Kwait Brothers Band

June 7th, 2003, The Point-Bryn Mahr, Pa. The Point is easily Philly's best music venue, very warm coffeehouse atmosphere, seating about 100, I remember when Radney Foster played there a couple years back him saying it was one of the most intimate atmosphere's that He had ever played in. I am there at 8pm to see the Kwait Brothers Band( local Philly Band) who I got an interest in when I got the point schedule and visited their website. They are a country influenced Band, very reminiscent of the 70's rock bands style of the Band and the Grateful Dead. They are a very warm presence on stage and definitely seem to enjoy performing and play very tight as a unit. Robert Kwait plays bass and sings lead and backup vocals, brother Richard plays mostly rhythm guitar ,but also some Robbie Robertson type leads and also sings lead and backup vocals. Ira Race plays lead guitar. Steve Divinenzo is on drums. Jay Levin plays keyboards and sings backup vocals. Jeannine Reed sings backup vocals and does some percussion.

They start out with a slow paced song "Cumberland Mine" from their debut CD "Hillside". This must have been the mine the Dead were singing about in the "Cumberland Blues". The song has a very Dead feel to it with some great backup vocals and an awesome Garcia like guitar break. By the way, Lead guitarist Ira is awesome, playing many styles and getting some very beautiful tones out of his SG, being an ex-guitar player, I always enjoy a good guitarist, the band flat out jams their songs out. They play all original material except for an exceptional cover of "Ophelia", by the Band. The Brothers write all of their own material. Their lyrics are very poetic, thought provoking and also provide some great imagery. Vocally, both of the brothers are very good, one reminding me a bit of Dylan, their overall vocal sound with harmonies is beautiful and emotive. Their opening act set runs for about 75 minutes finishing with "Hillside", their title track from their 1st CD. The Crowd is very responsive to the band and there is good communication between the band and audience.

"Outland Disco" is their 2nd CD recorded at Turtle Studios in Philly and produced by the brothers. It is a very good quality recording, mastered very well, not over DBed like a lot of CDS, but mastered for great quality. The CD has a bonus track which is a country gospel song. The CD runs well over an hour with 13 tracks, all but 2 written by the brothers. The CD sounds more country influenced and acoustic than their live show. There is some banjo, lap steel and harmonica. I really love how the background vocals standout in the mix. The CD has a very warm sounding flow to it with a relaxed vibe. Some Standout Songs to me are "Winds", "Married Me A Wife", "Wyoming" and "Deering Banjo". What really impresses me about this band is that sound just as good or in my opinion better live, which is the sign of a good band.