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Yacht Rock Revue not a fad but a phenomenon

Credit: RODNEY HO/[email protected]

In the fall of 2007, the Atlanta power pop trio Y-O-U was on life support. They never got their big break despite building a decent local following. The lead singer had entered law school. The bassist, a fitness instructor at an independent living facility, was pondering a move to Denver.

But the Y-O-U musicians weren’t ready to mothball their amps just yet. Inspired by a Time/Life CD infomercial, Y-O-U drummer Mark Cobb created a kitschy compilation CD he dubbed “The Dentist Office Mix” featuring 19 soft rock hits from the 1970s by the likes of Little River Band, Firefall and 10cc. He figured: why not turn that into a theme night?

Credit: MARK COBB

10 High Club, a lovably grungy venue downstairs from the Dark Horse Tavern in Virginia Highland, green lit the show called yacht rock after Cobb saw a YouTube web series by that name.

For the Y-O-U musicians, Yacht Rock night was meant as a fun diversion, a one-time jam to laugh about later. They met up at Cobb’s basement with other musician friends and rotating lead singers to learn each song. “Kiss You All Over” by Exile. “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty. “Still the One” by Orleans. “Love Will Keep Us Together” by Captain & Tennille. These were largely songs that had been left in the dustbin of rock history by that time, too soft and light for classic rock stations and too old for pop radio stations to play.

With tongue firmly in cheek, guitarist Mark “Monkeyboy” Dannells Photoshopped a promo poster with five of their heads superimposed on the heads of the band members for Orleans from its 1976 “Waking and Dreaming” LP. For the concert, Y-O-U lead singer Nicholas NIespodziani chose a floral shirt and plaid vest top. Monkeyboy opted for a beret, aviator sunglasses, bell bottoms and an “I’m With Stupid” T-shirt. Cobb wore his grandfather’s plaid leisure suit and a wig.

Credit: RODNEY HO

Something clicked that Friday evening at 10 High for the 150 inebriated, sweaty audience members and the band members on stage. Nicole Jurovics, a former 10 High talent booker, recalled feeling both bemused and oddly taken by the show. “I knew every word to every song, and I had no idea why because I never owned any of those records,” she said.

Glen Pridgen, who sang Rupert Holmes’ cheesy 1979 hit “Escape (”The Piña Colada Song)” that night, had a blast: “Even as an outsider, I sensed something special was happening, a chemistry among the band members.”

But nobody on stage had any idea this was the genesis of what would become Yacht Rock Revue, and that 14 years later, seven of the musicians from that 10 High gig (three of whom are named Mark) would play many of those same songs in front of 6,000 cheering fans at Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park.

Credit: CON

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

The rise of Yacht Rock Revue

In the summer of 2008, after a second yacht rock night packed 10 High, the venue’s booker Curtis Clark offered the core musicians, including former Y-O-U members and childhood friends Niespodziani and Peter Olson, a residency every Thursday night as long as they did yacht rock. They soon became proficient at songs by Boz Scaggs, Christopher Cross and Ambrosia, drawing a surprisingly wide swath of fans.

In those early days, they saw this as a side hustle that would soon die out. And Niespodziani was clearly conflicted about the band’s growing success.

After performing Elton John’s “Little Jeannie” while dressed in yacht-friendly outfits at the Dunwoody Beer Festival in 2009, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Niespodziani told the audience, “We appreciate your tepid response. Tepid is good. Too much reaction and you’ll rock the boat. And that’s bad.”

At the time, Niespodziani wasn’t a fan of a lot of the songs. The indie rock part of him felt “a little evil” making money off this type of music: “Sometimes I feel like I’m part of the problem, not the solution.

“I’m surprised how few people snicker at us,” he added in 2009. “If I weren’t in this band, I think I’d be a hater.”

For four years, Yacht Rock Revue kept the weekly 10 High gig, each member pocketing $100 a night, but their popularity led them to bigger venues, first Buckhead’s Andrews Upstairs, then the larger Park Tavern by Piedmont Park. People began asking them to perform at weddings, corporate events and private parties.

By 2011, they were all able to quit their day jobs and focus solely on Yacht Rock Revue.

Around that time, Andy Levine, founder of the Atlanta-based, music-themed cruise company Sixthman , placed the band on two of his Rock Boat cruise ships with Sister Hazel and multiple cruises with the group Train. They also jumped on cruises themed around KISS, Kid Rock and even “Star Trek.”

The exposure seeded their fan base nationwide, resulting in bookings to play shows in Denver, Boston and Indianapolis, Indiana.

Yacht Rock Revue also drew the attention of the acts they covered. Musicians from Looking Glass (”Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl”), Player (”Baby Come Back”), Orleans (”Dance With Me”) and Starbuck (”Moonlight Feels Right”) began joining them on stage for their annual Yacht Rock Revival all-star concerts at Park Tavern, the Tabernacle and Chastain.

