Nick Waterhouse at Lincoln Hall

text by Rose Blanton | photos by Tricia Scully

Upon hearing Nick Waterhouse, nostalgia is the first emotion evoked. For me personally, I envision myself right smack in the middle of a Mad Men episode. (Can one be nostalgic for an era they didn’t live in?) Waterhouse combines soul, R&B, and jazz along with gospel-like female vocals to transport his fans. All of this is very much on purpose. Waterhouse has created a little bubble for himself and his fans to escape to.

We attended his show at Lincoln Hall and his presence was calm, cool, and collected. He very much had that hip cat, jazz musician vibe, but the California native will be the first one to tell you he’s a rock’n’roll man although I didn’t really pick up on a rock’n’roll vibe at all. With the guitar licks he’s spitting out, you’d expect more of a get down, freak out, but he’s very much in control the whole time. Not to mention, the man can dress – damn! The glasses and suit are killer on stage. It’s nice to see a musician put effort into his image like that. That’s probably why he keeps it together on stage, wouldn’t want to pop a button off that wool jacket. He’s also quite the salesman. He made a point to tell the crowd not once, not twice, but three times where you can buy his record. I, for one, found this adulterated the music. If your shit is good, don’t worry we’ll buy it (or illegally download it).

All that said, he does put on a good show. Perfect date material, take your lady to a Nick Waterhouse gig and you’ll have her twirling ’til dawn. His keyboardist has a strong jazz influence that really stands out and even though he claims he’s not a soul man, the horn section can dominate a lot of his songs. His music is fun, it’s catchy and it makes you want to dance. Waterhouse is a talented musician and he’s put together a great band.

His latest LP, Holly, dropped on Tuesday. I suggest picking it up in vinyl, mixing yourself an old fashion drink and cutting a rug with all your friends.