First stop was Braxtons Tap & Grill at the far end of St.Thomas where John Milles was playing a solo acoustic act. Braxtons is a woody roadhouse that has really good food and very friendly and attentive staff. In the room as we walked in was the soothing sound of John playing acoustic tunes and singing to the crowd in front of him. John sang a host of great tunes that crossed the span from the Seventies to present day. His song selection was great, the perfect mix of legendary classics mixed with acoustic versions of today's tunes. On his break, John introduced himself to Barb and I - he was very friendly and his warm attitude made you feel like he had known you for a long time. The crowd certainly appreciated his talents as they sang and clapped along to his songs, seeing full well that John enjoyed playing the songs for himself, as much as he did for the crowd before him. If we didn't have more places to go we would've stayed for the entire night, it was that enjoyable.
Next on the St.Thomas Allstage Tour was Ollees where The Wrecks were playing with Shawn Buck, Rob Stokes, Flying Bob Taylor & Mike Moodie. Ollees is a neighborhood bar that draws in the local community from the adjacent residential blocks, and is situated in a commercial plaza. Complete with center pool table at the back of the bar, the band line up across the front of the venue giving full sight lines to both band and patrons. This was our 1st visit to Ollees for Barb and I so we weren't sure what to expect. Inside the place was packed, standing near the bar area was to be shoulder-to-shoulder. For Barb and I it was like a party with good friends as the crowd included Al & Katie Vaillancourt, Cathy Millar, the amazing Waitress skills of Ruth "Buzzy" McCormick, my old high school buddy Al Grech, Bill Penner, Doug Ryan, the amazing talents of Stanley Brown who jammed with the band, Len Doucette and his lovely Lady. The Wrecks were slamming out tunes 1st with Shawn, then allowing Stanley to come up and play - and the packed bar was loving the entire performance. This was my good friend Mike Moodies perpetual "Farewell Gig" with the band, but in all seriousness - if we lose Mr. Moodies talents in the sphere of Local drummers, it will be our loss for sure. The band had the demographics in the bar in their hands, young and middle aged were loving the band as they smoked thru a dozen or so songs in the set we saw.
As we again left a venue that had a local St. Thomas talent that was showcasing their skills, it occurred to me that those sitting at home on this mild Friday night were missing out on alot.
From there we went to the Midtown Tavern to see Jared Walpole & Chris Eveland who were doing their acoustic duo at the front of the bar. Jared can sing with the best of them, a young man who slammed out a rendition of "Simple Man" by Skynyrd, that bore the power and clarity of Ronnie Van Zant. And Chris who accompanied on acoustic guitar played with amazing conviction and excitement. The two of them are part of the local band, Rail City Kings, and they had the crowd who filled the bar in their hands. It made me wonder if the two of them were this good, how was the entire band when they got together. Needless to say I was very impressed.
Our last stop took us to Sunny's Bar where Arkham Dispatch was playing their debut at the bar. The band had a good crowd, and they were pumped to bring St. Thomas their style of music. The band is highly energetic onstage and provide plenty of visual acrobatics for the crowd to feed upon. From a drummers perspective, Shane Connon played like a demon onstage and his kit cut thru like a cannon all thru the set. Al Halliday and Jason Harrison led the band thru tune after tune, while their Bass player (sorry for not knowing his name here) was the most active musician I have seen onstage in a very long time. The band alternated between Covers and Originals with ease, and the uptempo tunes of both genre's had the dance floor packed.
The Final Word on our tour of St. Thomas Clubs - if you are into acoustic acts, be it solo or duo - there is venues and certainly the talent to fill the bill - it was unfortunate that Barb and I didn't have more time to hear the talented people that we did.
If you want bar-proven bands like The Wrecks, Stanley Brown Blues, Hogwild, Dave's Not Here or the many others that call St.Thomas home - there is an immense talent pool of St. Thomas musicians that are just the tip of the iceberg for London to get familiar with. Arkham debuting at Sunny's is another example of how talent moves back and forth between London & St. Thomas - but there is definitely a need for more St. Thomas bands getting a foot in the door here in London.
As for the Bar Owners in St.Thomas, they recognise that there is a hunger for "Live Music" out there, and they are due a pat on the back for doing what they can to facilitate that, for the musicians looking to play live. The bars are supplying top-notch talent for all of you to come out and see/hear - and it's home grown. Get out there and enjoy it, live music is making a revival - albeit slow and sure, but it IS coming alive after a couple of decades of being knocked down.
Be a part of the solution and enjoy the treasure that you have.
Jim
