The Narrows in Navarre, Minnesota has developed a reputation for booking some excellent national blues acts over the years. With good music, good food and good times, it was not surprising when The Narrows opened a second venue in Osseo, taking over the restaurant/bar formerly known as Pulaski’s. Surprisingly, The Narrows seems to have committed itself to making sure the quality of the musical shows at the new north location are on par with the tradition established at the Navarre location. In fact, many times acts will perform at both venues on consecutive nights.
On Saturday night, Galveston, Texas guitarist Hamilton Loomis performed the first of two shows for the Narrows; this one being at the North location. He was also scheduled to perform on Sunday evening in Navarre. With his band, including Rob Ramos (bass), Ian Bailey (drums) and Vince Palumbo (sax), Loomis provided his own excellent work on guitar, harp and vocals; performing some great original material that had the appreciative audience at The Narrows North crowded on the dance floor.
Loomis performs an excellent brand of original Texas blues/funk that offers hints of the sounds originated by Johnny “Guitar”Watson, along with a bit of the guitar/sax synchro-mix that has been perfected by George Thorogood and the Destroyers. In my conversation with Loomis during a break, I found out that his band was missing his regular trumpet player that night due to an emergency back home, suggesting a sound that would smack even more of Johnny “Guitar” Watson than suggested by his performance on Saturday night.
Opening with a funky instrumental that included a honking solo by saxman Vince Palumbo and a nice opening guitar shot from Loomis, the band followed with “Workin’ Real Hard” the opening tune from Hamilton’s latest Blind Pig release Kickin’ It. The music that evening included several other songs from Kickin’ It, as well as songs from his previous independent release All Fired Up.
The sound generated by the band on songs including “Rocket 88,” “99 Miles,” and “Voodoo Doll” was very entertaining and tight. Loomis demonstrated some great versatility on the guitar and his mounted harp. This combined with his strong vocals resulted in a very original and danceable blues/funk sound. Among the highlights during the evening were Hamilton’s solo stroll around the bar, with him ending up standing ON THE BAR before returning to the stage to finish the song “Temporarily Insane” and commenting that he was glad there was a “nice, sturdy bar” at The Narrows North. Hamilton also had some fun with the Narrows audience as he completed the first set with “Whatever You Want” from All Fired Up with bits and pieces from several Led Zepplin tunes including “The Lemon Song,” “Communications Breakdown” and even “Stairway To Heaven.” He even did a couple of passable Robert Plant-like screams during the number.
For the second set, the band opened with another instrumental number that allowed everyone in the band to ply their talents on the audience with solos. The second set was just as entertaining with songs from his recordings including “Something’s Gonna Go My Way” and “That’s The Way It’s Gonna Be.” Hamilton pulled out a small traveling guitar with a bog sound for the song “Turning Heads” that included some snippets from the Safari’s classic, “Wipeout.”
Hamilton Loomis is a fine performer with the good looks that are sure to draw the ladies; along with a great guitar sound that will attract the men. Hopefully, his recent visit to Minnesota will not be his last, as he is someone who seems to be destined to musical fame and fortune. To find out more about this fine young songwriter, singer and guitarist, visit his website at www.hamiltonloomis.com. If you get the opportunity to see Loomis perform live, do it. You’ll be glad you did.
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