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The Quickshifters – The Hideout – April 1, 2016

4/13/2016

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Music from earlier eras has always had the strongest appeal for me, to the point I’ve always thought that I was born in the wrong decade. Fortunately, a lot of other people feel the same way.
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I honestly did not go to the Hideout to see The Quickshifters, I went early to have a few drinks and relax before seeing Jim Dan Dee. As I stood by the bar chatting with a friend I got distracted mid sentence by the sight of a mustachioed man with a stand up bass on the stage, and next to him was a bespectacled man holding a trumpet who happened to be sporting a colourful Mohawk. I suddenly had a hunch that this band would interest me. I squeezed my way through the crowd to the bench beside the stage. When the band did start, they burst into big band blues with a shiny outer coating of swing jazz and I was smitten.
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As a bassist myself I obviously have a bias, and there is something about the lead singer playing a stand up bass that sucked me in right away. Their influences are an amalgam not unlike the concoction of genres that created jump blues, one of the progenitors of rock and roll. Appropriately, the crowd spontaneously decided to have an unofficial swing dance competition. My favorite moment might have been when they did a swing blues Taj Mahal cover of ‘Blue Light Boogie’, it was a credit to the band’s amazing taste within the blues genre. Their style had many versatile, but classic aspects to it, I could see them opening for anyone from Downchild Blues Band to Pokey Lafarge.

To find out more, go to The Quickshifters page:
https://www.facebook.com/The-Quickshifters-116294718767348/?fref=ts

Review and Pictures by: Gideon Greenbaum-Shinder
Edited by: Jesse Kline

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Jim Dan Dee – The Hideout – April 1, 2016

4/6/2016

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To build anything you need to start at the foundation. Rock music did not just spawn out of thin air. It was like a storm, the perfect conditions simply arose,  out of which rock was born. So when a band plays music rooted in the blues, one of those perfect conditions, it is obvious that they know where rock music truly comes from. Jim Dan Dee played The Hideout on a Friday night to a room of dancing drunkards having the time of their lives. Following a rousing swing blues set by the Quickshifters, the boys took the stage at 1:30 AM, they were the perfect late night minstrels to bring the rock crowd from a drunken stupor back into a full on frenzy.
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It’s clear Jim Dan Dee have worked tirelessly to produce their uniquely tantalizing mélange of Mississippi blues and 90’s hard rock, held up by heavy horns and powerful keys. James Stefanuk plays lead guitar and sings lead vocals. His licks are blues driven, his chords are rock, and he often descends into full on slide guitar mayhem. His vocal style is very much like a crooning mix between Cake and Pearl Jam. While the room shook and swayed to the rhythms of masterful drummer Shawn Royal, quite frankly his playing faces outweighed anything else on that stage. Prepare to experience the many faces of Shawn.
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This night was a great reminder of why I love new music. We all need experiences and music in our lives that occasionally let us jump out of our routines, to explore the unexplored. This one turned out to be way more than a regular old rock show, even with four guys on stage. It serves as a good reminder that not only is the blues truly the heart of rock and roll, but bands who truly respect it can make better music. This band is going to be noticed. In the meantime, there is so much more to learn about Jim Dan Dee on their website, here: http://www.jimdandee.com/

Review and Pictures by: Gideon Greenbaum-Shinder
​Edited by: Jesse Kline

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