Ryan Montbleau Band: Ready for the Big Time

Everyone in Ryan’s band adds a unique flavor to his music. Yahuba Garcia, the newest member of the group, did a wonderful job of playing loud when necessary yet stepping back when it was appropriate. The Cohen Brothers (not those Coen Brothers) showed the perfect mix of chops and heart throughout the night. Keyboard player Jason Cohen has added a Moog to his arsenal, which makes him even more dangerous. Some of the lines Jason played during a cover of Talking Heads’ Naive Melody (This Must Be The Place) were unreal. If the Ryan Montbleau Band is a musical stew, Jason adds the spice while his brother James on drums is the broth that holds the whole thing together. It’s clear these boys have been playing together since birth.

Now we get to Laurence Scudder, one of the few rock viola players in the game. Over the four years I’ve been seeing the band, his playing has gone from tentative in ’04 to solid in ’06 to electrifying in ’07. It’s clear Scudder has gained the confidence that playing more than 150 gigs a year will provide. Whenever a break in the music called for Larry to play a few licks, he would throw out a tease for those paying attention. During I Don’t Wanna Know Your Name, Scudder threw in the theme from Frank Zappa’s Willie The Pimp, which got a nice response from the audience.

With so many solid soloists in the band you would think that Ryan Montbleau would be content to lay back. Fortunately that’s not the case, as Ryan can lay down a face-melting solo that would make Prince proud: Montbleau’s lead guitar skill is one of my favorite aspects of the band’s sound. Sure they have catchy, well-written songs that make the girls swoon, but they can also get the testosterone flowing with one of the jams they tack onto the end of their songs. Ryan often switches between acoustic and electric guitars, playing much more electric these days than he did in the past.

Bass player Matty Giannaros also switches between acoustic and electric, giving the band two completely different sounds. Giannaros also does a fine job of singing high harmonies that accentuate Montbleau’s voice oh so nicely.

I’ve been seeing the RMB since 2004, and they have come a long way. New songs such as Draw The Line showed a maturity to their sound. These guys also do a bang-up job adding their own sound to each cover they play. Early on the RMB played a stellar version of Otis Redding’s Dreams to Remember that had a slinky reggae beat. Other covers included a unique take Paul Simon’s That Was Your Mother and an extremely danceable version of The Band’s Ophelia.

My favorite tune of the night was the optimistic love song Stretch. Stretch shows off all the aspects of Montbleau’s writing that separates him from the pack. The tune begins with Ryan strumming a beautiful intro before the rest of the band and the catchy lyrics come in. Another song that got the whole boat swaying together was the fitting Boat Song. Seeing the RMB play The Boat Song on a boat is one of those goosebump moments that makes you remember why you see live music. From Ryan’s lyrics to Larry’s smooth layering of sound to James Cohen’s fluid backbeat, that song cooks.

The Ryan Montbleau Band has shown they can thrive both when they control the elements in the studio, and when they let the music be the master in a live setting. From the smiles on everyone’s face as they disembarked at 23rd street, you can tell the audience had a good time. I expect big things from the band with the debut of their new album, Patience on Friday, which drops on October 9th.

Rocks Off Boat Cruise
The Half Moon
New York, NY
8/31/07

set I
L.I.D.S.
Dreams to Remember
Stretch
Quickie
Grain of Sand
Naive Melody (This Must Be The Place)
Any Blues
That Was Your Mother
Draw the Line

set II
Eggs*
It’s All Been Done Before*
Under the Gun
You Crazy You
The Boat Song
Small Doses
Honeymoon Eyes
City
Ophelia**
One Fine Color
Inspired By No One

*Ryan, Matty and Larry acoustic trio
**with “Hello My Baby” vocal section

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0 Responses

  1. I flew from Texas just for this show –
    It was worth every penny!
    The entire boatride was a goosebump moment!
    These guys are on the verge of hitting it very BIG!!

  2. great band all around. From Touring long and Hard to always having time for fans.

    his voice is great and some of their few covers are great, off the wall songs I love to hear covered by RMB.

    can;t wait for the Harvest Fest in Hancock NY next weekend. These cats bring it EVERY time–Never taking a night off.

    cheers fellas on your continued support. You’ve earned it.

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