Alternative indie lounge? Maybe. Hearkening beck to 1960s pop and folk rock? Definitely. Great music? Guaranteed.
AM creates beautiful atmospheres to accompany sweet tenor vocals. His backing band rocks, or rather, folk rocks. The audience enjoyed the retro beats, groovy guitar solos, talented backing band, and even a little ukelele. The feel-good energy in the room made it seem, well, like being in church. Of course, that might have something to do with AM's New Orleans roots.
The music of the 60s hold so many special, singable songs. Out of all of them, AM chose to cover “I'll Be There” saying, “This is a tune that belongs in church. Just 3 words, 'I'll Be There' and you can sing along if you like.” And people did sing along at his warm invitation. They even gave a round of applause for the ukelele at his behest.
The lighting and the church wasn't the best for a show, and there was no air conditioning. There weren't even towels, so AM used one of his T-shirts. He apologized for it, but was convinced by audience response that someone in the audience would still want it. He tossed it into the audience at the end of the show. Some really tall guy got it and took a picture with AM..
While many groups at the Culture Collide Block Party attract attention by being loud and bombastic, AM draws people in gently by rendering great tunes, beautifully sung, deeply felt, and fantastically played. What a lovely dude. The set was over far too soon, but everyone received the gift of a smile and a good time. They felt blessed--in church on a Sunday.
He's about to tour the UK, but he'll be back. AM is ours now as he recently moved to Echo Park. Check out dates at www.myspace.com/AMsounds. He just released a new album called Future Sons & Daughters which you can order through www.AMsounds.com.
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Click on the Culture Collide Festival tag to see all of the acts that were covered.
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