An acoustic electric guitar echoes the room subtly. The sound gives off bright, high-pitched chords with upbeat rhythms accompanied by a soothing singing voice that lures in the audience for Kyle Williams’ music.
Williams, a local, was one of the artists that accompanied Portland, Oregon’s Tim Snider on his West coast tour for a diverse night of music Thursday at 1078 gallery. Guests The Rugs put on a tremendous set as well.
Not only did Kyle Williams’s voice stood out profoundly but majority of the songs had beautiful duets that were made possible by Kyle’s wife Carrie. Having both vocalists singing really fit some of the lyrical content of love and the building of relationships in life.
Kyle William’s vocal range from low to high was spot on and his capability of holding high notes for a long duration was captivating. Not only did he play original songs but he also covered the song “Let Her Go” by Passenger. It sounded even better then the original.
In the last song Kyle Williams performed he asked the members from Tim Snider’s band to come up and play. The song had a lot of energy and resembled a standard Blues song structure to it. Tim Snider took a huge solo on his violin that brought the song to new heights and was a great transition into Tim Snider’s set that was up next.
Tim Snider’s music represented and expressed many different musical backgrounds. From World Music to Samba to Jazz to Rock to Western, they were able to play it all with great intensity.
Tim Snider’s stage presence when he would play his violin was incredible. Not only did his arm sway for his bow hand, but his whole body as well. The audience danced and bobbed their heads showing appreciation.
All of Tim Snider’s songs were epic in structure as well as lyrical themes that expressed his travels and how big Mt. Shasta was to him. Most songs would get louder and more complex as it persisted with long violin solos and vocal lines. The solos kept coming full force with great passion of diverse low and high note melodies.
One of the highlights of the performance was seeing Tim Snider finger pick his violin at times as if it were a guitar. He also played acoustic guitar on some songs. The tour Tim Snider’s band was on was to promote a new CD that came out last month titled Tim & Caio.
Caio is from Brazil where Tim and him first met. Caio is the other guitarist that plays acoustic. Elements of Samba music is clear through some of the songs on the album.
The last band to play was The Rugs, a five-piece rock band from Chico.
Majority of the songs they played were very upbeat and seemed fun to play from the musicians stage presence. The drummer was very consistent in his beats and fit the Rock genre perfectly. Other songs the band played gave off a rather dreamy or psychedelic vibe too them as well; which kept their set even more interesting. The male vocals resembled a mix between The Beatles and Oasis.
The Rugs had great guitar solos along with catchy guitar riffs and vocal melodies. Overall they were a great way to end an extraordinary night of diverse music at The 1078 Art Gallery.
Tom Sundgren can be reached at [email protected] or @tomsundgren on Twitter.
