The Kings of Crownsville deliver royal performance on 'Live at Quiet Waters Park'

(Annapolis, MD) Written by Robert Sutton. Even buckets of rain couldn't stop a captivated audience from hailing the Kings of Crownsville.

As documented on their new album, Live at Quiet Waters Park, the Kings battled Mother Nature and delivered a fiery set of jazzy rock and New Orleans blues. Featuring vocalist/guitarist Steve Johnson, trombonist John C. Harris, keyboardist T. Michael McCormick, drummer Rob Creath, trumpeter Jim Tavener, and bassist Peter Miller, the Kings bestow their vintage Big Band influences with a contemporary sheen, incorporating subtle touches of reggae, worldbeat, and Americana.

Live performance CDs are usually recorded inside of a theater or an arena; Live at Quiet Waters Park, on the other hand, had a troubled birth, caught in the middle of a storm. However, according to Johnson, of the people who watched the show, "nobody left." It's easy to see why. Weather be damned, the Kings were in royal form as can be heard on the Steely Dan-ish contrasting moods of "Dark ‘n Light"; the spontaneously combusting partying of "Hanging with Nat"; and the sweltering roots groove of the Southern-fried "Country Blues." It's almost as if the hostile elements motivated the group to work even harder, to be heard through the pouring rain.

The Kings of Crownsville was formed over six years ago. Part of the Kings' affection for traditional New Orleans music originated with Johnson, who went to school in that area. As a child, Johnson grew up listening to both country and jazz, from Hank Williams to Louis Armstrong, two genres that would later form the stylistic nucleus of the Kings of Crownsville. Johnson bought his first guitar at the age of 13, then started writing a year later. After a solo stint in New York, playing bars and street corners for three years, Johnson relocated to Maryland and started the Kings of Crownsville.

More Information: http://kingsofcrownsville.com

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