Donavon Frankenreiter and The Band of Heathens

Donavon Frankenreiter is a Californian singer-songwriter who makes, or at least made, music very similar to Jack Johnson. Unsurprisingly really, given that he has been a close friend of fellow surfer Jack Johnson for yonks. His self-titled debut was perfect, beach campfire music – slow, hook-driven folk rock (one of the songs even featured Johnson). More recently, Frankenreiter has broadened his pallet with bluesy soft rock, reggae and world-laced America.
It probably won’t come as a shock to hear that when I first saw him live he was supporting none other than Jack Johnson. However, this was years and years ago, just as Frankenreiter had launched his musical career and before Johnson became a superstar. It was at a tiny, dingy club in Falmouth, Cornwall; Johnson had wanted to do a special gig in the surfing capital of the UK.
I owned and love Frankenreiter’s debut and was expecting low-key acoustic music. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find a ramped-up, full band show, with his minimal surf ballads turned into extended, bluesy jams. If I had to guess, I would say that his early live touring shaped the recorded albums that followed. Song like ‘Free’ and ‘It Don’t Matter’ sounded fuller live, with the singer-songwriter showcasing real skill on the guitar, which he played with a much flashier style. The chilled out entertainer was eventually welcomed back to join Jack Johnson for a couple of tracks during his later headline slot; by then, Donavon Frankenreiter didn’t need to win over the audience.

The way that the American rock band, The Band of Heathens, split their song writing between three band members is something that works really well for the band, giving each track an original sound, and making sure that it doesn’t get samey and repetitive. Although one of the original song writers, Colin Brooks, is no longer in the band, they’re still as tight as ever and have a great and varied sound still.

They opened the show with Ed Jurdi coming on stage and shouting out to the audience that the band hoped we were having a great time, and to sing and dance along with their tracks if we knew them. He then introduced the rest of the band, and they launched into their title track from The Double Down, and of course everyone was familiar with it and singing along.

They played a great selection of their music from over the years, and Ed and Gordy Quist, the vocalist and guitarist, even played some of their solo material with the band as their backing which went down really well, and was a really nice surprise part of the show. All of the band were great at performing, and super talented at their instruments.