You could watch American Idol tonight, or you could check out some real talent. Not that singing covers to a backup band doesn’t take talent, but Sanjaya Malakar won’t be there, which makes yet another reason to go out to the Grey Eagle and listen to The Ryan Montbleau Band.
I’ve been raving about this guy for months now, and he makes fairly regular stops in Asheville but why wait for him to come back around six months from now? Originally from Boston, Ryan didn’t actually become a musician until college and, around the same time, he got really into writing poetry. Usually college poetry is a bad thing but in Ryan’s case it led to a proliferation of material for his band.
The songs land somewhere between college radio pop and festival band casual. There are sweeping melodies aided by pleasantly gravely fiddle; funk-tinged grooves, tasteful percussion that manages to almost disappear into the complexity of a tune, and a certain 1920s flair for rhythm and jazzy syncopation. Ryan’s vocals are delivered with a bit of an Ani DiFranco snarl, but in the best possible way, and his songs are catchy enough to win fans immediately. And he has a great collection of hats. Want to know more? Listen here.
Show time is 8 p.m., tickets are $8 at the door. Info at 232-5800.
—Alli Marshall, A&E reporter
