Just like the Joel DaSilva from a few posts ago, had not heard of this guy until I saw him listed on the bill playing before Ana Popovic at the Mt. Dora Blues~n~Groove a couple of months ago. He had the dusk slot immediately preceding Ms. Pop because he won the 2013 International Blues Challenge's band category. Little did I know that he was born here in Orlando, went to the University of Tampa and has since settled there. Did not know he had two other albums available. What I do know, however, is HE BLEW ME AWAY! I texted BKP during the show things like, "OH.....MY.....GAWD!" and "I have seen/heard a future blues legend." He possessed a relaxed stage presence wearing a big smile most of the time, conversationally speaking to the audience about the new material he was playing from his Alligator Records debut (which was why I sprinted to the merch tent as soon as his set was finished only to find it hadn't dropped yet), displaying fretwork along the lines of Buddy Guy/SRV/Albert Collins and singing like the bastard son of Darius Rucker. Oh, and the songs were good, too.....duh. On the day of the album's release three weeks later, paid full price for the download and threw it into the player. It was just as fine the second time hearing the songs' studio versions. Since there seems to be no theatrical videos I will go to an Alligator-sanctioned live one for an example. Sound quality is low on this one so TURN IT UP!
The saxophone gets substantial solos, too, throughout the record and the live performances. I had alerted my Nashville-area friends via Facebook to a show in their region and a former M4L employee who does a local entertainment blog messaged me saying he was doing two upcoming shows out at the Lakeridge Winery. Well, I jotted the dates down and actually got to go on a Saturday afternoon. Certainly didn't drink the liquid jelly they claim is wine but I did buy a couple of other beverages to show my support because the concert was FREE! They played two 75 minute sets in the 90+ degree heat for tip/gas money! Birchwood was telling the crowd (indeed, a crowd) about all the upcoming travel involved promoting the album and literally was soliciting gas money. Unbelievable... When they took a break, Birchwood was selling his CD for $20 a pop and people were lining up! That's a healthy profit over what I paid but he was talking with everyone, signing the insert, taking pictures....truly working the new fan base. I waited for everyone to clear and then stepped up to meet him. I said I bought the record on release and wanted to shake his hand while I could because, "...you'll soon be too big to have to do this." He laughed and thanked me for the positivity. I told him that I believed the track from the new record called "Tell Me Why" should be on every rock radio station for years to come and he looked genuinely surprised to hear someone say that. You decide...
Gotdammit, I got goose bumps just watching that video. The sax wasn't terribly prominent in it because he was amped on the opposite side of the stage but I'll tell you, the man works that thing so hard that I was tired for him! The band makes a return visit to the winery in about ten days for the grape stomping event and has 2 1/2 hours listed for his set, all for a $2 donation to a charity......damn right I'm going to try to get there!
I'm an unapologetic musical snob (just ask my wife) and I don't get on many bandwagons, but I want to drive that fucker for this guy...
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