Musical Musings of a Tiny Rager

….continued from previous The Kinetix & Zach Deputy Review

Zach Deputy @ Sullivan Hall (04.17.10)

Upon re-entering Sullivan Hall, I took my spot to the right of the stage.  Immediately, I was aware of this loud, thumping bass coming from either above me, below me or the side.  It was obnoxiously loud, distracting, and I realized there was no way Zach Deputy‘s show would get into my ears  and brain with my ADHD self focusing on the thumping.  I had to move.  I took over some bar stools in the slightly elevated section to the left of the stage and awaited the show to begin.

Zach Deputy & I on Jam Cruise 8

Zach came out and sat down at his monstrous one-man-band contraption. “New York, New York! It’s been too long!”  He smiled.  Oh, if I could only explain his smile.  I believe that Zach Deputy might be one of the most fabulous musical spirits to ever roam this earth.  Spiritually, I hold him in high regard up there with George Porter, Karl Denson and all other musicians who live their life with good intentions, living by a wonderful moral code so full of love and respect, not abusing their status or talent.  There are SO many musicians out there who are in the industry for the wrong reasons or who use their fame and fortune in the wrong ways, hurting people as they move along their path.  Having met Zach on Jam Cruise last year, I immediately fell in love with him.  Not his music, not his style, just him as a human being.  A genuinely HAPPY man, with a heart of gold, someone who LOVES to hug, a head full of music and spirit full of such light that when he smiles, your mouth turns up without your brain even helping you master the action.  You catch your cheeks hurting just by standing in his presence.  That must sound so strange to him, to hear how people react to his shine.  But it’s true and I dare anyone to tell me otherwise when it comes to this wonderful soldier of music and love.

Zach Deputy @ Sullivan Hall (04.17.10)

With his signature beard surrounding his wide smile, Zach picked up his guitar and went right into laying out the bass line with his voice.  Then a few other beats on top of that before he extended us his guitar talents in a little jam before bringing us into Can You Tell Me Right Now!  Good Vibrations was next.  I went to take pictures of Zach at this point as I felt his energy building, drawing me to the front where I normally reside. I got to the front of the stage and started to take a few shots.  Meanwhile, this girl behind me continually pinches my butt and giggling the whole time saying, “Oh my, I just keep grabbing things.”  I guess Zach just brings the “feisty” out of people! I turn to give the butt pinching dancer her space back and I spot my Jam Cruise buddy, swaying, with her eyes closed, completely lost in her own world dancing in her private area…completely at peace.  I remember getting a little choked up while watching her.  And it made me very happy we chose to come see Zach at that moment. We both needed him, his words, his lyrics, his sounds.

Banana Mafia sighting!

The third song was one I didn’t recognize.  It was called Make A Man Smile. There was a lovely jam by Zach before hand.  “All I wanna do is jam with Momma,” says Zach.  There are so many layers and levels to Zach songs sometimes they start to feel similar to me.  This was one of those times.  I can’t distinguish at this point where my notes for this song start or end.  I made my way to the floor to dance around a bit and get some water. IT WAS SO HOT!!!

More Cowbell!

Now Dr. Doctor I know, and I know well. Coming out with his strummy guitar leading the way in front of the vocal  beats, he brought us yet another tune surrounded by the love for a woman.  The guitar rift establishing the melody is looped and the beats are laid down.  A few high pitch cries, oohs and ahhs, lead the way into the song, and we know his backdrop for fun is complete…time for lyrics.  I love the lyrics to this song, simple, sweet: “Dr. Doctor, you ain’t got no remedy, no! I got my woman at home and she’s everything I need.”  Zach brought in the rock fused guitar solo to the end of the song.  People were clapping and swaying to the beat.  Just a real catchy tune!

Zach Deputy @ Sullivan Hall

Can I just mention how much I LOVE AMELIA!!?  She is the floor waitress at Sullivan Hall!  I just love her.  And it had to be said 🙂

Always brought us from heavy beats to a beautiful vibe change.  Zach gave us such a pretty guitar solo and the melody was lovely.  It got very mellow and the chatter began to build. I was able to sit down on the stool and just take it all in.   Zach continued with the gorgeous songs!  Lovely was his March 2010 studio single release and its just that, lovely. The lyrics spoke of being with each other but being so far away.  Zach sings ever so softly, “I wanna be with you tonight.”  With layers of oohs and ahhs, a beautiful melody over his multiple layers of sound.  This is one of those songs where the men should grab their girls and swing around, looking them in the eyes and just dance slow.

