Roots quartet Bronson Rock and power pop purveyors The Shellye Valauskas Experience don't care if you've been naughty or nice—they're not judgmental like that Santa dude. They'll play a holiday special show for everyone on Sat., Dec. 23, at Best Video Film & Cultural Center. The festivities start at 7 PM and the cover is $10.
Bronson Rock is a four-piece rock and soul band featuring Buzz Gordo (aka Gary Mezzi) on guitar and lead vocals, Eric Bloomquist on bass, Lou St. John on organ, and Tom Smith on drums. Individually, the seasoned musicians in Bronson Rock have performed with a “who’s-who” of Connecticut artists, and continue to maintain busy schedules as players.
The band featured the songwriting talents of Gordo, who was the main songwriter for New Haven’s illustrious Big Bad Johns. Two of his songs from those days have been featured in a recent season of HBO’s True Blood.
The band plays a tight, danceable mix of original garage soul sounds, with some choice obscure covers thrown in, owing a debt to groups like the Rascals and Booker T. and the MG’s.
Based in the New Haven area, Shellye Valauskas and Dean Falcone have been making music together for years. In addition to being Valauskas' songwriting collaborator, bandmate & producer, Falcone has served the Connecticut music scene since the early ’80s with Jon Brion in The Excerpts, his own Dean and the Dragsters and a host of others. He has also worked on a national level collaborating with Norah Jones, Brian May (Queen), Aimee Mann, Lydia Loveless, Susannah Hoffs and Neko Case. Valauskas and Falcone’s shared love for the punchy pop of Crowded House, The Posies and Aimee Mann helped them nail a distinctive yet accessible radio-friendly sound from the start.
Valauskas and Falcone will be joined at this show by Brian Stevens (bass), Jim Balga (percussion), and Bruce Crowder (keyboards). The Shellye Valauskas Experience released their full-length LP “History of Panic” to rave reviews. Robert L. Ross at Popdose declared, “That’s the key thing – it satisfies on every level. The entire album. Listen to this and tell me you’re not instantly in love with it. It’s impossible to not be.”