Having had an already full late afternoon and early evening here at Zack's Roadhouse, it was an added treat to discover a new-to-me artist that turned my head as soon as his back-track stuck up the old blues standard "Hi-Heel Sneakers" (writing credits to Robert Higgenbotham and nods to the legion of those that have recorded it). Dan Singsalot is a raspy whiskey drinkin' roadhouse boy, perfect for this venue and the venue is perfect for his repertoire. He had taken the stage with his friend, Diane Shadowclaw. They have separate sets at Zack's but support each other's sets for fun and dance along and provide encouragement as needed. She is said to be a great vocalist as well, so you might want to stay tuned!
Dan is enthusiastic and animated throughout his somewhat eclectic set and delivers the goods with good strong vocals, always in key, with a great, bluesey style all his own. He sailed through "Boogie Shoes" by KC and the Sunshine Band (I did say he was eclectic didnt I?) and on into "Roadhouse Blues" by The Doors staying true to each of those tunes' origins and is one of the very few people I have seen that actually knows the words and phrases for the "Morrison gibberish" vocal "scat break" in Roadhouse! I was impressed! Then he started up "Boom Boom Boom" by John Lee Hooker and yes... I was HOOKed.
He finished his warm-up with The Rolling Stones' version of "Walkin' the Dog" and he really turned it on for the rest of the hour, with his vocals punchy and hard and using dynamics to his advantage and tempo to suit the style he would place on his extensive list of titles including Delbert McClinton's "Shakey Ground", Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" and Clapton's version of "Cross-Cut Saw"
I was surprised when we had a mini-set of Grateful Dead with "Touch of Grey" and "Truckin'" before he literally POUNDED through Sammy Hagar's "Mas Tequila". I loved Dan's vocal style for this one and thought it actually suited the no-holds-barred attitude of the song even better than Sammy's smoother delivery. He finished up with a great rendition of Dr. Hook's "On the Cover of the Rolling Stone" and, of course, he nailed it.
Dan Singsalot is perfect for a Roadhouse. He's got a kick-ass attitude and it comes out in his presentations. He does a great job of the tunes he sings and he gets the job done... no mistakes... no bull... no prisoners... he just does it!
THANKS DAN and THANKS to ZACK'S ROADHOUSE
FOR A TRULY MEMORABLE AFTERNOON!
