Walkin’ Floors in Bustown

The Floorwalkers have just returned from their most extensive tour yet, and they rode the momentum like a roaring freight train right onto the stage at the Newport Music Hall. The guys slid into the beginning of their set, a well-oiled, well-tuned machine of a band.  They played mostly a selection of songs from their full-length debut The Natural Road, a polished presentation of their music that doesn’t fail to impress.

The first smash of the evening was the ever-evolving  “Carolyne” . The always talented Jon Elliott is like a creature that keeps shedding its skin and emerging with new depth and an extra set of wings. Just when I think he’s at his peak, he knocks another one out of the park. His vocals on The Natural Road have taken on a chameleon quality. His range swings from a low Dean Martin croon, to a high alto that slithers through the lyrics of their songs. Ben Meinhold fleshes out the funky bass line of this song, which bobs and shimmys like a curvy girl shakin what her mama gave her. His presence provides the flexible cartilage to the skeleton that Tom Lasky builds, piece by piece as he pops and cracks on his drums like black powder thrown on a fire.

Theo Perry lights up the solo at the end of the album cut of “Carolyne”. This is but a tiny taste of the rock and roll this kid can create. I can’t wait til he’s an 80 year old blues man, still making young girls swoon. Across the stage, Kerry Henderson is stationed with his guitar. These guys are like a pair of six guns at the ready. The two guitars neither compete nor crowd during their shared stage time. The sound they create is a musical conversation where they both emerge as scholars. They compliment each other like no other guitar duo I’ve heard locally.

The Floorwalkers were joined this night by Triple Dip, one hell of a horn section. It includes Evan Oberla on trombone, John Lampley on trumpet, and Jerry DePizzo on sax.  The three of them swayed together, huffing and pumping away like a burning steam engine.  With nine musicians on stage that night, it would have been easy to lose any one of them through the din, but each individual shone brightly. They played my new favorite that night. “Pool of Petals” is a kazoo-laden toe tapper that isn’t included on their album. It draws to mind a vaudevillian romp. At this point in the show, the crowd is dancing itself into a neat collective groove. If “Pool of Petals” gets the crowd dancing, then “Fly Away” is the tune that starts the swaying and singing. At this point, after hundreds of Wednesday nights at Ruby’s, the faithful Floorwalkers fans have a collective memory of song lyrics that creates an echo and pads the chorus during most of their songs. Turn around and face the crowd during one of their heavily played selections, and you can see dozens of mouths (or hundreds, depending on the venue size) moving to the words. These fans are loyal, and many of them are in love. The dancing has reached fever pitch by the time the band hits “Three Wishes”. Every hip within ear shot is rocking and swaying to the rollicking beat. My curiosity was piqued that night by the newest addition to the band, keyboardist Nate Kremer. He joined them on their recent extensive tour of the US, and the time was well-spent. He seems to have gelled with the band. I was excited to see how the new arrangement would affect the music, and that night, the energy they carried onstage together was what struck me the most.

At the close of the show, the band plays “For the Better”, a song that, no matter how many times I have heard it over the years, still makes my heart swell at the first few chords sent out into the air by Kerry’s guitar. There is a collective sigh from the young ladies in the crowd, and turning to face them, I can hear them singing together “It just takes a little bit of love”. Between tours, and on the edge of something big, The Floorwalkers have shown Columbus that they can flex their musical muscles in nearly any direction they try. From Pop to Funk, and from Folk to Blues and Rock and Roll, the pride of Columbus is on a trajectory headed straight to the stars.

Catch them while you still can.