Waterloo, Ontario one man band Dan Walsh played a groove fuelled set of blues and folk for a handful of people at the Slice, Monday, April 13.
Walsh, who has played with Fred Eaglesmith’s band for many years, deserves a full house. He never gets the turnouts he deserves at his Lethbridge shows. But he had a small, but dedicated crowd he chatted amicably with as he created excellent music on stage.
The one man band had a lot of groove and more gadgets than a well equipped music store.
Big bearded Walsh began each song by recording a drum rhythm and looping it, then doing the same on a bass ukulele. Some times he’d add a guitar rhythm as well, then sat back on his stool and sang, sometimes standing up to solo at the front of the stage.
He had a fascinating guitar playing style that was part fingers, part flat picking that reminded me of Warren Haynes of Govt. Mule. He played a couple cool covers which I best know as Govt. Mule covers including New Orleans jazz classic “John the Revelator” and Tom Waits’ “Goin’ Out West,” which well suited Walsh’s deep gravelly voice. He also played a Willie P Bennett song by request.
In addition to a few choice covers, he also played several of his new songs and a couple of the highlights from his last CD “Outta tha Jam,” including the title track and “ Beard,” befitting the hirsute Walsh.
Some of the many original highlights were “She’s Got a Groove That’s Second To None” and “Think For Yourself.”