Robbie Dupree, who had two yacht rock-friendly hits in 1980, “Steal Away” and “Hot Rod Hearts,” saw them play at the Canal Room in New York City and joined them on stage.

“They just have a great heart for the music,” said Dupree. “They dig the music. They are really responsible for making this a more legitimate category.”

Copycats have proliferated nationwide, with puns firmly attached. There’s. Yachty By Nature based in Orange County, California; New England’s Hall & Boats ; Nashville’s Monsters of Yacht ; the Los Angeles-based Yächtley Crew ; and a female-fronted group out of Chicago called Yacht Rock-ettes .

“I call them the yachtfathers,” said Carl Nelson, lead singer of Yachty By Nature who has seen Yacht Rock Revue twice. “They got there first and are totally cool bros.”

Even with the praise from peers and fans, Olson and Niespodziani, childhood friends going back to Indiana, sought diversification, awaiting for Yacht Rock Revue to start sinking. They opened the music venue Venkman’s in the Old Fourth Ward. They started a Beatles cover band called Please PleaseRock Me . They performed theme nights covering the “Thriller” album or Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” LP. For a time, they fronted a more traditional wedding band called The Tupperware Party.

But the fan base for Yacht Rock Revue kept growing, imbibing the polyester, the cutesy choreography, the entire vibe.

Greg Prato, the author of “The Yacht Rock Book” (Jawbone Press, 2018) , credits part of their success to pure musicianship, providing fans the opportunity to hear songs by artists who no longer perform or are no longer around. He specifically recalled the band’s rendition of “Baker Street,” noting that Dave Freeman’s “sax bit gives you the goosiest of goose bumps.”

In 2016, the band added two female singers, mother-daughter team Keisha and Kourtney Jackson, providing the band deeper vocal depth and the ability to do songs by the likes of Tina Turner and Captain & Tennille with more credibility. Over the years, they have played at least 600 different songs, and the setlist changes constantly.

To prove they weren’t just a pure cover band, Yacht Rock Revue recorded an original album in 2019 called “Hot Dads in Tight Jeans” and released it in early 2020. Rolling Stone magazine last year compared their new tunes to that of the respected psychedelic pop band Tame Impala .

The yacht kept on sailing ― until it hit the pandemic shoals.

The Pandemic and the Anchorheads

In 2017, Ella Leitner, a 48-year-old Manhattan marketing executive, entered the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey, to see Yacht Rock Revue for the first time. She was super cranky. The traffic had been awful. It was raining. She and her husband were late.

But her mood lifted as soon as she heard the band’s version of Toto’s “Africa.”

“They captured our hearts,” she said. “They captured the essence of yacht rock. It was about having a good time, feeling carefree and taking away whatever was bothering you that day.”

Seeking to recapture that joyful feeling, she saw the band every time they came into town and was looking forward to celebrating her 47th birthday with them at Webster Hall a few blocks from her home in March 2020.

But there would be no concert that day. Instead, for weeks, she only heard the sad sounds of wailing sirens and the daily clanging of pots and pans to honor essential workers treating COVID-19 patients. Individual members of Yacht Rock Revue began holding livestream concerts on Facebook from their basements and seeking donations from fans. Leitner would Venmo money to the band on occasion.

She also got to know the band members as they showed off their homes, their families and their quirky interests, interacting directly with fans. Keyboardist Mark Bencuya revealed his love for alt rock and punk. Cobb did an entire livestream about 1980s TV theme songs. Olson and his wife Alyssa played duets and brought in the kids for fun.

“I was pretty transparent emotionally” on the livestreams, Niespodziani said. Viewers “could tell when I was feeling bummed or stressed and they’d send me stuff in the mail. It was so sweet.”

He received bottles of whiskey, masks with the Yacht Rock album cover on it and earnest letters from people trying to convert him to Christianity.

Leitner began corresponding with other Yacht Rock Revue lovers, and they created a fan group called the Anchorheads with their own logos and T-shirts. The private Facebook page now has more than 1,200 members .

“We were all isolated in our homes,” Leitner said. “This was a shared experience, a way for us to build an active community. The anchor was the natural symbol. It’s in their logo. The symbolism works. We are now anchored to the band.”

For more than a year, PleaseRock , the corporate entity that oversees the band and provides health insurance and a 401(K), couldn’t pay its employee salaries when touring was not an option. But financial support from the Anchorheads enabled them to maintain health insurance for everybody until they got back on the road in April.

“It speaks to the heart of who they are,” Leitner said. “They treat their staff well. They aren’t a novelty act. They’re consummate professionals.”

To honor them, Leitner and many of her fellow Anchorheads nationwide flew to Peachtree City for two nights to see them play at Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheatre in late April.

“It was like a family reunion,” Leitner said, “family you actually want to spend time with.”

Since then, despite the uncertainties regarding the virus, Yacht Rock Revue has been able to perform dozens of shows again including two at Chastain Park, selling more than 10,000 tickets combined in August and October. They also held two shows at Venkman’s, before and after Thanksgiving, celebrating the venue’s reopening after 20 months.

