REVIEW: Skerik & McTuff @ Sam Bond’s (Eugene, OR – 7/8/09)

The Joe Doria led McTuff hit the stage at Sam Bond’s last night around 10pm.  While Joe is the bandleader (and quite awesome), a large part of the draw seems to be for tenor saxophonist Skerik.  The entire band is fantastic, and really put out a great groove last night.  We stayed for a little over an hour, and caught “Seven Bullets,” “Arrow Tip,” Michael Jackson‘s “Human Nature” (identified by my wife) and some other unannounced songs/jams.  The 3rd or 4th song (“Seven Bullets”) had some very klezmer-sounding melodies to me.

Last time I saw them, it seemed to be much more organ & sax (or maybe that’s just my poor recollection).  This time, the guitarist (Andy Coe) also seemed to really break out.  It was nice to hear him take some leads.  Drummer D’vonne Lewis was also killin’ it.  Great groove all around from the band.  I’m glad they come around a couple times a year.

They’ve got their first record out, McTuff Volume 1, which I picked up last night.  Check them out on the MySpaces: http://www.myspace.com/mctuffmusic

~Dan – np: Derek Webb – Stockholm Syndrome