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Find great live music at The Gutter Lounge
By Franklin Hayes Splash! Magazine
 | | Franklin Hayes/Splash! Grayson Capps (right) delivers a soulful combination of blues, country and folk. Solid songwriting makes Capps a crowd favorite in the Southeast. |
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Acoustifunk serves up audible morsels concocted for the more sophisticated musical palate in their unique blend of funk, jazz, blues and reggae fusion. Their music covers a wide range of styles and influences without losing the non-musician listener in a torrent of unrelated notes.
Songs like the Southwestern-flavored "El Paso" show the quartet's tonal flexibility, while the syncopated bass line for "Bassy Reggae" displays their ability to take any musical genre and creatively transform it into head rocking funk.
Greg Hedaria's hard pounding drums are reminiscent of Tim "Herb" Alexander and serve as a solid rhythmic backbone for the band's funky yet surprisingly smooth sound. In between dynamic style blending escapades, guitarist/vocalist Justin Allen's lyrics float on top of the mix and act as the keystone element of the band's wall of sound. In contradiction to their name, the group features amplified guitars.
"We started off as a three piece with acoustic guitars and it kind of evolved into an electric thing," Allen said. "We've had that name for so long that it didn't make sense to change."
 | | Franklin Hayes/Splash! Greg Hedaria, left, and Justin Smegelski carry the low-end of Acoustifunk's rhythm section. |
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The group recently added guitarist Scott George to the line up, who gives the band a second wave of polished melodies.
The next local Acoustifunk show will be at the Gutter Lounge in Pensacola Oct. 21. Visit them online at www.myspace.com/acoustifu nk.
The Lyndsey Battle band typically performs as a trio, however Battle performed a stripped down version of her work instead of her usual upright bass and percussion backed sound when she played at the Gutter in late September. When asked what became of her comrades, Battle answered that they had probably been vaporized by the thought police. Despite the absence of her backing musicians, Battle proceeded with her intimate, yet commanding performance. The singer/songwriter's music is subtle, yet complex and evokes emotions similar to relaxing in front of a campfire with friends while listening to the serenade of acoustic guitars and nature's concurrent ambiance. The dulcet combination of smooth jazz and earthy folk phrasings that emanate from her guitar provide Battle's voice the perfect backdrop, delicately enhancing her velvety timbre.
Battle can be seen performing with her full trio every Monday night except Oct. 9 at The funky Blues Shack in Destin. Visit the Lindsey Battle band online at www.myspace.com/lyndseyba ttle or www.lyndseybattle.com.
The previously New Orleans-based Grayson Capps and The Stumpknockers visited the Pensacola venue with an equally soulful, yet intentionally insouciant sound. Capps, whose simple yet pungent guitar compositions seem to speak to even the most defiant listeners, is best known for his contribution to the "Love Song for Bobby Long" soundtrack. The 2004 movie stars John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson and is based on a novel written by Capps' father, Ronald Everett Capps.
The Stumknockers' sound transports the listener to a dusty wooden porch in the deep south where the only responsible thing to do is watch the warm summer day sink into muggy Louisiana swamp while finishing a tall glass of sweet iced tea. The band's more upbeat numbers conjure images of a dilapidated '57 Chevy rolling down the highway en route to adventure like a scene from Kerouac's "On the Road."
The combination of Capps' saucy slide guitar and his band's turbid folksy rhythm leaves listeners wondering how Johnny Cash may have sounded if raised further south in swamp-laden Louisiana.
Capps' music is ripe with blues, folk and country elements, yet he is able to brilliantly modernize this oftdated genre by his contemporary and typically pellucid subject matter.
Capps is currently on tour and not due back to the Southeast until December, his website is well worth a click at www.graysoncapps.com.
Though Battle and Capps won't return to the Gutter in October, excellent sounds can be had on Oct. 7 the Gutter Lounge will host the Battle of the Blues Bands sponsored by the Blues Society of Northwest Florida.
The cover is $2 and will feature a plethora of bands from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Winners will represent the Blues Society at the 23rd annual International Blues challenge on Beale Street in Memphis, Tenn. Feb. 1 through 3.
For more information call 850-484-2692.
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