Fairfield Theater Company has developed a great reputation for bringing amazing acts to the heart of Southern Connecticut, and Ryan Montbleau Band’s appearance at StageOne on Sunday December 5th in Downtown Fairfield was no exception. With a soulful voice, both polished and honest, Montbleau uses a spectrum of American folk music as the platform upon which he layers grooves of hip hop and reggae, classic feel-good chord progressions of Dixie , ragtime, and bluegrass, with a gentle nod to the psychedelic jam scene in his lyrically uplifting original music. The result is in an experience which is rich in multi-textured sounds and rhythms. His band supports this abstract endeavor quite well with a standard presence of guitar, drums and keys, while incorporating some unique additional elements of acoustic upright bass, electrified viola, and an unusual array of percussion as well.
Montbleau joked about having recorded the New Year’s Eve show (09-10) at StageOne for his recently released live DVD titled “Shoot the Moon” –a line from an audience favorite which they never actually got around to playing at the NYE show. He righted the blunder by a supplemental performance of that infrequently played “My Best Guess”. And what a real treat it was to hear the band bring out Bridgeport’s own Darian Cunning (who also performed as the opener for the show) to sit in on a few songs during the middle of their set. Darian’s dreamy guitar parts were like euphoric instrumental back-up vocals for the R&B inspired song of heartache and growth (amidst a whole lot of loveliness) in “This”. It was also wonderful to see the small and intimate environment of StageOne’s audience burst alive at the end of the show for an interactive finale which reminded me much more of a scene from some old vaudevillian saloon musical, with singing and dancing as everyone spilled out into the aisles for the call and response number “I Can’t Wait.”
photography by Chad Anderson
