The Eddy Redd Band, Caronna’s Bar (Independent)

Yes, we all love eclecticism. After all, in large part it’s what makes our fair city such a cool place to live. However, sometimes musicians can take a desire for eclecticism a little too literally. Such is the case with the Eddy Redd Band. Here a well intentioned attempt to include all of their influences comes off forced and only succeeds in making the band’s lack of musical identity painfully obvious. The track list might as well read; track one: Funk Song, track two: ’70s Rock Song, track three: Hard Rock Song, track four: Jazz Song, track five: Reggae Song. As uninspired as it is at points, the musicianship is solid and the band does succeed in showcasing a strong sense of song structure but this is all they really offer up in the way of positives. The bottom line is that the Eddy Redd Band is drunk driving down the road of musical styles and they would be well served to pull over, sleep it off and give it another shot in the morning.