Photos by Ali Kaufman
Fresh from SXSW and with just a few select dates scheduled before heading to the UK, the Teskey Brothers captivated the packed Rockwood Music Hall. The Aussie siblings, Josh and Sam, joined bandmates Brendon Love and Liam Gough with guest horn section, Abby and Nate on sax and trumpet, respectively, for this leg.
Knowing what we were about to experience, a grinning young man asked if I had seen them live yet, then raved about their first show at this venue some months back. Others familiar with the band shared similar sentiments. The band opened with “Crying Shame,” the first cut off of their Half Mile Harvest CD. What I thought would be a room full of dancing 20-somethings became a listening room with rapt attention paid to every note. We were treated to brand new songs, including “I Get Up” and a powerful number written by Sam Teskey, “Say You’ll Do.” The pace picked up even more with drummer Liam’s own hand clapping, toe tapping “Louisa”. Front man Josh digs deep to pull out the passion, eyes shut, pausing between the songs to give credit to his bandmates.
The tight set list also included a nod to the blues with a cover of “I Love a Woman” and another original, “Pain & Misery,” which you would swear came out of a Motown songbook. Only two of them are blood relatives, but they all ooze a sense of kinship and affection for their R&B/soul sound. There is a very good reason their sound is being touted as Stax-like: the Teskey Brothers bring something as special as that to the turntable and long may they spin!
—Ali Kaufman
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