Vineyard Live

Vineyard live is a local open mike night sponsored by the Athens Vineyard, a member of grassroots nationwide church. It's a nice little informal thing. In fact although we were told to be there at 8, the event didn't get started until closer to 9:30. One of the nice things about this event is that it is really open to people not associated with the church. I don't know what their purpose is other than to have fun and promote live music, but it is worth checking out.
Last night they had a number of performers. The two that were the most notable were Eben Mallory and the yet to be named Gabe Zorbanos project (of Gabriel Young) currently going by the name Someday.

Eden Mallory was the first act, and I was really impressed by what this guy had to offer. He is a very talented young singer/songwriter who plays both the guitar and the piano. One of the things that impressed me the most about this guy besides his style and technical proficiency was his songwriting. Both lyrically and musically he was excellent. I also thought he had a good voice, but he strained a bit more than was probably necessary, which made him go a bit flat, which gave me the indication he learned how to sing on his own. You can judge for yourself at his myspace site here. One of the other things I liked about his music was how he would alternate between singing and speaking. He is playing at tasty world later today and cups coffee cafe on the 23rd.

I've been following Gabe's music for a while now, and I have to say that it just keeps getting better. This time he's working with a full band Will Harrison on guitar and keyboard, Jess Billings , back up vocals, and last night they had a mouth harpist. They played some of the new material he's been writing including Slower (which I finally got to hear), Breathe, and Saving Grace. They are also working on recording an album which I will be sure to pick up when it comes out (tenatively late August). I don't have any further dates except tentatively the next vineyard live date (aug 19), and they don't have a website yet, but I will be sure to post an update when I get it.