Nothing beats a good home town show, and then add a record release party on top of it?!?! Yeah, that’s going to be a hell of a show. I got to check out the Sumbuck hometown show in June and he did not disappoint.

The new album, Lucky diverts from the ‘traditional’ Taylor Meier song and into a new era. Songs reminiscent of 70’s with jazzy flutes and beats, sexy sax solos and made me want to put on my jumpsuit and platforms and dance the night away, which is exactly what I did.

Friends Parker Louis on guitar, Terrence Charles on saxaphone helped round out the sound for this show, along with a new cast of players: on keys- Sam Fribush, guitar Alex Bingham (an almost comic Taylor doppelgänger), guitar Chris Boerner, vocals and killer tambourine player Devin Mauch and Nick Falk on drums. New players for a new era of love songs and sad songs that make you want to be loved, and Taylor has taken a new spin on his own vocals, reaching his high falsetto in “How Long”, which we’ve heard, and ranging down to a lower bass that feels like he’s literally matured in front of our very ears with “Sugarmuffin”. With “Amigo”, a uniquely different on what is already a uniquely different album, the story telling and cadence reminiscent of a Quinten Taratino movie, evokes visions of trudging through a desert, lonely with only a horse to keep company.

But, that doesn’t mean Sumbuck has changed entirely. The smoked bourbon caramel-y voice that is indicative of Taylor Meier hasn’t disappeared completely, it’s still there with “Hey Honey” and “McKenzie”and I hope it will never disappear.

What’s also been fun to watch throughout the past couple of years, is just how seemingly comfortable Taylor is on stage now. What used to be awkward songs on the mic- he’s even said at one point if he wasn’t holding his guitar he didn’t know what to do with his hands"- have now become a comfortable meander through the crowd, gentle high fives to the fans at the rail and even a good spin with friends in the back.

Truly a joy to watch the man evolve artistically, and can’t wait for the next album to come out later this month.

photos by Julia Varga