Aubrey Haddard of Breakfast for the Boys (photo by Snappy Jeff)
At first exposure, New Paltz’s Breakfast for the Boys might appear to be a fairly typical, if highly skilled and impassioned, original funk, soul and blues project. Catch a few shows, however, and it will shed some light on the more unusual and exceptional things about this group. For example, it is the bass player in this band, Sam Smith, who is the freakishly talented overblower and the guitarist, Damien Jackson, who is the buttoned-down model of taste and restraint. That inversion of the ordinary alone gives the band a bit of a non-traditional skew.
Drummer Roger LaRochelle’s years of playing in styles ranging from dream-pop to blues and Turkish folk music have given him an authentic command of genre that is quietly breathtaking. Keyboardist Lucas Brenard provides subtle and effective roots ambience and colors imported from jazz.
The focal point of Breakfast for the Boys is Aubrey Haddard, a young Berklee-educated songwriter and performer who sings with fiery, ripped-speaker, throat-torching grit that must be seen to be understood. Working around Ms. Haddard’s studies in Boston, the band has finally completed its long-awaited full-length, The Ides of March. They celebrate the release at the hoppingest joint on the street in New Paltz, Snug Harbor, on Friday, May 8 at 10 p.m. In the Kitchen and the Honey Company are also on board. Snug Harbor is located at 38 Main Street in New Paltz.
Breakfast for the Boys CD Release Show + In the Kitchen & Honey Company, Friday, May 8, 10 p.m., Snug Harbor, 38 Main Street, New Paltz.