Richmond - I thought I had a good notion of what to expect from Downbeat Switch.  They have most of their recorded music streaming on their website.  But when I arrived at City Dogs for their show, I discovered that in the time since their last recording they have replaced one of their old male lead singers with a gorgeous young lady named Jenna.  This completely changed the dynamic of the sound, especially since she has a phenomenal voice and the other members of the band realize this and readily embrace it.  But I'll get to that later.  First I've got to mention the opener.

Tommy Vinson is the keyboardist for the Downbeat Switch, but he's also a guitar player, providing an excellent means for the band to fill out an evening.  Tommy opened the night with an acoustic guitar and vocals set, and also played between the band's sets.  This meant that there was never really a moment all night when there wasn't some sort of live music going.  He did a couple of covers and a couple of originals in a pretty standard singer-songwriter fashion.  That's not to say it wasn't excellent.  It was definitely ten times better than having intermission music piped in over the bar speakers.

On to the main act.  Downbeat Switch is most definitely groove music - largely funk rock with some other influences mixed in.  With Jenna B on lead vocals, Meredith Brooks on guitar and lead vocals, Wayne Todd on bass, Michael Register on drums, and Tommy Vinson on keys, they are able to create a deep, lush sound that just reaches out and carries you away.  From the very first song Jenna's voice really stole the show.  She had incredible range in both pitch and volume, but her real specialty was a deep, sultry wail.  This was showcased beautifully in their renditions of “Fire on the Mountain” and Joplin's “Half Moon”.  While I did have some difficulty drawing my attention away from the amazing vocals, it really wasn't all that hard to get into the rest of the music as well.  Wayne laid down quite a few mean bass lines that really gave the band much of its funky feel.  And as always with rhythm-driven music, Michael's drums really held everything together.  As I mentioned earlier, Tommy also plays guitar, and it really showed in his ability to mesh the keys with Meredith's guitar, making the perfect compliment to Jenna's voice.

As I downed more and more beer throughout the night it became harder and harder to keep from completely losing myself in the music, and eventually I gave up entirely, letting Wayne's bass lines and Jenna's voice carry me off to places unknown.  I lost  myself so well that even as I left City Dogs after the final notes had been played, my brain was  still wondering around somewhere on cloud nine, unwilling or unable to come to grips with the reality that had been left behind earlier that night.

You can find all of Downbeat Switch's albums on their website as well as quite a few live performances.  And keep an eye out for their first album with Jenna on vocals which should be dropping in the next couple of months.

MySpace.com/DownbeatSwitch

By Editor (Managing) and Correspondent: Robin Marschak

Robin Marschak was born and raised in Richmond, VA. After a brief attempt at attending an engineering school in Claremont, CA he returned home to study English at VCU, an endeavour he is currently still engaged in. One thing that has remained unchanging throughout his life is a love of music. He was raised on local bands such as the Ululating Mummies and Dogs New Clothes as well as more classic mainstream bands such as the Beatles and the Grateful Dead. As a teen his tastes shifted towards the punk scene and bands such as TSOL, Operation Ivy, and Rancid, and while he maintains a deep love of this style of music he has broadened his listening palette quite a bit in recent years especially into the realms of country and old time music. His favorite bands currently are Popebear, a blues-funk fusion band out of Pasadena, CA, the Hot Seats, a string band from Richmond, and the No BS! Brass Band, also from Richmond. As far as more national acts go he tries to catch shows by bands like Umphrey's McGee, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the Belleville Outfit whenever possible.