by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
The River City Brewing Company’s covered outdoor deck was the scene of 99.9 FM Gator Country’s Battle of the Bands semifinals last Saturday night. On stage was the St. Augustine band Cliff Worrell and the Restless Kind. This group is an assemblage of seven veteran professional musicians who got together because they all love country music and enjoy the compatible chemistry in the group.
The seven piece group presents a big bold sound with fiddle, guitar, pedal steel, keyboards, bass, drums and Cliff Worrell singing lead vocals. The group came together from various popular bands, including Southbound, Matanzas, Divorce This, Fully Loaded, Lisa Lisa & the Toy Boys, and even the Southeast Georgia Symphony Orchestra.
Individually, Restless Kind is comprised of well known regional musicians including Doug Dennis on guitar and vocals, Lisa Mack on keyboards and vocals, the legendary Phil Jones on pedal steel and guitar, Doug Kohl on bass, Robert Zielinski on fiddle and mandoline, Kim Zielinski on fiddle and vocals and Lisa Locke on drums. Together, this band kicks butt with a tight country groove. Having two fiddles and pedal steel gives the group top-tier credentials as a country band. However, the group can rock out if the situation presents itself.
The packed deck of enthusiastic fans were dancing and shouting their approval as Restless Kind plowed through a repertoire of mostly crowd-pleasing songs and a few originals. The band is slowly integrating its well-written originals into the cover mix as it gets more exposure in the country venues around the Southeast. Frankly, it’s fun to hear the good old country songs like Before He Cheats, Boot Scootin’ Boogie, Brick House, Brokenheartsville, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Folsom Prison Blues, Good Hearted Woman, et al. And yes, Restless Kind throws in some Skynyrd tunes for good measure and to appease to locals, which illustrates the deep Skynyrd roots that bred the countrified southern rock sound.
I especially enjoyed Restless Kind’s Johnny Cash tribute and the two fiddle players–those wild and crazy Zielinskis. And yes, I love the pedal steel too because it cuts through the mix with penetrating authority. Phil Jones is a legend on the instrument and he also plays a mean lead guitar. Clearly, the members of Restless Kind love interacting with their audience. Cliff hops off the stage and wanders into the crowd to sing to each person present.
Undeniably, Restless Kind is a show band of high-ranking, flawless, uncompromising musicianship. Since four of the band members are related, and it produces such a taut sound, this could verify the genetic inheritance theory of musical excellence.
In today’s economic crunch, staging a seven-piece band is a challenge, but the group stays busy playing festivals, fairs and places like the Jax Landing. They even bite the financial bullet and play some smaller clubs for exposure.
Restless Kind has much to offer in terms of its “bold as love” sound that draws the audience into their groove and inspires people to dance and have fun. The secret is–since the band is having fun, they pass that on to the audience through osmosis. And, everyone goes home happy. Crank it up!
You can see Cliff Worrell & The Restless Kind on September 21 at the Jacksonville Landing opening for Crossin Dixon and Chris Cagle as part of the Gator Country Concert Series.
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