The Owl Acoustic Lounge was hopping on a Thursday night with the sounds of country music and a whole lot more, Sept. 24.
I arrived in the middle of an impressive set of instrumental music from guitarist Joel Fraser, who plays with country band Jason Hastie and the Alibi along with Old Man River Band Ray Banman.
Joel Fraser's set was jaw droppingly awesome. He had looped subtle rhythms and tapped a variety of harmonics and arpeggios on the fretboard of his acoustic guitar which he enhanced with some beautiful fingerpicking and extra percussion by tapping on his guitar’s body.
There weren’t any lyrics, but there didn’t need to be. His music had a lot of classical music influence as well as a touch of Celtic. He ended his set with a beautiful instrumental called “Nightingale.”
Local country band the Old Man River Band were up next with a tight set of modern country music.
Evan Herbst sang most of the lead vocals for songs like Keith Urban’s, “ You Look Good In My Shirt.” Austrian Graf, enjoying a late birthday celebration on stage, added harmony vocals and tambourines.
She sang lead on female country hits including Gretchen Wilson’s “ Here For the Party and a couple of Miranda Lambert hits including “Kerosene” and an amped up v
ersion of “Fastest Girl In Town” but was drowned out by the band.
For a touch of classic country. Herbst and Graf sang together on Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash’s “Jackson.”
Herbst also sang a solid version of Waylon Jennings’ “Lonesome, Ornery and Mean.”
