Acoustic Legends presents: JAMES TAYLOR - a tribute

The Acoustic Legends Show
Award-winning singer/songwriters, Timo Tolvanen and Rob Bunt have assembled a wonderful 7-piece band to pay tribute to the music that initially inspired them to pick up their acoustic guitars. Featuring the music of James Taylor and America (amongst others), the Acoustic Legends show taps into songs that became the soundtrack of the 70s. The band has gone to great lengths to faithfully reproduce classic acoustic hits such as Fire and Rain, You’ve Got a Friend, How Sweet It Is, Horse With No Name and Ventura Highway.
“We wanted to do this right”, says Rob. “We weren’t interested in just bashing away at the basic chords so we spent a lot of time analyzing the guitar work to ensure that the playing was authentic”. Timo adds, “We also spent a lot of time on the harmonies as they are a critical part of the sound. Arranging four parts took a lot of work but it sounds beautiful so the hard work was worth it”.
Timo and Rob have a very impressive musical background. They have been nominated for numerous industry awards, including best instrumental for their acoustic version of, “Jessica” and won a TIARA for Best Band. They have made numerous TV and radio appearances and at one stage hosted a TV program called, “Overland”. Indeed, all the members of the band have vast experience as session musicians and live performers.
The Acoustic Legends show also utilizes projected images from the 70s. When combined with the superb renditions of these classic songs, the show really does capture beautifully the mood of a generation. If you are in the mood for a great night of nostalgia and wonderful, timeless songs then this is the show for you.
- Liverpool Champion

Acoustic Legends
Stereotypes, being what they are, are often difficult to shake.
The intelligent blonde woman is forever embattled with proving her smarts, much as the kid with glasses is constantly trying to prove to his class that his whole life doesn’t revolve around algebra and fantasy novels.
The cover band is afflicted with similar woes.
To the seasoned gig pig, the concept of a cover band is basically a punch line to a very wide reaching joke.
And thanks to the raft of ageing rock dinosaurs clinging to the idea that no good music has been made since Sergeant Peppers, this joke is not difficult to come across.
R.S.L clubs the nation over depend on moth-eared rock revival bands to keep their punters enclosed safely inside their bowels, and for the most part this is a happy bargain.
And why shouldn’t it be? We all love good songs, what’s wrong with wanting to hear them again?
There’s nothing wrong with having a few drinks with your mates, safe in the knowledge that your ears won’t be met with ear bleeding techno or the latest beige offering from today’s bubblegum pop music vanguard.
Yet if one lingers too long in the safe havens provided by memory lane rock, they can wind up completely out of touch with the ever evolving trends that made the music of their youth memorable and exciting in the first place, and as the dagginess festers, the aforementioned joke lives on.
In relation to The Acoustic Legends, it is in this reviewer’s humble opinion that the joke for the ages, ends here.
For a cover band tackling hits by James Taylor, America, and other seventies soft rockers, in lesser hands the joke could so easily continue or turn into yet another mundane drive down the middle of the road.
JT is hardly known for his edge, ditto America, Crosby Stills Nash & Young perhaps more than both combined, but thankfully The Acoustic Legends are a welcome exception to the rule.
This is a cover band with plenty of edge. A collection of musicians with passion for the music over the pay check. The guitars have balls, the backline tight, the harmonies flawless.
There’s no colour by number renditions, not awkward modernising, just honest and earnest interpretations, played by people who really do understand what it was that we liked about them in the first place.
In fact, what’s most impressive about the Acoustic Legends isn’t what they do; it’s what they don’t do.
There’s no daggy moves, no desperate measures, no cheesy “hey do you remember when” moments or begging for the audience to get up and dance.
There’s just seven musicians, who all clearly love the music they’re playing, who know how to play it, and who are content to stand up front and say, “We think these songs are tops, finish your bloody parmigianas, shut up and listen".
And listen we did.

- Internet Live Review Chris Deal