Considering parturition after swinging to the blues

I don’t have many nice things to say about children, and I certainly don’t want to HAVE them. This fact didn’t stop me from offering to have keyboardist Alex Shakeri’s babies after his sweltering set at YVBC’s Garage Pub on Saturday.
The baby-faced guitarist may have been the looker of the Insomniacs, a blues group from Portland, but Shakeri is their secret weapon. When he flipped out that harmonica, my knees quivered.

True, Shakeri doesn’t fit the grizzled, bearded musician-type I’ve been gushing for lately, but his talents alone placed up up there on the list of men worthy of bearing children for.

From their slim ties to the bassist’s velvet jacket to the drummer’s fedora, the Insomniacs dressed the part of a solid act, and proved it with superb musicianship. Slowly and deliberately, they gained our confidence and kudos with their soulful style.

The lyrics were on par with traditional blues verse. “I was in love with a married woman because I just couldn’t help myself,” lead guitarist and vocalist Vyasa Dodson sang. His other catchy lyric, “I might be alone, but at least I’m not with you,” was an instant hit.

The band threw in a bit of surf rock, jazzed-up a few holiday riffs and interjected their blues-infused up-tempo swing before calling it a night. The weather was freezing, but the garage was piping hot.

If you missed the show, I’ve got some facts to back my claims, including the band’s Muddy Award from Oregon’s Cascade Blues Association for Best New Act of 2006 and Best Contemporary Act of 2007 and their nomination for 2008 Best New Artist Debut Award from The Blues Foundation.