Great Review of Reeve's Show!
Reeve Coobs at The Evening Muse by Amanda Caines from Creative Loafing (Vibes Music Blog) The Deal: Singer/songwriter and vocal powerhouse Reeve Coobs delights a packed house at The Evening Muse. The Good: Reeve combines the vocal qualities of pop singers like Colbie Caillat and Celine Dion and infuses that sweet-but-soulful energy into folk rock songs that amalgamate the styles of artists like John Mayer and Edwin McCain. The resulting tunes display a songwriting prowess and impeccable vocal control unmatched by any unsigned singer/songwriter I’ve ever seen. Unbridled by a succinct subgenre definition, Reeve runs the gamut of folk from the pop end to the rock end, picking up some country/Americana sounds on the way. While Reeve’s flawless, live vocals rival the precision and quality of a great studio recording, her talents extend even beyond that to skilled guitar-work and piano-playing. For someone as multi-talented as she, her self-effacing manner of addressing her fans makes her even more charming as a performer—she seems to be so focused on the music, she hesitates to mention her items for sale at the back of the venue. She even apologizes for her lack of happy songs: “Moving from ‘angry’ to ‘sad;’ not too many ‘happy,’ sorry.” Even if most songs are expressing negative emotions and situations in the most beautiful way possible, it’s not all doom-and-gloom; for instance, she touts her catchiest song “Night Owl” as the happiest song she’s ever written, calling it “a love song to staying up late.” The Bad: Having the chairs out at The Evening Muse kind of cut down the available kinetic energy in the room, I thought. Not to mention it was a claustrophobia-inducing level of crowded in there by the end of Reeve’s set. It wasn’t that she wasn’t putting the energy out there; it was just that, as she said, “You guys are really quiet.” The crowd loosened up a little bit after the first few songs, thankfully. The Verdict: I am really hard on female singers in my critiques because I know the extent of wonderful things that a woman’s voice can do, and most of the front-women of Charlotte don’t explore that potential — Reeve Coobs exceptionally defies that majority. I’m not even a huge fan of folk rock, as a genre, but the dark caramel tones of Reeve’s voice paired with rock solid songwriting really impresses me. While these beautiful songs could stand alone with just her voice and an acoustic guitar — I’ve seen it work at FemmeFest — the musicians in her band weave a tight net of support, filling out the songs — especially the “angry” ones — for an intense sonic experience. Show Review in Shutter 16 MagazineBy far, the best solo acoustic performance at FemmeFest was not the headliner but Reeve Coobs, who truly blew me away with her powerful choruses and excellent guitar-work. Even my husband, the guitar snob who I dragged along for a male perspective, was impressed with her playing. Her sweet-yet-mighty voice ran the gamut from self-effacing, light folk to robust, head-bobbing blues. I missed her full-band set since it coincided with Grown Up Avenger Stuff’s time slot but I am eager to find another opportunity to see Reeve with her band. Write Up in Creative Loafing CharlotteFemme Fest Turns Four by Jeff Hahne New Video of Reeve and The New FamiliarsReeve backed up The New Familiars at the Tosco Music Party. You can watch it HERE! Reeve featured on The New Familiars RecordYou can hear Reeve on two songs on brand new record from The New Familiars called "Between the Moon and Morning". You can buy it HERE! New Reeve downloadReeve sand lead for a song for Kyle Dillard and the Church Band. It's called "Let 'em See Love" and you can buy it HERE! NEW VIDEOReeve and Josh Daniel (from The New Familiars) perform Miss Ohio by Gillian Welch. Watch it HERE! Listen to WGWG interview onlineIn April of last year Reeve did an in-studio performance and interview at WGWG. It's now availble online! Check it out HERE! New Video!!Check out The Mud Puddles LIVE!! The Rock Song New Videos Added!National Anthem New VideoReeve Coobs Trio performing "To Be With You" at The Evening Muse on 4/24/10. See it here! 2 New Videos You can now see two live videos from Reeve's performance at The Evening Muse on 3/18/10. Show review by Monty ChandlerHaving heard Reeve Coobs perform a couple of times in the past it has mostly been as part of a group of singers or as backup vocals with gogoPilot. Tonight’s solo gig as opener for gogoPilot was a performance which will not soon be forgotten. Reeve’s first couple of tunes held the “genie” in check with muted and tempered vocals. Then something transformational happened! Reeve let the genie out of the bottle and showed a powerful vocal ability with range, depth and emotion unlike anything I’ve heard her let loose in the past. As she showered the audience with dominant dynamic vocals, it was truly an OMG moment. This was not lost on the full house at the Evening Muse either as the emotions of the audience were aroused and busting at the seams before the song was over and the crowd let loose as the song came to a close! A couple of songs later, Reeve once again impressed the audience with a powerful, confident, rangeful, crisp, melodic vocal demonstration highlighting her capabilities as a vocal soloist! A wonderful performance Reeve! |