The Monacchio's, George Wirth @ Espresso Joe's 10/21/11 I love Espresso Joe’s. Where else can you see great singer-songwriters with a respectful crowd that is listening to the music instead of talking to each other. Tonight I was there for the CD release party for The Monacchio’s, a collaboration between newlyweds Keith Monacchio & Sheli Aarden-Monacchio. Their aptly titled album, “wedding album”, began as a modest proposal to write three songs together to give out at their wedding as favors. In all they wrote & recorded ten songs, and the pairing of their voices and music on these songs is as strong as their love for each other. While I did not write down their set list, I am pretty sure they played the album live in the same order as they appear on “wedding album”. To quote the title of one of their songs, their set felt “effortlessly”. To point out the highs of this set would be to point out every song. That said, here are a few things I noticed: “The Great Flood” - It would not be an album Keith Monacchio was involved with without one depressing song, and the path this song takes ends as such. However, sad the song ends, it is still a beautiful song, and it opens both the album and their set, leaving things to get more positive, lyrically, from there. “Safe Harbor” - This was the first song sent to me, before the CD was pressed and sent, and truly this is a great single. If The Monacchio’s were to be compared to The Swell Season (which they probably should not, but I have already done on my show), this song would be their, “Falling Slowly”. A lovely song, and the pairing of their voices with the music is very moving and powerful. On the album Sheli sings along with her daughter, Melissa Anthony, which worked so well it gave me chills the first time I heard it. Live it could have been lacking without Melissa’s harmony, but honestly it still sounded amazing. “Anywhere” - This song closes out their album in a wonderfully upbeat and loving way, and essentially closed out their set tonight (a brief ‘good night’ song was played after this song). Keith and Sheli are amazing solo artists whose work I love, but putting them together as The Monacchio’s is really something special. Something you can hear on “wedding album”, and see in their live show. Opening up for The Monacchio’s was George Wirth. I don’t know how many times I’ve said this in the past, but let me say it one more time, I am pretty sure I could listen to anything George sings. Give him an automotive manual, he would find a way to make it work. It just so happens that in addition to his compelling vocals, he is an amazing storyteller, and each song is its own tale. In the unlikely event I ever write an autobiography, I want him to do the audio book. With his guitar in hand and his golden voice, he would make my boring life sound like a wonderful story. -Lazlo www.reverbnation.com/TheMonacchios www.reverbnation.com/georgewirth