Scotty Reed brought his band to Inn Kahoots for an energetic, rocking and rolling night of great blues with some of the top local players backing him. Scotty says that he has 5 or 6 people for each chair that may regularly play behind him depending on their schedules. He would be hard pressed to find a better sounding and more talented group than John Franken on guitar, Billy Black on bass, and Rob Stupka on drums. This talented group sounded tight, provided a great blues instrumental background for Scotty's energetic performance, cool, passionate singing, and solid harp playing. Scotty was celebrating the release of his new CD, Live.
Scotty kicked things off with some slow rolling blues, singing with feeling in a low, gritty yet hip voice on "Bring It On Home to You." Scotty's strong, expressive harp with his smoothly bent and held notes breathed new life into this Willie Dixon classic. Switching to chromatic harp, he served up a little Muddy Waters on "Can't Be Satisfied." Scotty gave the song a sensual feel with his understated, soulful harp and expressive vocals. John's guitar solo here was filled with sweetly stinging, expressive guitar licks. At the same time, Billy Black and Rob provided a tight, expressive rhythm section, which impressed the serious music fans among the bikers and Friday night celebrators in attendance.
Scotty is equal parts vocalist, harp player, and showman. On the up-tempo "Hydromatic Woman" he had his harp right in synch with John. His strong, fast, vocals with a hip inflection and bit of a rasp worked well off Billy's pounding up-right bass, John's low down stinging licks, and Stupka's driving beat on drums. "Lonesome" from the CD was a highlight. Scotty played a strong, fast harp with nice tone, playing low and fast, soaring up, and then grinding it low over John's stinging guitar licks. His low, gritty vocals added to the richness of the song. The hip, repeating beat on "Ride at Midnight" gave Scotty a chance to show off his chromatic harp playing. His smooth, fast riffs, darting up high, and then dropping down low, full and rich drove the song. Here the great sound and talent of Rob and Billy came through again with impressive drumming and smooth, pleasing, heavy-tone bass.
Scotty does some entertaining things to change up the sound as well as the visuals in his shows. On "In the Mood" he sang through both his harp and vocal mikes at the same time, bringing his vocals low and gritty. He steps out into the crowd among the dancers, gaining the attention of some attractive young female fans. He changes tempos and moods effectively. Scotty respects all his players abilities, giving them a chance to shine. Be sure to give a listen to his new CD. The interesting mix of covers, solid performances, and irrepressible spirit of Scotty shine through. And be sure to catch him live, particularly if you happen to see he has this same line up backing him. You won't be disappointed.
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