THE TOMAHAWKS ARE SMOOTH EDGED!!

THE TOMAHAWKS ARE SMOOTH EDGED!!

Are you the kind of person that loves different types of music?  Do you search out the best groups to see in the Southern Tier?  Do you ever wish you could hear the best blues you’ve ever heard, played right in front of you?

Look no further! The Tomahawks, led by an incredibly reverent Victor Lay on the drums, are the most incredible, sleek, smooth, edgy, and awesome blues band I’ve ever heard! Victor strokes the drums with a jazzy, or blues quality, that will endear and warm your heart, as he looks on with full support, and self-enjoyment, at his fellow musicians, when it is their turn to show off what they can do!  But, when it comes time for Victor to show off his percussion perfection, your body moves in rhythm, and your feet click together, and your heart swallows a big pill of WOW!  Victor is the consummate professional when it comes to not just leading his incredible group, but also, in following the individual solo moments of the show!  He is like a drumming accompanist!

Donny Wilkins, really struts his stuff, and prowess on the keyboards, and shows off a complete mastering of the keys!  Mixed with fantastic vocals, and an awesome edgy harmonica, Donny does it all. I imagine, he even strums his way around a guitar pretty darn well, also, but I didn’t get to see that!  Donny’s leadership qualities shine through!

Cookie Baker, the female bass player, and vocalist does a fancy job on her bass, and keeps with every beat, and swells her sound at just the right time, instead of just pounding away, without any musical sense.  Contrarily, she feels the music all the time, and does it a lot with her eyes closed, bringing on a true sense, and emotion filled nuance to the show. Her vocal harmonies, are beautiful, and tie the entire vocal ensemble, of all 4 band members, together, with a nice warm sound!

But, the real shocker of the couple hours I watched the Tomahawks keep an entire bar full of onlookers enticed, was their lead guitarist Cody Carman!  This young man, and the youngest member of a mid-aged band, is pure Diamond! Crystal clear notes fly from his guitar. He masterfully, shows off an amazing ability to handle every string, as if it were the only one on the guitar, so perfectly, that I wanted to cry, at how many hours, this gentleman must have put into his craft, to be so incredibly, and phenomenally good, at a younger age! Maybe, he is in his 30s, or so, but his blues ability, and his solo moments, seem as though he is the re-birth of B.B. King!  No, actually, he is better than B.B. King, so that’s not possible.  Cody is so good, that I think I’d probably buy, download, or whatever the kids do these days, any and all songs that he might record, whether he’s playing alone, or with a band.  I imagine, with his incredible talent, that he can out play any George Lynch riff, or Stevie Ray Vaughn tune, without a doubt!  If you just came to see Cody alone, you’d be thrilled with paying for seeing him.  However, the whole group, The Tomahawks, are so perfect together, I was thinking they were all born in the same cave somewhere, and started playing on archaic instruments, hundreds of years ago.

BRAVO to the Tomahawks for causing a bar of about 30 people, to sound like a huge crowd of screaming, yelling fans, who couldn’t get enough of this artistically incredible group!  Although, I think I did the most screaming in support, at the beginning of their session! Thank you Donny, Victor, Cookie, and Cody for a memory that will not fade!  Can’t wait to spend more time listening to you all!

Written by: Colin Bruce Munro Wood – 04/12/2016 – 10:00PM

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