Credit: RODNEY HO/rh

Robin McCannon, a 51-year-old teacher from St. Simon’s Island, stood in the front during the Turkey Eve show with a look of rapt wonder on her face during the 27-song set that began with “Believe It or Not (Theme to ‘Greatest American Hero’)” and ended with “More Than a Feeling.”

“This matters,” she told Niespodziani after the show,” even more than just the music.”

“Spreading love and positive energy is what we’re about,” he said.

The seven original members are now in their 40s and 50s. Most have kids and own homes. They appreciate the steady paychecks, the ability to pursue creative side projects and the Anchorheads.

The week after the Venkman’s reopening, Niespodziani and other Yacht Rock Revue members spent a few days working with John Driskell Hopkins of the Zac Brown Band on a Christmas album for 2022. They are planning another original album next year.

And in February, the band will host its first four-day yacht rock “Steal Away” extravaganza at Runaway Bay in Jamaica with Robbie Dupree and the band Ambrosia and hundreds of fans. “The Anchorheads get to hang with us at the pool and hike with us to a waterfall,” Niespodziani said.

“We started out as a pure party cover band,” he mused, “and have become respected as artists.”

Every year for the past 14 years, he has asked the same questions: “How big are we going to get? How far is this going to go?”

He smiled and shrugged his shoulders: “We still can’t really tell.”

Credit: Akili-Casundria Ramsess

Origins of yacht rock

The Yacht Rock Revue did not invent yacht rock. In 2005, a group of friends taped a series of mockumentary video shorts for a monthly Los Angeles comedy festival called Channel 101. Scanning the liner notes of 1970s vinyl they had purchased for $1 apiece at Amoeba Music , they noticed many studio musicians in L.A. overlapped with acts such as Kenny Loggins, Toto, Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers.

This observation led to them to create a fake “origin” story and sub-genre of music they dubbed “yacht rock.”

“We had no idea this would ever go beyond the 300 people who saw it in that room,” said “Hollywood” Steve Huey , a music critic and narrator of the series.

But the 12 short episodes were loaded onto YouTube, at the time a new video content service thirsty for content. Soon, it went viral.

Music historian Chris Molanphy, on a recent episode of his podcast “Hit Parade,” said the name stuck in part because prior attempts to categorize the music such as “Revlon rock” or “Jazz rock” had failed to stick.

“Yacht rock is just so evocative,” Molanphy said. “Smooth music, relaxing, ‘70s when yachts were hot. I get it!”

The kitschy wardrobe that goes along with it is easy and accessible as well. A captain’s hat is $10, he said, and you can dig a Hawaiian shirt out of your closet. “Very thrift store friendly,” he said.

Molanphy noted that people often get into the music with an ironic wink and nod but ultimately end up just enjoying it.

Greg Prato, author of the 2018 oral history “ The Yacht Rock Book,” said the genre’s enduring appeal is multi-faceted, noting the “Impeccable song craft, instrumentation and vocal harmonies that are spotlighted in most yacht rock songs. For most older music fans, it takes us back to a time that was seemingly more carefree and jolly, and it serves as the perfect soundtrack for a summertime backyard barbecue.”

Concert Preview

Yacht Rock Revue Holiday Spectacular. 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18. $37.50-$203. Coca-Cola Roxy,

800 Battery Ave. SE, Atlanta. www.livenation.com

About the Author

Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.

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Yacht Rock Revue sets steady course for musical…

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Yacht rock revue sets steady course for musical treasures.

You’d think that people would’ve had enough of silly love songs. I looked around the Leader Bank Pavilion and I saw it wasn’t so.

On Thursday night, on the huge Pavilion stage, Yacht Rock Revue sold nostalgia, escapism, the notion that musical chops matter, and a post-modernist take on popular music. But mostly, like Paul McCartney before them, the aviator-sporting middle aged guys in YRR sold silly love songs. Or at least re-sold them.

An Atlanta-born tribute to ’70s AM Gold and ’80s Top 40, YRR went mainstream on the back of years of touring – the band plays the Cape Cod Melody Tent Wednesday and Thursday before returning to the Pavilion on Friday. Too good to remain purely a cover band, YRR made an album of originals in 2020 – the LP, “Hot Dads in Tight Jeans,” is a tasty cocktail of soft rock, indie pop, sparkling disco and glitchy electronica. The Revue’s covers and originals both work because they take the music (if not themselves) seriously.

And yes, you can take Looking Glass’s “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” seriously.

When the Beatles went from the heartfelt “Love Me Do” to the sardonic “Glass Onion,” they lost some people. Those people – alienated by the weirdness and self-indulgence of late ’60s and early ’70s – found a home in the old-school songcraft and sincerity of yacht rock’s love songs. Here’s where Yacht Rock Revue comes in.

