Live Performance Reviews
Page 23
Zac Harmon
A Night With Zac Harmon and the Drive
By Peter "Blewzzman" Lauro September 2024
One of the earliest times I remember seeing Zac Harmon was just a little over twenty years ago at the 2004 W. C. Handy Blues Awards (now known as the Blues Music Awards) in Memphis, TN. Having won the International Blues Challenge earlier in the year, Zac Harmon & The Mid South Blues Review - as they were then known - were chosen to kick off the pre-show ceremonies at the events cocktail hour, and here is what I had to say about that..... "Zac Harmon & The Mid South Blues Review, clearly showed why they were the winners of this years International Blues Challenge. Performing in a tough setting - the foyer of the ballroom - during a cocktail hour atmosphere where people were eating, drinking, walking and talking, Zac and the band were still able to gather a very large and attentive audience. With Jeff Stone, who Zac admits is to him what Junior was to Buddy, on harmonica, and a real tight band behind him, Zac Harmon may very well be back at the Handy's again next year - as a nominee".....
Although I was off by a year, my prediction was right. In 2006, Zac was honored with a Blues Music Award as "Best New Artist Debut" for his The Blues According To Zacariah album. As I usually was back then, I was once again in the audience and here is what I had to say about his performance that evening. I'm sure that reminding him of this will put a big smile on his face..... "Entertainment wise, the performances put on by so many present and future blues legends was absolutely outstanding. With respect to each and every one of them I'd like to mention that from this viewers point of view, the evenings highlight was when Nora Jean Bruso joined Zac Harmon and his band. ZAC had just gotten done blowing the roof off of the Convention Center with two powerful numbers when Nora Jean strolled onto the stage as if to say "Oh yeah? Now watch this". With ZAC and the band backing her up, Nora let loose and tore down the remainder of the building. Unquestionably, this was a happening in the making".....
Since these events, In addition to seeing Zac perform live many more times and reviewing several of his CDs, we've become good friends as well. That said, prior to tonight's show at the Arts Garage - which I'm now going to tell you a bit about - it had been thirteen long years since I last saw him at The Amelia Island Blues Festival.
Zac Harmon & The Drive are, of course, Zac on guitar and lead vocals; his right hand man of eighteen years, Corey Lacy on keys; Kingston Livingston on guitar and vocals; Chris Gipson on bass and vocals; and Gino Iglehart on drums and vocals.
Other than a different band member or two, not a thing has changed over the years. Zac's performances remain to be as commanding as that statuesque frame of his - the one that Gino told the audience is eight feet, twelve inches tall. With a short break in between sets, Zac and the guys gave us their all for a good two-and-a-half hour set. With many more recordings under his belt now, we were treated to a fabulous set list of many new and old songs. One of the funniest was when he did a song about love. Not having said the name of the song before playing it, as Zac started singing about "how a man spends his whole life learning to love and after fifty years he finally gets it right", I think most of the Arts Garage audience (I'll explain later) hadn't figured out he was actually talking about 'making love' until he said, "then life gets you to the point when you no longer can", and mentioned the "Blue Pill Thrill".
During the show a woman seated right in front of the stage handed Zac a note requesting he do "Feet Back On The Ground". It's a slow blues ballad that also happens to be one of my favorites of his. Being the gentleman and fan pleaser that he is, although Zac told her that the song was not part of his show, he also told her he'd be happy to do a bit of it just for her. With the band sitting it out, Zac then went into about a one minute long piece singing a verse of the song and playing some of it stinging guitar licks.....all while you could literally hear a pin drop as the crowd was in awe. Could a one minute part of a show that was well over two hours be it's highlight? Probably not but I'm sure that woman, and a few others as well, might just disagree. That said, later on Zac did a killer rendition of Little Milton's "Blackbird" which left anyone wanting to hear more of "Feet On The Ground" more than happy.
During Zac's oh so soulful presentation of his "Mississippi BBQ", our mutual friend - and Zac;s former manager - Larry Davis, leaned over and told me that the video of the song was filmed in Larry's ex-wife's back yard. Of course, that led to me wanting to see it again and since it's so much fun, I decided to include the link. Enjoy..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP7mUBROZNI.
A few other tracks that were quite a hit were two that included killer, smokin' blues guitar leads. One was "Comfort Of A Man" on which Zac went into stinging solo that brought a hush over the audience - until it ended, at which time they went nuts; another was a cover of a Roosevelt Sykes song called "Hello World", on which Zac and Livingston each drew a robust crowd reaction while tearing it up tandem guitar leads.
The show came to an end with Zac pitting the ladies against the gentlemen in an audience participation version of Little Milton's "(Hey, Hey) The Blues Is Alright". Don't ask who won because who cares? All that matters is Zac caused everyone in the house to have a hell of a good time, and not just during this song, during the whole night.
One of the things that I have personally noticed - and remember, this is my opinion only - is that of the many blues shows I've attended at the Arts Garage it seems to me that about twenty-five percent of the crowd are avid followers of the performer; another twenty-five percent are blues fans in general; and the other fifty percent are members, donors and loyalists to the non-profit Arts Garage, and supporters of the arts in general. Yet, despite them not being the kind of crowd you'd see in juke joint, they always have a great time and leave the place having seen someone they may never have even heard of, but wound up loving. This night, like so many blues artists before him, Zac Harmon left the Arts Garage with a lot more fans than when he entered. That said, I'd bet that the venue will be more than happy to bring Zack back!
Should you like to find out more about Zac Harmon, purchase his music, and find out where he and band will be playing, just go to his website - www.zacharmon.com. Remember, when you do contact Zac, please let him know that his friend, the Blewzzman, sent you.