Next it was time for Fresh Street.  “All right people, are you ready to get down!!!!   It got fast, the strumming got tight and swift.  Zach was bouncing between microphones sounding like himself one minute and like T-Pain the next.  I loved this song!!   Zach fires out, “Little momma, little momma! Got it going on!!”  I mean, I am 5 feet zero so you know I was all about it…come on 🙂 This is such a upbeat jam, everyone was dancing.  I was off the stool and dancing to the song that was secretly written for me, he just doesn’t know it haha.  Zach finally brought me back to the Jam Cruise Jam Room on  this one and gave us a solid guitar rage.  When he said “Ohhh yeah!!,” we all respond in unison, people with hands in the air.  “I am feeling good, better then all right”…such good lyrics for this feisty tune.

Zach Deputy @ Sullivan Hall

It was super hot in the venue from the dancing and the energy. I felt the need to take a break outside.  As I left the venue, Zach headed into Valencia, a reggae-esque jammy tune.  Little adventures ensued outside, nothing special and then it was too cold haha.  Most Don’t Hear Real Music brought back the strummy guitar, a jammy tune, the familiar lay of the beats with his mouth ensued.  As Zach says, “I am music!” I can’t help but feel that he knows who he is as I watch him laying out every rhythm and beat and groove and emotion that songs are meant to evoke, all by himself.  He stops the beats for a mini guitar rage which was fun and with a hit of a button (or a flip of a switch?) he brought back the funky noises he had recorded only a few moments earlier.  The one man band is a rare talent but it limits you to your chair for sure unless you are wearing your arsenal of rage on your back!  🙂 He brought out the cowbell!  Loved it! His guitar made human sounds during this song.  SUCH GREAT LYRICS!!  “Most people never heard real music/ just a radio jam/ I got a little real music/because….and he screams, “Music is what I am,” bringing the venue to their toes and raging back.  This was high energy and funnnn!

Zach Deputy @ Sullivan Hall

Ain’t My Time to Get Burned was next.  A Deep heavy beat with a solid rift established and we danced and I spaced out.  A salsa/latin vibe filled the room as Zach’s guitar cried Into the Morning, Into the Night.  A few bumps of his mouth created the beat and so it goes on as he built up the song, releasing the simple lyrics, “Into the Morning, Into the Night.” A great beat infused with Latin rage, a very different style compared to the rest but still with the underlying Zach vibe.  It caught me off guard, no lyrics, just strumming of the guitar and mouthing “Into the Morning.”  Back to the Jam Room, Zach gave us a trippy spacey drone of his guitar.  A contemporary dancer was stunting around the dance floor, making some of the oddest movements I have ever seen.  I closed my eyes because the song asked me too.  It’s amazing to think one man on stage was making all these layered lovely songs.  There are only maybe 60 people in the venue at this point so the heat was not as overwhelming.   Zach screams, “JAM CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUISEEEE!!”  I swear, over half the venue cheered.  Was I really in a room with that many Jam Cruisers?  My girlfriend and I look at each other and scream at the top of our lungs!  We hug each other so hard and my heart swells again with emotion, for the boat, the music, my friend, just for my life.  Happy tears abounded and I again thanked Zach in my head for making it to us on this particular weekend.

The rest of the songs started to get blurry.  Things were starting to flow together, sound similar.  I was getting figgity, tired as hell from the night before.  I had to walk around but my legs hurt, literally hahah.  I went outside for another break of fresh air and some adventures ensued that kept me outside of the venue for a fair amount of songs. Damn, it was cold!   The last song was one that most should have known.  Off the album Sunshine, Twisty, Twisty, I first heard this song on Jam Cruise and remember the sun shining on our backs, the wind blowing in our hair.  This song is just so cute.  When I got back from Jam Cruise, sometime in March, I was watching old episodes of Cougar Town and I swore I heard it in the background! After a little search on Facebook, I found I was correct.  How funny!  The scene was a frat boy party type of environment where they were playing beer pong.  It fit perfectly!!  Zach sang, “Swirly, Swirly! The hurricanes’ a coming'”  and with some cowbell and the rage of his guitar, the song came to an end.  What was left of the crowd cheered.  It had really cleared out at this point.

Zach Deputy had done it again. He had come out onto an empty stage and given us such an upbeat dance party. With songs raging of love , peace, harmony.  His smile, so wide, so bright, that it FORCED us to smile throughout the show.  His songs so upbeat that they FORCED people off their butts and onto the dance floor.  He had taken his arsenal of rock and turned it into so many beautiful sounds.  As I scoop up my tired friend, we walked home reminiscing of Jam Cruise, of Zach’s set, comparing all the memories we now had of him in our heads.