Oreo Blue: Live and Kicking
As you may be aware, Oreos are a delicious treat and part of a nutritious breakfast. Sure, they make your teeth turn black, but who cares? A full bag of Oreos at my house has about the life expectancy of a sitcom starring Pauly Shore. Once you experience one, it is difficult to stop. Interestingly enough, I have a similar attitude when it comes to Oreo Blue, a tremendously talented band from the depths of Arkansas. Once you hear this band wail, you will definitely want hear them again. The biggest difference between Oreo Blue and the Oreo cookie is the calorie count. Listening to Oreo Blue won't make you fat, wish I could say the same about the cookie. The band takes the stage Saturday night at the Blue Cat, blasting out a hardcore version of "The Thrill is Gone." Brian Crowne steps up, saxophone in place and pushes powerful elegant sound out of his instrument. Crowne is incredibly skillful at painting the mood of a song with his instrument. Crowne and bass player Rod Williamson created the band seven years ago, then featuring lead singer, Billy Rigsby. Brian discovered his love of sax in the tenth grade and became inspired to pursue his intrigue with blues music by way of the Blues Brothers. Crowne's solo on "Stormy Monday" is right on the mark; somewhere between soulful remorse and bitter wailing. Throughout the night, he and guitarist Gary Hutchinson take turns attacking solos, even musically dueling with each other. "We have a lot of fun," says Crowne, "We are very serious about our music but we try not to take ourselves too seriously." Tonight they are minus their normal drummer, but you wouldn't know that. In his stead, Buddy Henderson, son of Bugs, takes the skins. Buddy is a great drummer; he has to be to keep up with all the changes the group throws at him. Brain and Gary take turns trying to confuse him to no avail. He not only keeps up, he makes it look easy. Meanwhile bass player Williamson keeps the line bouncing. Lead singer Chris Payton has a majestic voice and uses it to maximum effect on stage. She is capable of catapulting a sepulchral refrain or growling a pain soaked lyric with charismatic intensity. Her shining moment tonight is the ballad "Long Gone," and Payton demonstrates her multifarious range. Payton joined the ranks about four and a half years ago. Three CDs and a multitude of gigs later, she is still putting up with the boys in the band teasing her. The group doesn't shy away from crowd-pleasing tunes. Hutchinson does juke justice to Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pride and Joy," making his guitar gently weep in the refrains. They attack homemade tunes like "Too Much Conversation" and "Nuthin' But the Blues" with alacrity and heavy duty spirit. During the second set, Buddy's dad, Bugs Henderson, joins the band for a killer version of Robert Johnson's "Walking Blues" and a smooth as glass rendition of "Sleepwalker." Hutchinson plays a guitar like Michelangelo paints a ceiling. No exaggeration here to state that, given his present rate of expanding growth as a performer, Hutchinson will be in the vanguard of major league ax welders of the Y2K generation. His intense audio assaults are astounding. Just when an ordinary player would run out of tricks, Hutchinson hits his second wind and throws out a coruscation of cacophonous chords that could make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. It's no accident that he is often referenced as the "Guitar Monster." Gary had known Crowne for some time before joining up with the band four years ago. When he ends the second set with a scorching version of the Hendrix opus "Voodoo Chile," he takes no prisoners: flipping and flying like a Mexican wrestler in the main event. The crowd is adequately impressed, but as Gary puts the guitar to his mouth and begins playing with his tongue, they go completely stone cold goose bozo. Crowne is pleased with audience reactions to the band and the solid reviews of the three self produced CDs. There are plans for a new CD in the fall and the possibility of a live/studio CD simulcast on NPR in the near future. Now if Nabisco doesn't sue the pants off of them, Oreo Blue could be on the precipice of a brave new world of exposure. Brian is optimistic about the future, but realizes the often times hard cold reality of the life of a musician. "I'm a driven person. I don't mind working hard to make something worthwhile." Oreo Blue is just plain fun to watch. The band members on stage look like a bunch of second graders let out for recess on a Spring day: they love every second of it. When they play a song, they dive into it head first, as if their lives depend on it. They tease each other constantly, all the while, challenging each other to go one more fret up the neck. "I love connecting with those people out there that are digging the music," Crowne says. This is a labor of love for Oreo Blue and that makes their performances all the more special.
Copyright © 1999 by Bill Fountain. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission from the author.
|