Mike Holtzclaw 757-928-6479 | mholtzclaw@dailypress.com
The band is called Who We Are Not, and its new CD could just as easily be titled "What Aren't We?" Depending on which track you listen to, this is a jazz outfit, a folk rock group or a retro pop group drawing on 1960s and early '70s influences (think somehwere between Joni Mitchell and Maria Muldaur).
The actual name of the disc us "Just Be," which is just as well, because it doesn't matter what genre you try to assign. Who We Are not ... just is.
And it is good.
You can see them Friday morning on "The Hampton Roads Show" (WAVY-TV 10, 11 a.m.).
The band is Joe Talley (guitar and vocals), Pamela Jo Sward (vocals and percussion), Dave Hufstedler (bass and vocals), Vincent "Biggs" James (guitar and vocals), and Cody Thornton (drums). The band members hail from different cities around Hampton Roads.
"Just Be" - recorded, mixed and mastered by SoniQual in Portsmouth - features a dozen clean, sharp original songs by Sward and Talley. The melodies feel simple, but Thornton's steady drumming pushes them along nicely, and both guitarists do solid work.
The album's third track, "Get There," is catchy and delightful. By the end of the CD, on songs such as "Traveling" and "Happy Hour," there is an acoustic jazz feel.
The band has scheduled a release party for Oct. 24 at the Parlor on Granby in Norfolk. Click here for the event's Facebook page.
Copyright © 2015, Daily Press
Press
Who We Are Not funnels folk, jazz and pop into a new CD
