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Ray Lewis
3/25/2010 8:30 PM at LONGFELLOW STREET
1704 San Marco Blvd, SAN MARCO - Jacksonville, Florida 32207
Cost: $10
Think of Longfellow Street as the path where travelers from five musical journeys converge. Together they forge a galvanic, seamless flow of progressive Americana music, breaking new ground with the elements at hand.
Coming together for the first time in the autumn months of 2008 there was little talk of where to go, what to do, whose songbook to plunder. It was, from the get go, simply laying out what each member brought to the table and taking a momentary walk down each other’s path to connect. A few photo shoots later and Longfellow Street were on their way, not looking back.
Three very strong songwriters craft the material; Shawn Lightfoot, already well known on the Florida singer-songwriter circuit, writes and sings with a sophistication and wit that entertains as well as challenges listeners and players alike. ‘Bama born and bred Trey Andrews pens crafty odes from the redneck Riviera with a high and lonesome reverence for the ones that came before him. Mallory McKendry pulls from the day to day, as any songwriter, but with a woman’s perspective to see beyond the surface, with words tender and brave. Creating dangerously has always been the modus operandi for Arvid Smith: fueling a sonic blastoff with a hot wired telecaster or making the steel weep like a broken hearted girl could be his stock in trade if not for a penchant for carrying you from Nashville to Mumbai in the scope of a 30 second solo. Drumming like a foundry worker or laying back deep in the pocket, Cody Walker Jr is the ‘Workin’ Man’s Blues’ he sings about, driving the band like it was ridin’ on rails.
Longfellow Street, then: a collection of Americana figurines with a history of blues players, symphony chorus, the U.S. Navy band, arts communes and hindi ragas begs to come to your door at the earliest possible moment. Let ‘em in!
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