Live, the band threads an almost impossible gap. The love songs are sweet, the rock songs are rocking, the cheek is packed with tongue, and yet the catalog is done reverently not ironically. Yacht rock is deemed a guilty pleasure, but it is enjoyed earnestly. (Can anything actually be enjoyed ironically? I doubt it.)

So Yacht Rock delivers earnest infatuation (Jackson Browne’s “Somebody’s Baby”), earnest romance (Rupert Holmes’ “Escape”), and earnest longing (the aforementioned Brandy). The songs connect because they are all little masterpieces of pop. And because the band is smoking hot.

The five of the members who took lead vocals are all great – Kourtney Jackson can do Sade with the required smooth gloss and YRR founder Nick Niespodziani’s talent for channeling so many (Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, even David Lee Roth) is endlessly impressive. Guitar ace and Berklee grad Mark Dannells can riff on Toto and rearrange Steely Dan leads. The whole band needs to be excellent because, beyond sincere lyrics, yacht rock depends on players having profound skills.

When YRR does Toto’s “Rosanna,” Niespodziani needs to sell the impassioned vocals, the “I didn’t know that a girl like you could make me feel so sad.” But equally importantly, the band needs to fill out an epic tune that dips into jazz, funk, blues, heavy metal and prog rock. YRR can do this, plus do the bass line in “Smooth Operator,” the harmonies of “Dancing Queen,” and complex chords of “Peg.”

YRR is a great time. It’s a time for dressing up in captain’s hats, booging to the Doobie Brothers, getting sloppy and silly, even when – especially when – the silliness extends to those cheesy-but-honest love songs.

For tickets and details, visit yachtrockrevue.com

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‘People Don’t Let Go of These Songs’: The Surprising Evolution of the Yacht Rock Revue

• By Joseph Hudak

Joseph Hudak

“If you asked me five years ago to do a full original album with this band, I’d say, ‘Tear my heart out and leave it on the floor,'” Yacht Rock Revue singer Nick Niespodziani says.

It’s hard to tell if he’s being hyperbolic.

The 41-year-old frontman of the Atlanta-based tribute band has always been conflicted about his gum-chewing, polyester-wearing, hair-feathering throwback group. In his eyes, it was a way to make a living, not a serious creative outlet. Besides, he had other projects to flex that muscle, like the psychedelic and experimental rock of Indianapolis Jones. But as he slowly came to accept, nothing had the reach of Yacht Rock Revue.

Since forming in 2008, the seasoned party band has graduated into a national touring act, packing clubs, anchoring corporate events, and setting sail on themed cruises with their note-perfect re-creations of soft-rock’s smoothest jams, from “Brandy” by Looking Glass and “Lido Shuffle” by Boz Scaggs to Ace’s “How Long” and Toto’s irrepressible “Africa.” (Yacht Rock Revue cut it well before Weezer did .) Their crowds are far from passive too, buying tickets in advance and showing up in boat shoes, ascots, and aviators to recite aloud the sacred texts of saints Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald , and Robbie Dupree. Captain’s hats are ubiquitous.

It’s not an oldies fan base either. “Kids, young people, are the ones who have adopted this music, and they’re there to have a good time,” says Dupree, who often performs his 1980 hit “Steal Away” with the band at their all-star “Yacht Rock Revival” shows. “The audience looks like they used to [when these records first came out] — only you got older. But it’s more exciting now because these people know every single song in the show.”

Still, Niespodziani could never fully get on board the boat he helped build. When he and the band took a stab at releasing original material in 2012 with the on-the-nose “Can’t Wait for Summer,” they did so sheepishly. “Our hearts weren’t all the way in it,” he says now. “We were kind of apologetic about it.”

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As pop music evolved over the past eight years, however, so did Niespodziani’s perception of Yacht Rock Revue. The songs that make up the band’s set lists are now celebrated, “Yacht Rock” has transcended its gag tag to become a legitimate subgenre, and the icons of the scene are getting long-overdue recognition — in May, the Doobie Brothers will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Most important, Niespodziani peered over his onstage shades and recognized the happiness that he and his group were bringing to their crowds.

“When we started out, I wasn’t super proud of being in a cover band,” he says, “but as we’ve done this, I’ve seen that joy in people, which changed my thinking and changed my heart about it, and made me open to the vulnerability of doing an original album.”

In February, the seven-piece band of fortysomething musicians — along with Niespodziani, there’s fellow vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Peter Olson, bassist Greg Lee, sax player Dave Freeman, guitarist Mark Dannells, drummer Mark Cobb, and keys man Mark Bencuya — released its first full-length album of original music, Hot Dads in Tight Jeans . Like their live show, which features a vintage boutique’s worth of loud shirts and the titular constricting denim, there’s an element of humor to the record. But the 10 tracks aren’t parodies or goofs.

