Mel Washington w/John Krueger

John Krueger was first up at the Early show Thursday night. John is a solo artist out of Augusta, GA and has been touring in promotion of his newest work entitled Rock & Rhyme. It's a digital album which can be picked up here - for free. I applaud the emergence of another new artist, making his way and putting it out there for our enjoyment. Cheers John.. Go here to see a few images of John's set..








Second up this evening was Charleston, SC singer/songwriter Mel Washington. Mel is a dynamic singer with a strong, raspy, and at times mellow voice capable of pounding out his melodies in ways that grab your attention. Several of his songs caught my attention - Oh Jessie and Lions Roar are two examples. Check Mel out on his Myspace page.

Link to photos of Mel's performance.

Cheers,





Monty

Mieka Pauley

Mieka Pauley graced the Evening Muse with an Early Show performance that dazzled as well as entertained a very full house. Mieka opened with a powerful rendition of "Marked Man".

It set the tone for what was to come. Powerful lyrics, powerful voice, a talented group of musicians backing her, mixed with a little humor made for a very entertaining evening at the Muse.

You can listen to a few of Mieka's tunes at her MySpace Page.


Some photos from the show can be seen here. Right now the lighting is excessively warm at The Muse, so I apologize in advance for the redness in the photos.


Cheers,


Monty

Jupiter One w/ Katy Mae

The New York rock band Katy Mae opened the late show for Jupiter One with a 40 minute set of what I would term Americana Rock. Katy Mae is a four piece band featuring Philip Doucet as lead vocalist/guitar with Hans Gutknecht supporting on vocals and guitar. These two compliment each other well. Bradford Hill is on Bass with Mark Levy providing percussion. Katy Mae has a good sound - you can check them out on their Myspace page. Here's a link to a few photos of the Katy Mae set.

As Jupiter One finished their set my wife looked at me and simply said "now that was worth waiting for". I'd have to agree with her. While she had waited a few hours, I have been waiting since October for them to return to town. These four guys have a unique, uplifting, pop-rock sound that is refreshing every time you hear them. Their timing is excellent, the instrumentation is eclectic, their range of sound is as diverse as their appeal - these guys are the real deal!

On top of all this, these four are also a great bunch of guys who want to talk to and meet the people who come to hear them play. Dave Heilman plays drums and is the outgoing, partially insane, component of the band. K. Ishibashi is the lead singer who also plays guitar, keyboards and violin - to me, it's his voice that makes this band a stand-out. Zac Cowell is also a talented musician who plays guitar and keyboards as well as providing supporting vocals. I'm told that Zac was considered the "cute one" until Pat "Panda" Dougherty joined the band as their Bass player. (Zac told me that...)

Seriously, check out Jupiter One's MySpace page and listen to a few of their tunes - you'll love 'em!!

Here's a link to some photos of the show as well as last Octobers show.

Cheers,

Monty

Liz Durrett & Tin Cup Prophette

January 16th 2009 - A couple of artists put on uniquely different shows during The Evening Muse early show this Friday night. I had not seen either of these singer / songwriters perform previously and is generally the case, I'm glad I took the advice of friends and attended on this night.

As Liz Durrett began her set, I wasn't sure it would be my cup of tea so to speak. But soon, the diversity of her talents began to unveil themselves to me. At times she has a booming and dark voice. At other times her voice is smooth and soft, as though singing a lullaby to a newborn. Many times it a combination of the two, ebbing and flowing with the words and meaning behind her song. As you watch Liz perform it's as if she goes somewhere else in her mind, playing a video in her head of the people, places and things contained within her song. Whatever the case, she has a new fan in me as I'll keep an eye out for her return.

Amanda Kapousouz (Tin Cup Prophette) supported her friend Liz during the first half of the show and then took center stage for the 2nd half. I was not at all sure what to expect. I had read a number of stories about Amanda and her very unique life story - a movie wouldn't surprise me - ans I had listened to a couple of tracks on her MySpace page. I thought she's be pretty good - but man I had no idea she'd be that good. There's some musicians you want to just listen to - the complexity of their sound so robust you find yourself concentrating on every note in anticipation of what will come next. Amanda uses technology to her advantage - fully. If you close your eyes and listen, you'll swear there are at least six musicians on stage - instead of the two you observe with your eyes. This was a show you watch with your ears - you'll see so much more! My first experience with Tin Cup Prophette was just that - my first, but certainly not my last!

Photos of both sets can be seen at this link - Enjoy!

Cheers,

Monty

Girlyman

Girlyman performed at The Evening Muse on Thursday night, the 15th of January. I gotta admit that this bands title did not conjure up any immediate interest in me to see them. Governor Arnold already defined for me what a Girlyman was and did not put the term in a favorable light. But a friend of mine was very excited about them coming to Charlotte and despite having a cold was going out into the frigid night to see them anyway. Hearing this, I jumped on myspace and after a bit of a search I found Girlymans site. I watched a couple of videos and listened to a few tracks and at the end of that I too felt the need to venture out on this school night to see a new band.

Girlyman is a three part harmony band, both vocally as well as instrumentally. These guys have talent and training playing their varied string instruments. Their voices blend beautifully and together have enormous range. Your mind will be very busy listening to the explosion of varying tones as these three progress through their songs.

