for me.

The plan for me was to go see Sun Domingo perform the late show at The Evening Muse on this chilly Thursday night. In reading Laurie's calendar of events I saw that Carrie Rodriguez was doing the Early show. After reading a little about Carrie on her MySpace page I decided to drop by a little early to catch her show as well.

Now the head-turning starts. When I arrived, the Evening Muse was almost filled to capacity. There was not a female on stage, but rather a group of guys. As I ordered my beer I noticed that these guys sounded pretty damned good. After saying hello to a number of friends who had also came out on this "school night" I couldn't help but comment to myself and a few people around me that "these guys are pretty damned good". The songs were meaningful and not "fluffy". The lead singer for Romantica, Ben Kyle, had a strange accent coming through the mic. Later I learned he is Irish - specifically, Belfast and he has a few songs that tell stories of his youth. I spent the remainder of the hour mesmorized by these guys as their music told a different story in each song. I did make my way towards the front so I could get a couple of photos as well. So, my "gem" tonight was found in a group of guys I had no idea would even be playing - They are called Romantica and you should check them out! Here's the link to their MySpace page - you'll like what you hear..

Romantica is: Ben Kyle as lead singer and acoustic guitar; Luke Jacobs on Lead & Electric Slide Guitar; James Orvis on the drums; Tony Zaccardi on Bass

Through the Romantica show I learned that they and Carrie Rodriguez had been touring together a while and that this night was the last show of the tour.

The transition from the Romantica set to Carrie and her band was cool in that Carrie joined the Romanticas on stage for their last tune. After a quick change of musicians Carrie took the stage and showed why she is such a popular singer/songwriter/musician. This lady has it all. She plays multiple instruments and sings her own songs with a powerful voice that can achieve a variation of range.

Carrie was joined on the stage by Hans Holzen on lead guitar and Kyle Kegerreis on bass. Its been a long time since I have listened to a guitar player make a guitar sing like Hans does. Long soulful ballads on a lead guitar are not common, but Hans performed them with ease.

Needless to say, this early show was one of the best I have witnessed. The talent that took the stage on this night will not soon be forgotten and definitiely raised the bar. Not to mention that I added three CD's to my music collection.

Photos of Romantica can be seen via this link.

Photos of Carrie Rodriguez can be seen via this link.

Cheers,

Monty Chandler