Songs like “The Doobie Bounce” and “Step,” with their layered production and Niespodziani’s sky-high falsetto, transform the staid notion of yacht rock — or, more broadly, soft rock — into something immersive and, dare one say, hip and cool. These are tracks that could slide in comfortably next to anything off Tame Impala’s latest, The Slow Rush . The sounds and tones employed by Tame Impala mastermind Kevin Parker actually served as validation for Niespodziani.

“We finished recording this album and were mixing it in spring and summer, and that’s when Tame Impala started to leak tracks from their new album,” he says. “They were really similar to the sounds we had on our record, and that made me feel really encouraged, that the sound that we had was not going to be throwaway or irrelevant.”

Olson, Niespodziani’s onstage foil in choreography (they’re experts at re-creating Paul Simon and Chevy Chase’s “You Can Call Me Al” routine ), says the band aimed to expand the boundaries of what yacht rock is, or could be, while in the studio.

“We felt free to redefine the genre a little bit, as more of an attitude than a sound,” Olson, also 41, says. “We weren’t tied to just having Rhodes pianos and super-lush harmonies and sax solos, but there are elements of that. We weren’t afraid to sing about something meaningful and not just piña coladas. Although there is a song about tequila, so…”

Sail Away: The Oral History of 'Yacht Rock'

Doobie brothers' 5 greatest songs.

“Bad Tequila,” with its pithy, made-for-merch payoff line — “when life gives you bad tequila/make a good margarita” — is insanely catchy but modern, more in line with something by Portugal. The Man and Daft Punk than Seals and Croft or Loggins and Messina. Yes, it has a yachty sax breakdown, but the woodwind fits in just as naturally as one of Lizzo’s flute solos .

The band credits producer Ben Allen with helping them connect the dots between yesteryear’s soft rock and contemporary flourish. The track “Another Song About California” opens with a synth line that nods to Hall and Oates’ “She’s Gone” before spiraling off on its own psych-pop journey.

“Ben has been instrumental in finding the middle ground between staying true to what the band has always done in the yacht-rock vibe, but not being afraid to make a record that could fit in a playlist with Justin Timberlake or Lizzo,” says Niespodziani, who also challenged the way the band approaches its lyrics. He used yacht-rock buzzwords (think “sand,” “ocean,” “sun,” and “girl”) as a gateway to convey deeper thoughts and mindsets.

“I’d take little nuggets of the yacht-rock vibe or culture and look at it through my own lens,” he says, citing “The Doobie Bounce.” “That song sneaks in little nods to nihilism and things that have meaning to me.”

Currently on a U.S. tour with gigs scheduled at the Wiltern in L.A., Webster Hall in New York, and the House of Blues in Boston, Niespodziani, Olson and the band are hopeful that their core fans will embrace the “new” yacht rock. They’ve already been slotting “Step” and “Bad Tequila” alongside perennials like “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” and “Baker Street.” Who knows — perhaps their own 21st-century yacht jams will one day become a part of the genre’s core canon.

After years spent wondering and worrying when the yacht-rock wave would crash, Niespodziani and Olson have come to just enjoy the ride.

“We always thought the fad would end. But people don’t let go of these songs. It’s evident in the way that doctors’ offices, Home Depots, and Bed Bath & Beyonds haven’t let go of these songs either,” says Olson. “These are the playlists of public areas.”

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The accidental success of Yacht Rock Revue

One night in 2008, singers Nicholas Niespodziani and Peter Olson and drummer Mark Cobb, then members of the Atlanta-based indie rock band Y-O-U, showed up to their weekly residency at 10 High with an unusual set list. “As a gag, we thought we’d play cheesy soft rock hits from the 1970s, stuff that you’d hear in the dentist’s office,” says Niespodziani. The fans ate it up, so they did it again. And again. It wasn’t long before Y-O-U had given way to Yacht Rock Revue.

Today the Atlanta tribute band/comedy troupe has become a booming business. On August 22, the act returns to Piedmont Park for the fifth annual Yacht Rock Revival, where thousands of so-called Nation of Smooth faithful sing along to hits from Hall & Oates, Steely Dan, and other soft rock icons—some of whom show up to play alongside the band. To keep up with booking demands, they’ve even spawned Yacht Rock Schooner, a second cover act. Recently Niespodziani discussed their career trajectory.

On playing alongside recording artists like Robbie Dupree, Firefall, and Journey singer Steve Augeri . . . They come and they realize that while we’re not taking ourselves seriously, we are taking the music seriously. We approach Little River Band as if it’s AC/DC.

On accidentally reuniting the Atlanta band Starbuck . . . Jimmy Cobb, the bass player in Starbuck, played with us a few times, and we put him and another former band member on the poster for the 2012 show. Before the gig, the band’s singer, Bruce Blackman, showed up with our flyer in his hand, asking, “What is this?” He was a little pissed. Backstage, these guys talked for the first time in 30 years. Bruce came on stage that night, and the next year they got the whole band back together.

