I usually mention the opening act when I review a concert but in this case I decided to do a separate review on the opening act. Beaucoup Blue opened for Sonny Landreth and Cindy Cashdollar and yes, I totally enjoyed them. It was a night for slide guitar and Beaucoup Blue added their style to the mix. Beaucoup Blue, David Mowry and Adrian is a father and son duo out of Philadelphia that sound like they come from a mountain somewhere or the bayous outside of New Orleans. Actually, I could easily imagine them busking on Rue Royal.
Blues, without a doubt, is a staple of their repertoire, I also hear a lot of Folk, Soul, R&B, Jazz, Country and Bluegrass. Well, not all of these at their concert but seeing them live drove me to get their latest CD, Elixir. While we’re on it a song on the CD they didn’t sing on stage knocked me out. “Rounder”, a country ballad about, you guessed it being a traveling man, absolutely had me imagining Glen Campbell singing this on his TV show. Great song written by David. While some of the songs on earlier albums are covers, Hot Tuna, Bob Dylan, and some traditional songs all of the songs on Elixir are written by the Mowry’s except for one. The last song on the album is the traditional, “Lazy River” which seems to be a last jam with grandpa. Just great and it seems the music gene runs deep in the family.
So, back to the concert. As I said this was a slide guitar night and David mentioned on stage how honored he was to be opening for Sonny and Cindy, maybe the king and queen of slide (my words). I gotta tell ya though, he held his own. His guitar playing, six string, twelve string, and what looked like a vintage National steel, often with a slide was superb. Adrian matched Dad, well almost, with his guitar work as well. Kidding about that matching thing. No competition here. Their guitar work blended so well together and was matched by how well their voices blended it made for an excellent night of music.
They are currently touring to support the new album and I suggest strongly you catch them if you can.
Mark J. Smith
www.photosmithdigital.com
