Band Review: Loch Ness Johnny

During my recent vacation to Asheville, North Carolina, I had the pleasure of seeing the band Loch Ness Johnny at the Jack of the Wood Tavern (95 Patton Ave., Asheville 28801. (828) 252-5445). Loch Ness Johnny is a fun and very danceable band that plays its own brand of what I would loosely call Celtic grass.

Loch Ness Johnny gave the audience at Jack of the Wood Tavern a wonderful performance. I was instantly entranced by their music. To my surprise and delight, I couldn't sit still. I started dancing from the first song and gleefully pranced on through the last, only pausing to drink and refill my pint glass of delicious Green Man ESB Ale.

Loch Ness Johnny is a five-piece ensemble. Current Loch Ness Johnny band members are: Donald Merckle - vocals, guitar ; Phil Hurd - fiddle, vocals; Kevin Pettit - bass, vocals; Chris Lawther - banjo, guitar ; Andrew Hoose - drums.

Each band member of Loch Ness Johnny was proficiently dexterous on their respective instruments and contributed equally to the bands fun and full, foot stompin' sound. Loch Ness Johnny guitar player, Donald Merckle, is engaging and keeps your attention with his strong harmonious vocals. Loch Ness Johnny's fiddle player Phil Hurd adds not only his fine fiddling and vocals, his understated aura keeps you guessing about the true depths of his talent and soul. Loch Ness Johnny's banjo player, Chris Lawther (in my opinion quite a hottie), plays a hypnotizing banjo, luring you to do the dances of a swirling dervish. Loch Ness Johnny's bass player, Kevin Pettit rhythmically played his upright bass, combining with Andrew Hoose on the drums as the gatekeepers of rhythm. During the individual sound checks Andrew Hoose played a classic and funky samba rhythm that I still cannot get out of my mind.

To give you an accurate account of the style of Loch Ness Johnny's music here is a quote from the "About us" section on their Myspace homepage (http://www.myspace.com/lochnessjohnny). "Combining Celtic, Appalachian, Bluegrass, Punk and Americana Rock, Loch Ness Johnny produces a sound and an energy comparable to Flogging Molly and The Pogues in their heyday!!! Having produced 5 Independent albums and logged thousands of miles on the road in the past 10 years, Loch Ness Johnny is well equipped to whip a crowd into a foot-stomping frenzy...Shouting, dancing, drinking, clapping and just plain wild behavior are all common occurrences at your typical Loch Ness Johnny performance."

I stumbled quite innocently into finding Loch Ness Johnny's entertaining performance at the Jack of the Wood Tavern in Asheville, North Carolina; and I am glad I did. I had called a local friend to inquire about a suggestion for my evenings activity that would involve micro brewed beers, live music and a friendly local atmosphere. He suggested I check out Jack of the Wood Tavern and 5 minutes and 5 dollars later, there I was having a memorable time dancing and prancing to the sound of Loch Ness Johnny.

If you want to check out Loch Ness Johnny for yourself, and I think you should, you can look up "Loch Ness Johnny" in Google and visit their MySpace page. As soon as you open their web page you are rewarded with a soundtrack of 3 Loch Ness Johnny songs.

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