Show Reviews

 

LOGAN RAMP

Sunday April 2, 2022

@ Rebar at the Dam in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis/Logan Ramp photo by: Michelle Ramp)

It’s true that Nashville is a town where everywhere you turn you can always find music being played, but it’s not in every pocket of town that you’ll discover an artist who brings a well-rounded performance to an unassuming venue on a Sunday night and delivers a little taste of all the different sides of their influences and pushes them into a set that’s highlighted by a couple well-placed originals.

This is exactly what Logan Ramp did when he took the stage at Rebar at the Dam, a locally flavored bar/venue located in the Donelson area of town.

After gratefully thanking the Sunday night crowd for coming out to the show, Ramp and his three-piece band leaned into his bluesy driven sound on the back of several covers that spanned the classic rock catalog, including Joe Cocker’s “Feelin’ Alright,” Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally,” and The Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter.”

“We’re gonna play some songs tonight that we love and some that we hope you love,” Ramp addressed with a smile on his face as he then continued to put on a display of his wide range of influences by turning toward alternative rock with Green Day’s “Brain Stew” and The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army,” before bending back into classic rock gems from Hendrix, Floyd, and Chicago and diving into a unique, bluesy take on Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.”

Ramp, although the front man of the group is also their lead guitarist, and he very humbly stepped out from behind the microphone at center stage to slide over to stage right while allowing the spotlight to then shine on his amazing players as they entered several little jam sessions throughout the night that allowed each individual instrument to have its own moment, but then also to showcase the groups cohesiveness when they all came back together as one unit.

Being as though we are a country music magazine, Ramp absolutely caught out ear when he spliced some country favorites into his set, whether it was when he was kicking up the honky-tonk tilt on Vince Gill’s “Liza Jane,” kissing his set with a dose of modern country flare with Dierks Bentley’s “Lot Of Leavin’ Left To Do,” or leading a clap-along during the classic David Lee Murphy song, “Dust On The Bottle.”

Where our country palate collided perfectly with Ramp’s bluesy influences happened when he drove into his Southern Rock side with a great take on the Lynyrd Skynyrd’s (via J.J. Cale) classic “Call Me the Breeze,” which immediately had the dance floor come alive as the lyrics were screamed back at Ramp from several folks in the crowd.

But as with any review we do of marathon sets (4 hours) like this, the true definition of talent as far as we’re concerned comes through the originals that the artist skillfully juxtapositions into the perfect moments of their set once they already have the crowd sucked in and eating out the palm of their hand. 

Ramp did this twice, and each time he elicited major response from the crowd.

Earlier in the set, he bent his sound toward more of an Americana style when he (sans band) performed “Wheels Keep Turning on This New Rocky Road,” a song in which he said was a newer one that he had written and that it should be recorded soon.

Because he played this song solo - only him and his electric guitar - it really allowed Ramp to elevate his pure talent and put on a clinic, both vocally and instrumentally, as he held the crowd’s attention while working without the safety net of a band.

While later in the set Ramp delivered his signature song,  “Take A Walk with Me,” a song that combines all the different facets of Ramp’s influences into one 3-and-a-half-minute piece.

He mentioned before playing the song that it could be found on all streaming sites, but if we base it on the crowd reaction on this night, they’ve absolutely already been listening to it as many throughout the venue could be seen singing the words along with him.

When you visit Music City for the first few times, you obviously want to party down on Lower Broadway in the midst of the glow of all the neon lights. Everybody does! But after those initial visits, and especially if you live here in town, you start to realize that you’ll be hearing a lot of the same songs over and over regardless of which band is on stage at any of those given venues. It’s their job to hold the tourist’s attention.

However, to really discover the purest talent that the Nashville music scene has to offer, you usually will travel to the outskirts of the city to the places that the locals hang. Places like Rebar at the Dam.

Logan Ramp put on an attractive display for the Sunday night locals by offering a  ealthy dose of cover songs that aren’t of the norm around town, which was a defining factor to helping pull in the crowd and keep them invested in his set so that he could then deliver the edge of his originals to them and showcase who he is as a songwriter and artist.

 

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