"As with much good music, labels are inadequate."
"Excellent, versatile guitar work."
-Buddy Magazine
"Despite a temperature that was a little on the chilly side, Rick Yost and his band made the best of things by turning up the heat a notch and rocking the faithful Beanstock crowd of a little less than two-hundred persons. Rick started the show with a sample of his instrumental skills on guitar, but he quickly brought his band out and got down to the business of cranking out some great folk, rock and blues flavored with a healthy dose of jazz on the side. The Rick Yost Band consisted of Rick on guitar, Jay Fosha on sax and flute, New York City's Lee Arden on bass and George Kovitch behind the drum kit. Together they produced an interesting sound with a mix of several musical styles. The band ripped through some skillful covers of such bands as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steppenwolf, Blind Faith and Van Morrison to name a few. While the band was doing justice to some classic covers, they also played some of Rick's original compositions including "Wichita Falls" and the wonderful "New Orleans in the Rain" which featured Jay Fosha's sizzling saxophone. Some of the lyrics include:
You tell yourself that you don't belong here
You try to keep warm and ignore the pain
You used to be somebody
And it's driving you insane, it feels like...
New Orleans in the rain.
Drivers lock their doors as you walk by
Headed crosstown through the mist
Everything you own is on your back
And her number's crumpled in your fist
There's a funeral wailin' down on
Bourbon Street and the sound of
A distant train, it feels like...
New Orleans in the rain.
The set ended with a rendition of the Allman Brothers,"One Way Out" in which each of the group members took a turn in the spotlight and showed their musical skills. The crowd showed their appreciation with peals of applause for the music as Rick and his band headed off the stage.
Rick Yost has played the East Dallas and Greenville Avenue musical circuit for over twenty years. He has played with a band as well as solo during those years. Rick has opened for such luminaries as "Bugs" Henderson, Robert Earl Keene, Kinky Friedman, B.W. Stevenson and Ray Wylie Hubbard. In 2001, Yost won the Wildflower Festival National Songwriting Competition. His latest CD entitled, "Life With A Crooked Eye" was released in June 2005 and is available from his website www.rickyost.com."
- Kirk deCordova Dallasmusic.com
BRIDGE GUITAR REVIEWS
CD Review, Nov, 2005: "Life With A Crooked Eye"
The Rick Yost Group is a five-piece acoustic group with Rick Yost on
guitar and vocals and four other talented musicians who play the flute,
saxophone, mandolin, piano, violin and percussion. In 2001 Rick won
the Wildflower Festival National Song writing Competition. He played
on many stages in the U.S.A. and Europe. The music they perform is
a mix of pop, rock, jazz and folk with engaged lyrics. The opening track
Wouldn't You with the flute on some parts is reminiscent to the legendary
Jethro Tull. I Would be King is a smooth acoustic song with jazzy basics
and the soulful voice and acoustic guitar of Rick Yost. Further highlights
are I Won't be Blue, Songs I've Sung, If The Moon Were A Woman and Timberline.
The most eye-catching songs are the acoustic guitar compositions El
Castillo and Escape where Rick Yost plays top-notch guitar techniques
with fascinating melody lines and groove. El Castillo is a touching ballad
with intimacy and a melancholic ambiance and certainly the most moving
piece on this album. Rick Yost is a versatile guitarist/ singer/ composer
with a appealing own signature.
Henk te Veldhuis
Bridge Guitar Reviews is an independent organization that
reviews albums of a high level of acoustic guitar music.
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