On being named both “Best Overall Music Act in Atlanta” and “Best Place to Get Drunk With Your Dad” . . . We’re pretty proud of the “Drunk with Your Dad” distinction. We actually had a fan in Charlotte who came up to us with his pregnant wife and said, “Oh man, we got pregnant the last time you were here. We went in the club’s bathroom while you guys were on stage!” Clearly, we’re setting a mood.

On the calendar: On August 22, coast to the smooth sounds of easy-listening at Yacht Rock Revival at Piedmont Park. pleaserock.com

This article originally appeared in our August 2015 issue.

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Yacht Rock Revue explain why they're charting a new course with original music

Sarah Rodman is the Entertainment Editor, covering TV and music for EW.

After nearly a dozen years confidently steering the S.S. Nostalgia, playing the beloved soft rock hits of the ’70s and ’80s to packed crowds wearing captain’s hats, Yacht Rock Revue are charting a new course by releasing their first album of original material. Hot Dads in Tight Jeans won’t be released until Feb. 21, but EW is bringing you the first single, “Step,” right here.

“We wanted to hit a note that was both retro and could be right now,” says shades-sporting co-frontman Nick Niespodziani of the synthy-smooth jam. “We wanted it to be outside of time.”

That musical mood dovetails nicely with the vibe of a group that began on a lark in 2007 and has steadily grown into an act that crisscrosses the country to play for its own devoted fans. The Atlanta septet can draw thousands of people to sing along to spot-on renditions of hits by Hall & Oates, Toto, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, and other artists whose names some in the audience have forgotten, or never knew, but whose hits have endured, such as “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl),” by Looking Glass. While there may have been an element of irony for some attendees at the beginning, the shows tend to be unabashedly joyous affairs.

Niespodziani, drummer Mark Cobb, and co-frontman Peter Olson were all in a band called Y-O-U in the early 2000s that enjoyed some regional success but ended up petering out. “We were all splitting off to do other things,” says Niespodziani. “Peter was thinking about moving to Colorado and I had started law school and we were all kind of ready for what was happening after music. Because when you’re 27 and you haven’t made it yet, you’re an ancient guy. And in the midst of that we did this one Yacht Rock show and then all of a sudden it became what it is now. We’ve got an office, and a band, and a 401k.”

Soon they will have that album of original material as well as a documentary detailing their unlikely route to success as they rose from bar band to amphitheater band.

In addition to sharing “Step,” the group also curated the ultimate Yacht Rock Spotify playlist for EW, and we chatted with Niespodziani about the band’s step toward original songwriting and mixing up the smooth classics in their set.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You’ve finally decided to make original music, again. How much anxiety do you have about fan reception since they’re used to you playing songs they love? NICK NIESPODZIANI: We played it for the first time at our big Atlanta show in August at Chastain Park Amphitheater in front of 7,000 people. I was pretty nervous because all these songs that we play, everybody knows every word. Like, every song we play would be the encore for whatever artist it is that we’re covering. So how do you put up a song that people have never heard before, at all, against those songs? I was originally super nervous about it, but our fans really surprised me. I expected everybody to leave for the bathroom or the bros to start booing. But they stayed and they got into it, and the reception everywhere we’ve been with it has been awesome. People are into it. So I’m much less nervous now than I was before.

The album itself is not a “yacht rock” record but is obviously in a similar wheelhouse and has a cheeky humor to it. Do you get the sense that you’ve built up enough goodwill from the fans since you’ve been playing for so long that they’re open to original songs? Yeah, and I’ve noticed, especially over the last three or four years, when we go places, whether it’s the people at the venue or the fans that we’ve talked to, they treat us like artists. In the beginning, I felt like a glorified stripper where people just wanted to pull my hair and see if it was real and it was more of a novelty thing. But now I feel like we’ve earned that respect from our fans and they’re open to it, or at least they have been so far. I’m hoping that that streak continues.

How did you decide that now was the time for you guys to try this? I was kind of going through my midlife crisis checklist, choices like “I could wreck a red sports car” or “I could have an affair with a busty nurse.” And I was like, “You know what I really should do is make an album with my ’70s soft rock band.” So we threw the idea around and were like, “Why not try it,” talking about that goodwill we built up with our fans. The cool thing for me especially is that I’ve made a lot of records over the years, little side projects that had no budget and no hope for people to hear them. And this experience has been the opposite of that. We were able to get an incredible producer and make a cool video all with the power of the Yacht Rock machine that we’ve built behind it. And it’s been really inspiring and fun.

Who produced it? Ben Allen, he’s from here in Atlanta. He produced Walk The Moon and Animal Collective’s big records and he just did the new Kaiser Chiefs record, which is [a hit] in the UK right now. He did Gnarls Barkley. He’s a close friend of mine and I was kind of nervous, even though we hang out and go to the gym together, to ask him about making a record with Yacht Rock because I thought there would be this stigma because he produces Deerhunter and all these super hipster bands. And he was immediately like, “Yeah, let’s do it. That sounds really fun.”

