From the moment I stepped into the hall, I felt like I had stepped back in blues time to the 1930s. Already up and performing on stage when I arrived, the band had easily resurrected the sound, the feel and the look of old-time Delta blues. Seated on stage just like Southern bluesmen used to perform, they brought their own very personal blues to the audience of approximately 100 friends, family and fans.
Performing each song with finesse, grace and obvious joy, they chatted to the audience mid-tune and to each other from time to time. I was most captured by a move that seemed so natural to the band. Martin stood up, harmonica in hand and mouth, and came just that much closer to the audience that was groovin', cheerin', whistlin' and hand-clappin' their appreciation.
Their set covered lots of the blues classics: Robert Johnson's Dust My Broom, Stop Breakin' Down, Love In Vain and Crossroads; T-Bone Walker's Stormy Monday; and B.B.King's Everyday I Have the Blues; Blind Boy Fuller's Pig Meat; Jimi Hendrix's Hey Joe; and, performed one their own original exceptional pieces, Hard Times, written by Tytus Zurawski.
This young three-man Montreal band, Martin Goyette, 24, (vocals and harmonica), Tytus Zurawski, 26, (steel guitar and back vocals) Patrick Robert, 26, (classical guitar) took away first place pulling off their win against six other talented bands at Festiblues 2002.
As the winners, they received the night at Lion D'Or, a great chance to publicly showcase this outstanding band, and recording studio time at MS Studio to produce their demo, Devil Blues. The group designed and produced a very attractive CD cover that once again captures that old time blues feel they bring to the stage.
In an interview after the show, I pointed out that their choice of performing acoustic Delta blues was indeed a clear departure from the contemporary electrified blues à la Stevie Ray Vaughan music that most of the Montreal blues scene bands cover. While they all seemed to feel this choice was partially why they had won the relève, Tytus, who both Patrick and Martin had credited with bringing Delta blues to the band, noted, "But, why not, this is the music we really love. It's what the blues is all about - having fun and playing what the people back then wanted to hear."
Together for the last two years, much of that time spent rehearsing and playing at parties, Riverside Blues recently performed at the popular NDG bar, Avanti. And they are just itchin' to become part of the Montreal/Quebec blues scene. Don't miss this refreshing band that will transport you back to the roots of the blues with their music and performance.
Copyright © Barbara Lavoie, 2002