Steve Kimock Band Takes Stage at State With Unique Sound

This Saturday, Nov. 6, the Steve Kimock band is coming to Falls Church to perform at the State Theatre. It will bring its unique sound and expression to town and with it an opportunity to, as Kimock puts it, “add a little lightness.”

The Steve Kimock Band has a style of music that is not easily defined. Improvisational and unscripted, the group takes from a variety of styles. At times the melodious guitar riffs and relaxed rhythms carry hints of soul or reggae, at other times a hard driving beat and exploratory, searching guitar capture the electronic house music style. But the genres change from song to song, and at times even during a piece.

What makes the performance work is the relationship between the band members and their styles, providing counterpoint and contrasts that highlights each artist.

Heading the band, Kimock is loose and relaxed in his style. He tools his guitar pulling from its strings not only the notes to a song but also feelings that he captures in the music.

Behind him Rodney Holmes works to contrast Kimock's guitar. A world class artist who has toured and recorded with Santana, Holmes is precise and mathematic to add tension and direction. “My natural take is lyrical and atmospheric,” said Kimock. “If it was just me, the music would be a pile on the floor, but Rodney really makes it stand up and go.”

While Kimock described Holmes as being an opposing force, he described fellow guitarist Mitch Stein as being the ‘bad cop’ to his ‘good,’ adding an edgy, daring sound to the group's dynamics.

Finally, bassist Leo Traversa, the newest member of the group, has blended as well as anyone in the band. Kimock first decided to invite him to join after he filled in on one gig at the last minute and was able to learn the entire set on the way to the performance. An ideal bassist, he provides a strong canvas on which the group paints its music. “We try to come up with music on the spot that's authentic,” he said. “It's about listening. Everybody very naturally has a role in making the thing happen.”

Like a painting, the music tries to appeal beyond the intellect and speak to an inner feeling, a result of the lifetime focus that Kimock has always had for his art.

Steve Kimock started his music career when he was a 15. Even then, when teachers were talking to students about careers, he knew that music was his future.

At that early stage Kimock was simply mastering the guitar and learning styles of music. He would listen to other guitarists and try to play like them.

As he grew, he started to learn how to play in his own style, but he continued to cover other people's songs. “Ten years ago, half the songs would have been somebody else's stuff,” he said.

But today he is playing newmaterial and with a style all his own. “It's a stripping away process,” he said. The goal is to remove the false voices that intrude upon his music and let his genuine expression shine through.

The largest influence on that process has been his family. In raising his eldest son, a burgeoning drummer, he has seen close-up the personal growth of an artist and that has given him a new perspective on his music as well.

Now, as he stands on stage at every stop of his tour, his goal is simply to get into the groove and let the music flow, hoping that each concert and each song will not only be a representation of himself, but also of the relationship that he creates with his band and the audience.