Feel Good Friday Grand Finale at Fountain Park
It's a Feel Good Friday finale like no other with Reverend Peyton's Big D@mn Band in Fountain Park! The essence of the free summer music series in Fountain Park, underwritten completely by The Van Wert County Foundation and presented by Van Wert Live, is variety and vibrancy. We have journeyed through nine Feel Good Friday concerts each with its own unique musical flair enjoyed with friends arriving from practically everywhere. Every Friday is a celebration of good times and feeling fine in the glorious sunshine. The hot summer nights are now giving way to a cooler closing and the corn tussling lending a tinge of sweetness to the air. This is summer as we know it. The entertainment at Fountain Park adds to the merriment of living in a small music city where living without a care in the world is replaced by living for a great care for each other.
So how about this band that was selected to wrap up Friday night with a bang? Reverend Peyton’s Big D@mn Band delivers a Blues party while playing substantive music that honors its roots. Their performance is gritty, authentic music with, as the good Reverend declared, “human hands playing real instruments.” This band is American roots music at its finest, steeped in traditions brought forward with a modern sensibility, performed with skill and passion. The trio's musical stylings have been referred to as the tent revival, with punk energy that is a refreshing splash of cold water to the face. The Reverend Peyton’s Big D@mn Band is like a twenty-year-old bourbon in a room of vodka Red Bulls and PBRs; vintage yet timeless, exciting yet still welcoming. With his wife, Breezy, serving as a one-woman amen corner, and Max laying down the floppy-boot-stomp drums behind Peyton’s National steel slide guitar, the result is a peculiarly infectious blues crusade. This band is certain to put an exclamation mark finish to the Feel Good Fridays of Summer.
Reverend Peyton's Big Band is the greatest front-porch blues band in the world featuring no one beyond Peyton himself, Breezy on washboard, and Max Senteney on drums. As for the inspiration behind his songs, Peyton says, it’s difficult to create blues music that isn’t personal.
“The song ‘Ways and Means’ was written for all those folks who have the moves, the style, the substance, the talent, but maybe not the seed money or the famous last name,” Peyton says. “All those people who had to work extra hard because they didn’t get to start way ahead. Folks who have been playing catch-up since they were born and had to get really good just to make it to zero.”
If you're still wondering if the band suits your curious musical cravings, here's some praise that may shed some light on this Friday night.
“The latest from Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band…. is, in short, a revelation. An amazingly well crafted, controlled explosion of talent, the range, and depth of the music performed by the trio is remarkable.” – American Blues Scene
“… the reincarnated Mississippi moan of guys like Son House… a burly soul punishing the senses with a Deltapunk attack and a heavy helping of rural realism. You can’t ignore his Big Damn Band’s gospel.” — Elmore
“The country blues is a gift of 20th century American music, and it’s awesome to see a band tap into its legacy with so much gusto and original vision.” – Music City Roots
“With his wife, Breezy, serving as a one-woman amen corner, and Max laying down the floppy-boot-stomp drums behind Peyton’s spiky, waspish National steel slide guitar on tracks like “Something for Nothing”, the result is a peculiarly infectious blues crusade, touching on themes of money, morality, and social responsibility.” – The Independent (UK)
The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band is a twenty-year-old bourbon in a room of vodka Red Bulls and PBRs; vintage yet timeless, exciting and still welcoming…” –MXDWN.COM
“The focal point and ring leader Reverend J. Peyton is the star of the show here flashing a guitar style that elates the ear, at times flying all over the fret board and equally delicately picking with ease.” – Glide Magazine
Feel Good Fridays may be coming to a climatic close but the entertainment roster for Van Wert Live continues to grow! Visit vanwertlive.com to see what shows will add that extra bit of goodness to your life and secure your tickets with no strife. Far from ordinary, Van Wert Live is on a mission to keep you far from sedentary. Feeling a bit flat? Entertainment in Van Wert is where its at!
