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FeedSpree Music with E. Lovira: Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade
Brett Moen
The delightfully charming and infectious Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade are coming to The Sportmans Tavern on Sunday, February 12 to showcase their rich blend of Americana, jazz, and country in support of their recent live album release, Live Across the Mason Dixon Line.
Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade’s sophisticated style is a fresh take on a genre of music which I tend to associate with my father. While it’s may not be something you’d find on my normal play list, the catchy licks and smooth vocals make it almost impossible to avoid snapping your fingers or tapping your foot to the beat. Backing Miss Tess in the “Bon Ton Parade” are Matt Meyer (drums), Will Graefe (guitar) and Zach Hickman (upright bass).
Miss Tess has a luxuriously soulful voice, in a league of its own, and, in my humble opinion, clearly superior to other females on the radio. The band complements her talents with musical skills of their own, providing vocal harmonies and a smart jazz sound that appeals across genre lines and does not alienate a casual listener. The guitar work is tight and concise, the bass smartly detailed, and the drums smoothly roll, causing your hips to swing with the beat. Her songs act like stories and she says she “tries to write about things people understand. I draw from stories in my life. Sometimes I mix up stories and sometimes I make things up, but it’s related to things I’ve gone through.”
The latest live album is their second release, and more than likely, it won’t be the last. Miss Tess confesses, “I like to put out a live album every couple of years to document what the band sounds like.” See for yourself this week at Sportsmens.
Tickets are $10; show begins at 5p.m.
Elizabeth Lovria is a graduate of Lake Shore Central Schools and Syracuse University. She resides in Hamburg with her husband and their daughter.
