STEELY DECOSTA "Letting Loose"

by jenny heying

Steely Decosta is the kind of name suited for a rock star and judging by the intro guitar he played, he would live up to the moniker. Even his opening monologue was rockstarish. Opening at Tranquil Café with “Romeo’s Tune” gave a good indication of what was to come, a great voice and some awesome guitar. His guitar was inspiring and his fingers led the way through a great opening number. He followed with “In The Colors” letting his guitar lead his voice through an inspiring song.

It’s hard to tell whether Steely is a better guitar player or better singer. Actually it doesn’t matter; he does both so amazingly well. They compliment each other and you find yourself at times listening to the lyrics and at other times concentrating on his guitar. On “Hey There Delilah”, he carried the song with his guitar but his voice wasn’t far behind. He let both do their part brilliantly.

Hi voice is clear, loud enough to hear every word and very much in sync. It’s soft and he carries the notes effectively and roughens it a bit when he needs to. He’s a pleasure to hear. And when he lets loose on his guitar, your mouth kind of drops. Mine did on “Free Falling” when he added a marvelous intro and then slid into the vocals equaling the picking.

Steely is fun loving or so he seems between and during his songs. When not singing, he is upbeat and carefree. Kind of like a friend playing guitar in your living room.

Steely covers a wide range of material, most of which are songs I enjoy listening too. He did a kick ass version of “Your Song” then followed with a simply knock em down rendition of “Little Wing” probably making Jimi do a little turning in his grave. It was brilliant, from the guitar to well everything he did.

No matter what Steely performs, he does it incredibly well. He knocked us out on “Dirty Work” then with a few pre-recorded riffs he wowed us with his prowess and some incredible guitar licks that he called “Train Wreck”. He’s not only good but seems to love playing which I suppose is why most play, but with Steely it’s infectious. You love it too.

He continued a fantastic show performing covers of “Something So Strong”, “Worries” and “Don’t Let Me Down” with a few dancing licks thrown in between. Okay, sometimes he seemed to drift off to guitar heaven, but hey, he’s allowed. Not to let us settle down, Steely steered us to a “Mad World” before leaving us with “Make It Real”.

I could listen to Steely all night, but thankfully he doesn’t play all night otherwise I’d never get anything done. The hour flew and I’m glad I popped in to see him. If he does play all night, I’ll be there.