Taking over the intimate Dunedin Brewery Friday night, Heritage radiated with soulful island-rock vibes, as the six-member group jammed out amidst an isle of instrumentals that extended from a peninsula of bongos and percussion hand drums and spread across the stage to a colorful jungle of electric, acoustic and bass guitars, an extensive drum kit section and decaled Hawaiian ukulele at the center of it all.
Featuring rock guitarist Hunter Dawson, hip-hop drummer RJ Hernandez, reggae-influenced bassist Matt Moore, the Latin style hand beats of percussionist Dave Posey, the fluid fingers of Damien Kealoha on ukulele and the passionate, amorous vocals of Tony Verrecchia, the members of the Florida Panhandle band were as eclectic in musical style as the instruments they were playing.
With three sets that began just as the sun gave way to the moon and flowed like the homemade brews coming out the establishment’s kegs until after midnight, Heritage’s musical vivacity shined through every jam they played. Mixed into the sets were various covers (as lesser-known acts always tend to do) and each was drenched with Heritage’s authentic irie vibrations and breezy Jawaiian beats; these included The Police’s “Walking on the Moon,” Sublime’s “Badfish,” Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” and, to my complete delight, 311’s “Amber” as well as an uptempoed, more aggressive and instrumentally bursting version of Citizen Cope’s, “Son’s Gonna Rise.”
However, while all the covers were fabulous, in my opinion, the high points were when the band stuck to their original and catchy, rastafied-rock, reggae-pop tunes from their 2009 debut, Natural High. In anticipation for the show, I had the album in rotation for about a week before and soaked up the bouncing sonics and sultry lyrics with all the enthusiasm and ease of a child hearing and repeating a curse word for the first time.
The live performance more than surpassed my expectations for the evening, with each member bringing a vital layer to the rich sound of the looping beats, grooving countermelodies and swaying harmonies of the island-rock sound. There were improvised moments where Hernandez spontaneously went off into extended drum solos (always love those); Kealoha kept the tropical musicality pulsating with his ukulele strumming, which was so skilled and fast his barley-visible fingers looked like hummingbird wings; and, at one point, the sextet all grabbed a piece of percussion and busted out some funky beats in a drum circle.
During the show, the Dunedin Brewery was bustling with a receptive audience that, like the entertainment, was also quite eclectic. Twenty-somethings were intermingling with an older crowd who resembled those found at a Jimmy Buffett Parrrothead's gathering, and a group of Europeans (who, because of the sheer amount of cameras present, I presume were traveling) were basking in Heritage’s music, with one of the guys going off into an impulsive dance frenzy, for which I have no words to describe.
I pretty much enjoyed every moment of my Friday night musical find and know the audience did as well, with one older gentleman continuously grillin’ my boyfriend and me for everything and anything we knew about the band.
In their original song “Addiction,” which the guy’s performed at Dunedin Brewery and is featured on Natural High, Verrecchia soulfully croons about Heritage’s brand of music; I am going to end with a verse I pulled from the track, which I think appropriately captures the essence of the night, "I want the natural mystic flow, Tryin’ hard to let everybody know, This is real music, And it’s comin’ straight from my soul, Can you hear the irie music, Flowin’ through the air."
This article appears in Sep 9-15, 2010.