Tim Reynolds & TR3 will perform at the Rives Theatre on March 15th.
Two of modern music’s most heralded guitar players, Tim Reynolds and Stephane Wrembel, will perform Friday night at the Rives Theatre in uptown Martinsville.
Stephane Wrembel and His Band will serve as openers for the concert, which starts at 9 p.m. Reynolds, the lead guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band, will take the stage with his trio, TR3, at approximately 10 p.m.
Reynolds has taken part in virtually every Dave Matthews Band recording. He’s also toured with Matthews as one half of an acoustic duo, but TR3’s style of music has a much different sound than Matthews’.
“It definitely falls under a large umbrella of rock music, which is kind of all over the place,” said Reynolds of his electric power trio’s sound. “It’s a wide swath of music we play. We play some reggae, some funk, a lot of rock. We play some progressive stuff, but when we play it all in one night it seems very cohesive, at least to me.”
Reynolds was a resident of Charlottesville for more than 15 years, beginning in the early 1980s. It was during that span that he met Matthews, who was then an aspiring actor who paid the bills by tending bar at Millers, where Reynolds’ band often played.
Stephane Wrembel and His Band will perform with TR3 at the Rives Theatre on Friday night.
Reynolds tours with Dave Matthews Band for large portions of each year, meaning he doesn’t get to perform with TR3 on regular basis. However, that has only created greater demand for TR3’s performances. The Rives Theatre has already sold more than 50 tickets to out-of-town music fans, according to the Theatre’s president, Dean Johnston.
The French-born Wrembel has performed all over North America, as well numerous European countries.
He is often called as a jazz guitarist, but it’s a label he finds too restrictive.
“In reality there is not style or genre with this band. It is more like a shamanic experience, which means there’s a connection between the band and the audience,” said Wrembel, who typically plays an acoustic guitar.
“I began training in classical music for 12 years. Then I studied rock guitar, all the 1970s stuff, for years,” said the 39-year-old. “I wanted to explore every style of guitar. I studied a little bit of finger picking when I was younger while I was playing rock. Then I met the gypsies (in France), and I learned to play the Django (Reinhardt) style from them for years in the camps. It’s very dominant in my playing technique.”
Wrembel was asked by Woody Allen to the score the theme for “Midnight in Paris,” a 2012 film that won an Academy Award. Last year, his band performed at the Oscar’s.
When asked about his guitar influences, Wrembel quickly rattled off an eclectic list: David Gilmore (Pink Floyd), Mark Knopfler (Dire Straights), Jimi Hendrix, Django Reinhardt, and Frank Zappa, among others.
His unique musical performances, combined with Reynolds’ rock-heavy power trio, should make for one of the theatre’s most memorable nights of music, Wrembel said.
“They probably never will experience anything else like it,” he said of area music fans. “I really hope they come to the show.”
Tickets are $20 in advance and $30 at the door. Advance tickets available at Studio 107, Woodall’s Music or online.
Booty shaking party music best sums up the inimitable Papa Grows Funk, one of the most successful funk bands to emanate from New Orleans. Rooted in improvisation, the group of all-star musicians led by Hammond B3 keyboardist and lead vocalist, John Gros, has built its enthusiastic vibe on a long-standing musical tradition that dates back to the hot jazz of the legends, Fats Domino and Louis Armstrong. Like Dr. John and the Neville Brothers, Papa Grows Funk keeps that New Orleans lineage alive while always funkifying towards the future.
