STRUM DIESEL "Talent Abounds"

by jenny heying

Living up to a strong advance billing is tough anywhere and when that billing is “His talent will blow you away”, your chances aren’t great. But in strum Diesel’s case, it’s easy. strum definitely has talent. I don’t know if he blew me away, but he can do everything. He plays guitar, sings and writes his own material. That’s what is impressive. strum does a lot of original songs. Songs like “Power” “Remedy” and “Gay”.

Before a decent sized crowd at Soul Society, strum brought his voice, guitar and yes his talent. His voice is powerful, easy to hear and understand and comes through clear. He definitely can sing. His songs tell his story and his voice is the storyteller. While powerful, it isn’t overbearing or unnerving. strum’s voice is a pleasure to listen to. There’s a tendency to be repetitious but you can overlook that.

strum Diesel does do covers. He covers Bon Jovi and Tracy Chapman. But it’s not the covers you come to hear. It’s the originals. With his SLCD available to purchase at his shows, it’s a showcase. His songs are presented and the audience accepts.

There are no backing tracks for strum. His accompaniment is his guitar. While I would have liked to have heard him really let loose on it, he did do an admiral job. His playing was mostly there to backup up his songs and occasionally you got the feeling that he would wail away on his axe. Maybe someday.

While strum Diesel (rl Sean Kagalis; myspace.com/seankagalis) is a pleasure to listen to, I don’t know if I’d agree with him blowing you away with his talent. Yes he is talented, but his talent kind of gets obscured in his songs. His voice is good, guitar adequate, but his talent really lies in his writing ability. He does manage to talk in between songs, but on this night, you couldn’t always hear him due to some loud gestures drowning out his speaking voice. I would have loved to have heard more of what he was saying. When he’s not playing, his voice tends to fade a bit as if he’s at the back of his room, but thankfully that’s only between songs.

Comparing real life talent to Second Life® probably isn’t fair and I think if I saw strum in real life, I might tend to think it was a little hum drum but in Second Life® you get the chance to really listen to a song that isn’t overshadowed by performance. strum’s abilities show through in Second Life®. He does have talent. And by the way, strum grows on you and by the end of his show, you are hooked.