{"id":20348,"date":"2021-12-17T15:27:51","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T22:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=20348"},"modified":"2021-12-19T19:13:43","modified_gmt":"2021-12-20T02:13:43","slug":"20348","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2021\/12\/20348\/","title":{"rendered":"CONCERT REVIEW by Rodeo Marie Hanson"},"content":{"rendered":"

REVIEW OF THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2021 CONCERT<\/strong><\/h3>\n

by Rodeo Marie Hanson<\/p>\n

CHRISTMAS WITH LIZ LONGLEY, SCOTT MULVAHILL & BILLY CROCKETT
\nAT BLUE ROCK<\/strong>\u2014ALSO TONIGHT, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nThe Holidays have several thematic elements and reason for celebration\u2014all of which are abundantly clear with Blue Rock Studio\u2019s Christmas concert featuring singer-songwriters Liz Longley, Scott Mulvahill and Billy Crockett. From reminiscing about family to reflecting on special childhood memories, Longley, Mulvahill and Crockett do the next best thing to performing in your living room\u2014with a very special gift in the form of a live streaming concert event from Blue Rock Studio on December 16 and 17, 2021.<\/p>\n

As the livestream begins from\u00a0Blue Rock\u2019s Arlington Texas ranch studio, the\u00a0camera pulls back to reveal a few bar stools and fireplace with hanging socks providing the quintessential singer-songwriter Holiday theme setting. Acoustic guitar, upright bass, keyboard and three artists on stage\u2014complete the list of elements required for the stripped-down show.\u00a0Head shots of people occupy the seats, a kind of virtual audience for the trio and\u00a0reminder of the current COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Each artist takes center stage,\u00a0performing\u00a0a song, highlighting their unique abilities and original material.<\/p>\n

With his shock of salt and pepper hair, sport coat and jeans, Billy Crockett could be anyone\u2019s creatively-inclined cool uncle.\u00a0A singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist session player, Crockett\u00a0plays his role to the hilt and is the glue for the festivities keeping the banter going\u2014and inviting us to join him, Longley and Mulvahill as a kind of 21st century extended family. Crockett\u2019s voice is rich with emotion and life experience which shines through on his cover of \u201cGod Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,\u201d and \u201cThe Rose.\u201d Strumming his acoustic guitar, he reminisces\u00a0about working out harmonies with his father on a piano bench before singing the song. An accomplished musician, Crockett introduces us to the hand pan drum, an instrument similar to a steel drum with only a 20-year history, injecting some island reggae flavor into Christmas.<\/p>\n

Crockett is the glue for the festivities keeping the banter going\u2014and inviting us to join him, Longley and Mulvahill as a kind of 21st century extended family.<\/em><\/strong> Crockett\u2019s voice is rich with emotion and life experience which shines through.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The upright bass is an extension of singer-songwriter musician Scott Mulvahill. Mulvahill is fully invested in that bass and his original compositions. On \u201cBegin Againers,\u201d Mulvahill plucks and pulls both the strings of his bass and your heart, delivering conviction with his cool jazz style of playing.\u00a0A self-proclaimed child of the 90s influenced by\u00a0Raffi\u2019s Christmas Album, <\/em>Mulvahill demonstrates his comfort with the acoustic guitar on\u00a0the Roger Miller penned \u201cOld Toy Trains.\u201d Bangs hanging over his glasses, the child now grown, Mulvahill has come full-circle bringing that song to a new generation\u2014some of whom might be inspired to learn how to play an instrument.\u00a0\u201cCelebrate Me Home,\u201d a\u00a0Bob James and Kenny Loggins\u2019 cover and \u201cThe Lord Is Coming\u201d illustrate how Mulvahill earned a spot working with Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby, while showcasing his hipster crooner\u00a0vocal style. He is like that laid back brother you always wanted to have.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Mulvahill plucks and pulls both the strings of his bass and your heart, delivering conviction with his cool jazz style of playing.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Peering from behind the keyboard, Liz Longley possesses the ability that every great songwriter needs to acquire\u2014she can take a story and make it her own. Putting her stamp on\u00a0\u201cFeels like Christmas,\u201d \u201cA Little Magic,\u201d and \u201cGettin\u2019 Away For The Holidays,\u201d with a vocal approach that is unassuming, Longley provides a touchstone to the lyrical content of her material. In between songs, she talks about having 35 cousins, cookies and the relevance of family and home as an integral part of what Christmas means to her. Longley\u2019s songs connect because everyone can relate to them, which is one of the reasons why her album\u00a0Funeral for My Past\u00a0<\/em>was successfully crowd funded. A recipient of the BMI John Lennon Songwriting Scholarship Competition, who has written songs for movies and television, Longley\u2019s material provided the often-under-represented female perspective from that very talented sister or cousin every family has.<\/p>\n

Liz Longley possesses the ability that every great songwriter needs to acquire\u2014she can take a story and make it her own. With a vocal approach that is unassuming, she provides a touchstone to the lyrical content of her material.<\/em><\/strong> Longley\u2019s songs connect because everyone can relate to them.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Eclectic is the word that best fits my music preference. My credo is a good song does not necessarily need to fit like a peg into a genre. Checking out an artist for the first time, whether it\u2019s a recording or live performance, brings with it limitless possibilities\u2014just like any new relationship, with the expectation that the music will both connect and resonate with me. This concert offers a glimpse of musicians in their own element and is a testament\u00a0to the true giving spirit of Christmas. It is guaranteed to spread some cheer your way with new material destined to become classics, sprinkled in with traditional songs\u2014a\u00a0great stocking surprise before the big day.<\/p>\n

www.BillyCrockett.com<\/a>
\nwww.Instagram.com\/billycrockettmusic<\/a>
\nwww.Facebook.com\/billycrockettmusic\/<\/a>
\nwww.youtube.com\/billycrockett<\/a>
\nwww.bluerocktexas.com<\/a>
\nwww.Twitter.com\/bluerockstudio<\/a>
\nwww.ScottMulvahill.com<\/a>
\nwww.Instagram.com\/scottmulvahill<\/a>
\n<\/u>www.Twitter.com\/scottmulvahill<\/a>
\n<\/u>www.Facebook.com\/scottmulvahill<\/a>
\nwww.YouTube.com\/ScottMulvahill<\/a>
\nwww.TikTok.com\/@scottmulvahill<\/a>
\nwww.LizLongley.com<\/a>
\nwww.Facebook.com\/lizlongleymusic<\/a>
\nwww.Instagram.com\/lizlongley<\/a>
\nwww.Twitter.com\/lizlongley<\/a>
\nwww.YouTube.com\/LizLongley<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

REVIEW OF THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2021 CONCERT by Rodeo Marie Hanson CHRISTMAS WITH LIZ LONGLEY, SCOTT MULVAHILL & BILLY CROCKETT AT BLUE ROCK\u2014ALSO TONIGHT, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17 The Holidays have several thematic elements and reason for celebration\u2014all of which are abundantly clear with Blue Rock Studio\u2019s Christmas concert featuring singer-songwriters Liz Longley, Scott Mulvahill and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9,1058],"tags":[13230,13231,13138,13181,13140,13141,13187,8271,8368,11615,11644,11616,9481,11385,5879,13142,9189,8898,2430,13193,11617,9490,11622,13147,13197,13148,13149,13236,8518,11646,13247,13248,11800,13152,13205,13238,13237,13208,13157,13213,7566,3010,7978,13239,13240,13241,2504,13243,13244,13242,9864,13170,13222,13245,13246,13224,13234,13178,13226,13235,13180,13229],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20348"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20348"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20377,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20348\/revisions\/20377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}