Greenville Scene

by: Tiffany Heuser

Josh Montgomery’s dream of playing in front of a million strangers was not realized Thursday night. Instead, as the last act at Greenville’s beloved O-cha Tea Bar, Josh Montgomery played to a space packed out with many friends.

Having not seen Josh Montgomery perform in quite some time, I was unsure of what to expect. He pleasantly surprised me with his improvements over the last year. Impressing the crowd, his fingers picked adeptly at the guitar strings while his strong vocals were accentuated by his generous range.

A skillful ability to adapt songs from many genres was displayed as he covered not only the typical acoustic guitarist’s covers (Jack Johnson, John Mayer, etc.) but also songs from different genres including, but not limited to, Elvis’s “Blue Christmas”, Seal’s “Kiss From a Rose”, Gnarles Barkley’s “Crazy” and even Disney’s “Under The Sea”, each song taking on Josh Montgomery’s unique sound. And yes, he does a good impersonation of Sebastian the Crab.

Donning aviators and breaking out his electric guitar, Josh Montgomery promised the crowd, “I’m going to shred your mind!” And that he did. Standing on tables and lying on the floor, he played “Bluer”, the song that won him Guitar Center’s King of the Blues contest.

Despite Josh Montgomery’s knack of transforming songs and making them his own, there were more covers than songs from his own pen. Having two CDs and seven new songs on the way, surely this songwriter could showcase some well-written tunes. The audience seemed not to mind, however, as Josh Montgomery, joined by local singer/songwriter Jacob Johnson and King of the Blues judge Mike Culp, covered yet another song. The applause was copious.

A pre-recorded applause track was humorous at first, but after a few artificial “He’s so amazing’s”, it became wearisome. Sometimes, a twenty year old guy playing his guitar in room full of adoring teenage girls can get a little confident. On occasion, a natural boyishly immature side comes out, particularly when interacting with the fans, but when Josh Montgomery focuses on playing his guitar, immature is the last word that comes to mind.

http://www.myspace.com/joshmontgomery
http://www.purevolume.com/joshmontgomery