The Kin & Evan Brau July 30th 2010

Acoustic Sessions at The Sunset Marquis

The Kin:
Brothers Thorry and Isaac Koren are a long way from singing harmonies in the backseat of the family car in their hometown of Adelaide, Australia. Known as The Kin, they united to create a song as a wedding present for their father in 2003. Instantly, the brothers knew they’d stumbled upon something amazing. As Isaac said, “After we played together we realized that we couldn’t not do this.”

Evan Brau:
Evan Brau is an accomplished singer-songwriter and composer. His songs have been featured on network television programs such as, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC), Commander In Chief (ABC), Alias (ABC), NFL Sunday (FOX), Quarterlife, The Guardian (CBS), Extra (NBC), Monk (USA Network), Undressed (MTV), The Young and the Restless and more. His songs have charted on national college radio.

Josh Gooch and Graham Whitford July 9th 2010

Acoustic Sessions at The Sunset Marquis

Producer’s Note:

In a time when most teenagers are playing guitars made of plastic whose strings have been replaced by multi-colored buttons, the last thing you would expect to see and hear is a pair of 18 year old axe-slinging guitar virtuosos ripping through tunes that were out of style before they were born. But at this unique event held in the cradle of this Rock n’ Roll nursery we call Hollywood, the guests were treated to a display of talent that would make most aspiring guitarists use their instruments as kindling. The show started with one of The Meters top 40 hits “Cissy Strut”, which allowed Graham and Josh to warm up by trading some of their trademark licks, clearly inspired by the blues greats of the past. And then, as if the spirit of Freddie King had been sprinkled over these two young men at birth, they tore through a rendition of “Hideaway” that would make the most stubborn of Blues aficionados crack a smile.

One can only imagine the energy that would be created had these two been wielding blistering electric guitars in place of their acoustic instruments, but in terms of dexterity and technique, the jaw dropping factor was still very apparent. The first attempt at singing came from Graham whose original song “Wildfire” left the crowd cheering for more. Not to be outdone, Josh picked up a dobro and a slide and let his guitar do a little spontaneous singing of its own while Graham backed him up with a delicate and tasty version of the 12 bar blues in D. After a short break, the duo came back with a confident version of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Chitlins Con Carne” which seemed to set a perfect tone for the evening as the sun and the drinks were going down smooth.

A dedication was sent out to a “special friend in the house”, followed by a glistening version of The Beatles “Come Together” in which Josh unveiled his vocal prowess. It’s hard to imagine that an 18 year old has had much “Trouble In Love”, but that was the name of Graham’s second original song, which he performed solo while Josh took a moment to mend a broken string. Using his charismatic voice and emotional melodies, Graham sold everyone on the fact that he had endured a tumultuous relationship with a member of the opposite sex. All I kept thinking was “welcome to the club kid”. As Josh reclaimed the stage, he brought guest performer Yogi Lonich with him to sing a rendition of Taj Mahal’s “She Caught The Katy”, which gave the whole night an impromptu vibe of good friends enjoying great music.

As the night came to a close with Josh and Graham on stage improvising their way to a job well done, the crowd was buzzing with optimism from knowing that the music we’ve grown to love is alive and well in the next generation of great performers.