A song like “Step” could probably slip into your sets with relative ease since it has that blue-eyed soul falsetto thing happening that spans from disco, like a sliver of Giorgio Moroder, to a group like Hall & Oates to something like Beck’s song “Debra.” Yeah, we definitely leaned on more on that ’80s side of the coin, Hall & Oates and even some ’80s David Bowie and some of the synthier stuff like Giorgio Moroder. That just strikes closer to our personal taste and I think it’s easier to see how that fits in with modern music. Whereas if you make something that’s just like a Steely Dan rip, that’s really a very segmented thing off to the side.

We didn’t want to come out with something that could maybe be viewed as a novelty single for the first thing. When you’re a cover band coming out with original music, getting taken seriously is the first hurdle that you have to leap over. So “Step” felt like the right choice because it’s a mission statement for the whole album in a way. It’s about deciding who you want to be and making the space for that in your life.

I guess in my view everyone is putting on an act of some sort. We pretend to be these coked-up ’70 dudes, but we are who we are inside and I’m inspired by people like Lizzo and Pete Buttigieg and Puddles The Clown. It’s definitely an act that all of them are doing, but the heart of what they’re doing is true. The center of it emotionally is honest and unapologetic. And that’s what “Step” is about. And that’s what this whole album is about for us. Because we are a bunch of 40-year-old dads who are trying to make our first record that people listen to, why not just bear hug it instead of run away from it?

Do you ever think how wild it is that you all have built a career out of this, particularly since you’re not a straight tribute band of one group? All the time. It’s crazy. If you would’ve told me when we did the first show “that this is going to be your career,” I would have slapped you in the face. There’s just no way. I never imagined doing something like this. And it’s funny because I feel like in that early band, I thought music was all about what’s inside of you as an artist and that if I can find inside myself this great, soul-wrenching truth that will be the reason that I become famous and whatever. And I think over the years with Yacht Rock — grudgingly at first — I started to realize that music is actually about the shared experience and being there in the room together, having fun, and just escaping from life for a while. And I feel like it’s been this 11-year penance that I’ve gone through, and now I’ve come out on the other side and I have a completely different view of what music is and what it should be. That’s what inspired this record and it makes me so happy to do what I do now.

Which is funny on one level because probably for 90 percent of what you’re performing, the original artist is sick to death of playing that song. But you all have now performed some of these songs so many times that it is entirely possible that you are as sick of singing something like “Africa” as Toto is. And yet you always legitimately seem like you are having fun. It’s funny you mention “Africa.” That’s the only song we have to play at every show. And I think it kind of goes through waves. It’s like a Saturday Night Live joke where they keep repeating the same thing and it gets really monotonous and not funny. And then if you repeat it for long enough, it becomes funny again. It got to where it got old for a while and now it’s really fun to sing that song, even though I’ve probably sung it 2,000 times, literally. It’s not a problem.

Coldplay has to sing “Yellow” every night no matter what. There are five or six other songs they have to sing every night no matter what. We don’t have to do that. We have thousands of songs to choose from. So, in some ways, it’s been a blessing that we can stay fresher because we can always change out songs and add new songs.

Let’s talk about this playlist. You have a pretty wide range here, including yacht rock staples like Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgettin'” but also songs from Lake Street Dive and “Juice” by Lizzo. How do you all even define yacht rock now? For me, yacht rock is more of a vibe and an energy than necessarily “soft rock music made in Los Angeles between 1976 and 1984.” It’s more about when the song comes on, does it put a smile on your face in the first 10 seconds? If you use that as your first barrier to entry, then what can be considered yacht rock becomes a lot more wide. If you’re out cruising on your boat on Saturday afternoon, what’s going to feel good?

“Juice” is going to feel good. Yeah. And it feels like the transition from “I Keep Forgettin'” into “Juice” doesn’t feel like a hard left turn. It feels natural. I guess our perspective is that people are going to need yacht rock now and in the future, and what it can be is a lot wider than the strict dictionary definition. Lake Street Dive, they’re a genre-bender for me. I think that they have a lot of different influences. And again, it’s the positive energy behind it is what makes it yacht rock.

How did you pick the classic ones to intersperse in there? We wanted to make sure that anybody who hasn’t gotten familiar with the yacht rock yet — which I don’t know who that might be at this stage — got a good dose of the healthy vitamins of what real, 100-percent yacht rock is. So we picked the ones that felt right to us and then also had something in common with our record.

You’re in your forties now. Is this sustainable? Can you do this until you retire? That’s a great question. If “Bad Tequila” [from the upcoming album] ends up being like “Steal Away” was for Robbie Dupree, then I definitely can. That’s what this move is, just to see if we could have one song that makes people feel the same way that I felt when I danced with my wife to “Steal Away” at my wedding. And I’ve talked to Robbie about that. And he has this relationship with that song where he got tired of it and he loves it again. But for us, in the next 20 years, I don’t want to get morbid about it, but a lot of these bands that we love and the classic rock artists are going to age out of touring. And there’s going to be a void there and I hope that we will be positioned to help fill it. It’s weird to think about but it is true. It gives us a little bit of job security.

