I wouldn't recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they've always worked for me. ~Hunter S. Thompson
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| Derek Luttrell at Dunn Bros, Oakdale MN |
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| Written by John Abbott | |||
| Saturday, 07 November 2009 01:34 | |||
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This is something new for me. Generally I like to fly well under the radar. Sort of slide in the back door of places where the band is already playing. Blend in with the crowd. Ideally, I feel I am never noticed. But tonight it is a different story. A small outlet for chainstore coffee, where there are less than a dozen people here. It is tough to blend. It is an interested experience though being able to write while the music plays. And the music plays well. Derek Luttrell should be on your must see list. The first time I saw Derek play was at Chippewa Falls High School as a warmup for a local favorite, Anna Johnson. When he walked out on stage, this obviously shy young kid, but with this amazing, bluesy, old, deep south voice. It was a fantastic experience being there in the audience. I was an immediate fan. I have seen him play three times since. Each time I am more impressed as his talent grows with his experience. I never really expected to be in the big city on a night Derek played. I work primarily from my home office an hour and a half away. But then suddenly the opportunity presented itself. Tonight Derek is accompanied by Josh Bourdon on upright bass and for one lively number, he is on banjo. Josh, will be playing a solo act at Dunn Bros on December 1st. Derek was also accompanied several times on vocals by a Allye Gaietto, who had a very sweet voice and highlighted nicely with the deeper voices of the guys. As a trio, their voices blended very well. And, I gotta tell you, it's a lucky thing the music is so good here. Because, I gotta say, this is the worst bagel I have ever eaten. Dry and hard. It crumbles as I bite into it. ...I digress.  And there were covers! I am not sure I had ever hear Derek sing a cover so it was a fun experience. There was the Creedence Clearwater Revival song Midnight Special, the John Denver's Leaving on a jet plane, A Bob Dylan song, Wagon Wheel, there was one other cover which, actually, I thought was the best one, but at that point I had already put my laptop away. And besides, it is so well known and loved, I couldn't possibly forget the title to it.... Whatever it was. Musicial highpoint, Half Way to Memphis. A close second, Ol' Tom Joad. Both are Luttrell original songs. He knows his voice and uses it very well on his songs. One thing that is fun about seeing Derek live is he always debuts some new music. Tonight it was a song I don't think I have ever heard him sing before about being a Union Soldier. Great song. A bit rough around the edges, as it's possible it was the first time the bass player had heard it too. :) I have been looking forward to this moment for some time. Where Derek is the featured act. He rose to the challenge adequately. And I liked the venue. He is a good act for a coffeeshop where you can hear the nuances of the music. At one point I heard from Derek's wife, who is always front row center, that Josh Broden on bass hadn't played with Derek for several months and so there was some time spent between songs learning the bass line. It seemed to go pretty well. Instumentally they don't set the world afire, but they are both solid performers. Derek has an interesting style of playing. I call it slap guitar, but I don't feel like that term is exactly right either. More percussive than musical. I didn't really care for the songs where Josh pulled out his bow to work his bass. The sound was odd. Maybe if they are going to play together often they will work this out. Or, it could also just be the acoustics of the coffeehouse. Maybe the harmonics bothered the condiment bar that was directly behind me and everything was vibrating. I am not really sure. He only used it for a couple of songs so it wasn't a huge issue.  It was also a fun night to get together with friends. My friend from college, Kim, who is going to be totally pissed-off that her picture is now immortalized in a blog. Even more pissed that I chose a picture where she wasn't smiling. What do you think of her hair in black? She says it is a halloween costume experiment gone haywire. I actually think I kind of like it. She has been blonde, <cough> <cough>, a couple of times shockingly so, the whole time I have known her. It doesn't really matter though what we think. I bet she changes it soon.Derek's CDs are available at his shows and he has some songs iTunes. The CD from his shows is a live recording, and I think I like it better than the polished stuff off iTunes. The sound quality is not nearly as good though. Either way Derek live is best, because I feel he has gotten much better since his recordings. Hope for that too, there is a rumor of another cd currently nearing the end of production. Very exciting news indeed. Derek Luttrell is an incredibly talented young musician currently attending McNally Smith College in St. Paul Minnesota. Derek Luttrell is also a *must see*. He will be playing at this same Dunn Brothers Coffeeshop in Oakdale Minnesota on November 20th. Avoid the bagels… Check his web page at http://www.derekluttrell.com for other dates.
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| Last Updated on Monday, 09 November 2009 04:36 |
