Material: PEACH and Jamie James trade off and share vocals, which includes originals they have both penned as well as fun covers such as John Ellison’s “Some Kind of Wonderful.” PEACH shared briefly about performing that song when she opened for blues legend Little Milton.
You can’t help but draw comparisons to Bonnie Raitt when you hear PEACH, who similarly appropriates soul and R&B to craft her own unique yet still traditional blend of blues music. She has worked with the likes of Marty Grebb (Bonnie Raitt), Jon Woodhead (Leon Russell) and Rick Vito (Fleetwood Mac), and her stylistic similarities to those parenthesized artists are apparent.
Musicianship: The band is tight. Walsh and Collier are subtle and adept at classic blues finales. Collier effortlessly floats across his frets for a smooth finish on “Little by Little,” and Walsh’s enthusiasm on “Ain’t Got No Money” is infectious.
James takes the majority of the guitar solos, which receive rounds of applause throughout the performance. Stange gets his time to shine with an incredible key solo on “It Meant Nothing.” He also impresses by playing both keys and a crisp sounding harmonica during “The Real Thing.”
Performance: The band started the set without PEACH, who later made a statement when she took the stage with her glittery green Billy Asher guitar in tow. Unfortunately the low microphone placement proved to be a struggle for her and did take the focus off the presentation. Stange also seemed to fight a bit with the distraction of the fog machine while adjusting his sheet music.
The set lost momentum between capo changes and tune-ups, but the sound was great as a result. All told, the band was strong and made adjustments as the set progressed.
Summary: The performance would have been a lot tighter had the band kept to the original set list, as switching things up prolonged the segues between songs. That time would have been better used to adjust the microphone after the first song, which pulled focus away from PEACH somewhat throughout the performance.
Although PEACH does take on a few solos it would have been nice to see her work the stage more or ramp up her interplay with James.
The Players: PEACH, vocals, guitar; Jamie James, vocals, guitar; Tom Walsh, drums; Jervonny Collier, bass; Ken Stange, keyboard, harmonica.
–Brooke Trout