In the last few years, several other bands in this vein have popped up. How do you feel about that? I imagine it’s hard to be mad about other cover bands when you’re a cover band. It’s great that this music has become so popular and imitation is finest form of flattery, right? So when I see these bands doing our dance moves, or wearing the sailor outfits like we used to 10 years ago or adding the same songs to their setlists, that’s cool. Part of me wants to say, “Go get your own unoriginal idea.” But like you said, there’s no honor among thieves, really. So it’s fine. I got nothing but love for any of them. I think what we do stands on its own.

Yacht Rock Revue will hit the road for the Hot Dads in Tight Jeans tour Jan. 9 and will be pulling into ports across the country, from Boston to Los Angeles.

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Yacht Rock Revue      

• Wed Jan 24, 2024 at 7:30PM Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at 7:30PM Buy Now

What is left for YACHT ROCK REVUE to prove? This top-notch group of musicians has already rocked onstage with John Oates, Eddie Money (RIP), and both versions of the band Player. They’ve trademarked the term “yacht rock,” both metaphorically and literally (U.S. Registration Number 3834195). From humble beginnings in a basement, touring in partnership with Live Nation and Sirius XM, they now headline sold-out shows across the country, from Webster Hall in New York to the Wiltern in L.A. While rising from bars to amphitheaters, they’ve ticked every box on the Rock Star Accomplishments bingo card. Except for one: Writing and singing their own songs. Yacht Rock Revue’s first original record is ten songs inspired by the smoooooth sounds of the Seventies and Eighties. They’ve brazenly titled it Hot Dads In Tight Jeans – forgive them for bragging, but that’s what they are – and it returns Yacht Rock Revue to their roots in original music

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Set sail on a nostalgic, soft rock musical journey through the late 70s and early 80s. More More

Set sail on the shimmering seas for a nostalgic musical journey through the late 70s and early 80s, where soft rock and smooth grooves rule the waves. This talented group with exceptional musicianship and tight harmonies pays homage to the golden era of yacht rock and takes audiences back in time, encouraging everyone to sing and dance the night away.

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Yacht Rock Revue

Yacht rock revue concert setlists & tour dates, reverse sunset tour, yacht rock revue at brown county music center, nashville, in, usa.

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Yacht Rock Revue at Clyde Theatre, Fort Wayne, IN, USA

Yacht rock revue at ruth eckerd hall, clearwater, fl, usa, yacht rock revue at coral springs center for the arts, coral springs, fl, usa.

• It Keeps You Runnin'
• Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
• Somebody's Baby
• Breezin'
• Sister Golden Hair
• Southern Cross
• Thunder Island

Yacht Rock Revue at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota, FL, USA

Yacht rock revue at florida theatre, jacksonville, fl, usa.

• Breezin' / Guilty
• Give a Little Bit

Yacht Rock Revue at Columbia County Performing Arts Center, Evans, GA, USA

• Your Smiling Face

Yacht Rock Revue at House of Blues, Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA

• Dancing in the Moonlight
• Do It Again
• Lonesome Loser
• Heart to Heart

Yacht Rock Revue at Coca-Cola Roxy, Atlanta, GA, USA

• Deck the Halls
• What a Fool Believes
• You Make My Dreams
• Jingle Bell Rock
• Frosty the Snowman
• Sleigh Ride

Yacht Rock Revue at Township Auditorium, Columbia, SC, USA

• Ride Like the Wind
• Raspberry Beret
• Night Fever
• Bette Davis Eyes
• Lido Shuffle
• Smooth Operator
• Biggest Part of Me
• Baker Street

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Most played songs

• Baker Street ( 130 )
• Africa ( 128 )
• Somebody's Baby ( 106 )
• Escape (The Piña Colada Song) ( 104 )
• Heart to Heart ( 104 )

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Artists covered

10cc 38 Special ABBA Ace Air Supply Ambrosia America Leroy Anderson & His Pops Orchestra Gene Autry Russ Ballard Band Aid Bessie Banks The Beatles Bee Gees The Bellamy Brothers George Benson Elvin Bishop Blue Öyster Cult Blues Image Boffalongo Boston David Bowie Jackson Browne Jimmy Buffett Bobby Caldwell Chicago Climax Blues Band Phil Collins Commodores Crosby, Stills & Nash Christopher Cross Daft Punk Jackie DeShannon The Doobie Brothers Robbie Dupree Eagles Earth, Wind & Fire Dave Edmunds Walter Egan Electric Light Orchestra Exile José Feliciano Jay Ferguson Firefall Fleetwood Mac Dan Fogelberg Foreigner Peter Frampton Dallas Frazier Peter Gabriel

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336 people have seen Yacht Rock Revue live.

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