OCEAN CITY – A unique sound will be hitting Fager’s Island’s Monday night deck party next week that aims to switch up the sound from the traditional cover band.
“Fager’s is bringing something new into town, something people don’t really get a chance to see, and create some excitement,” musician Bryan Russo said. “They want to bring in some new sound. Some new bands, and continue to grow off of that success with their special events. We are really excited that Fager’s is becoming known as a place where people can see not just the cover bands.”
Russo has organized a night of eclectic tunes at Fager’s for the second deck party of the season on Monday, May 6, starting with Chester River Runoff at 6 p.m. on the deck.
“They are fantastic,” he said. “I have seen them so many times. There has been such a draw towards blue grass music, not just in this region but nationally.”
Chester River Runoff is an original bluegrass band from Maryland’s rural Eastern Shore. The band’s honest, unaffected sound features big harmonies, insightful songwriting, and tight instrumental work, and band members are proud to preserve in their live shows the warm spirit and humor of friends who first started playing together just to learn their instruments.
Following Chester River Runoff, The Fleeting Ends from Philadelphia will take the floor starting at 9:30 p.m.
“There is so much excitement surrounding this band. They are really good … they are one of the best and tightest young bands I have seen in a long time,” Russo said. “Their sound is right where it needs to be for that [Fager’s] sort of demographic and they will be different from the bands people traditionally see down here. It is a really fresh sound … just really good dance music and good song writing.”
According to The Fleeting Ends, the band’s sound has been described as "upbeat and poppy" with an emphasis on two-part vocal harmonies and catchy hooks. Most recently The Fleeting Ends have been catching attention with their latest full length album “Our Eyes Are Peeled”.
The final act of the night will be Russo and the Tragic Figures. Russo is an acclaimed songwriter whose big bluesy voice wallops audiences with soulful lyrics that bite.
“My stuff is really stomping blues music,” Russo said. “It’s somewhere in between Tom Waits, Jack White and the Black Keys. What I do has always been a lot different than the kind of music that is consumed and enjoyed at a live venue here [Ocean City] but I think that’s what has been able to keep it working.”
Russo, along with Fager’s, has a mission to offer a variety of musical genres to Ocean City’s night life.
“We have a very unique sound, and it’s a really good fun live show,” Russo said of his group. “Coupling us with a band like The Fleeting Ends, individually I think our sounds are very unique, and when blended together it will be a very cool evening … I am really looking forward to this show. I just think people want something different, and the people who like other music can come enjoy us, too. You can like more than one thing, and I think that creates a community, that creates a scene where everybody can exist and work and enjoy themselves, and really when it comes down to it you are just trying to have a lot of people come into one room and have a hell of a time.”