The band is made up of Tylan Greenstein, Nate Borofsky and Doris Muramatsu. Keep an eye out for this trio and be sure to treat yourself to a great show, humorous transitions, and sweet melodies.

Here's a link to a few photos from the show.

Cheers,

Monty

Panthers Fail; gogoPilot Prevails

Panther fans had high hopes for this past weekend and the excitement level was at a fever pitch as the Panthers started their game against the Cardinals. After a great start, the downhill slide was nothing short of slow agonizing torture as our QB fumbled and bumbled the past 5 months of our lives as the post season ended as quickly as it began in our very first game. Jake Delhomme is not very popular with the fans we were with at the Sanctuary bar in NoDa.

In a valiant attempt to recover our dignity if not our Charlotte pride, Jeff Williams and the remaining gogoPilot band members put on a free show at The Evening Muse. With the occasional defiant Panther cheer met with a tirade of verbal abuse and disgust, the gogoPilot team rocked on through the night and led us toward a brighter future - or a new day whichever comes first.....

For me it was a new day which will lead to another day and so on and so forth. Such is the life of a sports fan. There's always another day, another season.

Thanks to the members of gogoPilot for jammin' when the chips were down.

Here's a link to a few photos of the show.

Cheers,

Monty

Sam Thacker Band

I'll say it right up front - This is one damned fine rock band! Four guys - one sound - sweet transitions.

The lead guitarist is Michael Westbrook who in an effortless style coaxes sweet music from his instrument of choice. I'll bet he's Jonesin' bad when he's not playing. Jonathan McAdow keeps time and sets the tempo on the Drums. Mike Reddick is the beat. I was going to say he plays Bass, but it's more accurate to describe him as being the bass. When the song calls for a thump, Mike produces a thump that would raise excitement in a school girl.. (I mean that in a good way you pervs!! lol)

Lastly, I was introduced on this night to a very fine lead singer who has the entire package. A great sounding powerful voice with significant range, excellent timing, and the projection of energy that people look for in today's rock musicians.

I'm telling ya'll - this band is everything you want to hear if you like hard driving rock you can listen to and understand the words. Ballads that will cause you to loose your thoughts in the song. A beat that will have you bobbin', weavin' and tapping your foot. Go out to their Myspace page and listen to what they have posted. I'll also tell you they sound even better in person. Sam's voice is something you need to hear live to truly appreciate. I put their CD in my Rockford Fosgate system and it sounded sweet - but live is, well live...

I've posted some photos of the performance. CLICK HERE. I think you can see the intensity in Sam's singing within the photos - as well as his sincerity in the ballads. "Picture worth a thousand words" is apparent in this case.

An outstanding show!

Cheers,

Monty

Adam Middleton

Thursday night I expected that Adam was going to sit in with Already Not Yet for the late show, but to my pleasant surprise Adam did a solo acoustic set instead. I had not seen Adam just grab a guitar and perform before - especially not sitting on a stool!! Of course the stool bit didn't last very long, but I got a couple of images as proof that it did in fact happen!

Adam performed several songs from The Stellas CD, including one of my favorites "Cry Baby Cry" as well as some older selections. Not an easy thing to perform hard rockin songs with just an acoustic guitar and a microphone, but Adam did a bang up job.

It was good to have one of the local "good-guys" stand up in the raw and put his heart out there for a fairly full house at the Muse to listen to. Thanks for that Adam..

Adam and The Stellas will be performing at The Evening Muse in February - check it out!

Here's a link to a few photos I took while Adam performed. Enjoy..

Cheers,

Monty

Tosco House Party - January 2009

John Tosco, the host of the Tosco House Party, likes to say that "you never know what you're going to get" on these first Wednesdays of the month. Last night we got much much more than anyone could have expected.

Eclectic was the norm as there were performers hailing from Ireland, England and Africa playing instruments as varied as a Harp, a Xylophone type of instrument made of wood, some keyboards, and an assortment of other guitars. Each performer was talented, performed their instrument with mastery, or sang their song in key! An astonishing open mic night. This truly was an intimate version of the Tosco Music Party.

There were also a number of younger musicians who demonstrated that live music has a very bright future as well. One in particular - a young lady named Charlotte - treated us to an original tune written about the summer of her sophomore year which still carries on in my head. It is a really good song.

Many thanks to Porter and to Timbre for their feature showing. It's not often that you get to hear the beautiful sounds of a Harp being played in such an intimate setting as the Evening Muse. It was truly lovely.

Several photos from the night can be seen at this link. If you know the name of the performer, please use the comments to tell the rest of us!

Looking forward to the Tosco House Party on January 31st! It will be a night to remember..

Cheers,

Monty

Hot House Hefftones

Happy New Year everyone! Well the holidays have now come and gone, another year put to bed, with a new year in its beginnings. I wonder what this year holds for us.....

Saturday night was a little exciting for me. I brought my new book "Musicians Of The Evening Muse" with me to the Muse and sought my first feedback. I must admit that I was pretty happy with the comments. In fact I was happy to get comments, period. A few people whom I didn't know stopped me to comment on the book - positively even.. :-) very cool.....

In addition to this, The Hot House Hefftones were performing Saturday night. Their unique Jazz sound and resulting cheerful atmosphere made it a special evening for me. I even managed to get a couple of good photos of Molly Brown and I learned that the Tuba runs on beer!!

Here's a link to some of the photos of the show.

Cheers,

Monty