By Jackie Moe
Cool weather may still be in play, but Los Angeles-based Yachtley Crew will bring the summer feels to Anaheim for an evening of west coast rock-and-roll tunes and sailing attire.
Currently on tour with a residency at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas through December, the fun rock group will make their to the City National Grove of Anaheim on March 3. Yachtley Crew recently signed a record deal with Jimmy Buffett’s Mailboat Records, with a new album set for release in Spring 2023.
The band released their first original single “Sex on the Beach,” mixed by Chris Lord Alge, and are set to release a new video soon.
How was the Yachtley Crew formed?
Like many great things, Yachtley Crew, it was formed by the answering of a personal ad on Craigslist. In the fall of 2016, our drummer, Sailor Hawkins and our bass player Baba Buoy decided to put out the search for other musicians who had the same love and appreciation for yacht rock. That personal ad brought us all together to form what has been our primary passion and focus for the past nearly 7 years. Each one of us have been lifelong professional musicians, involved in various bands and projects throughout the past 30 years. But something about the magic of all of us coming together around this one project, made it something truly special that people seem to really respond to.
What are your favorite tunes to perform live?
That’s a challenging question to answer because of the over 110 songs in our repertoire, we truly love them all. I, (Lead Singer) Philly Ocean, particularly love songs by Kenny Loggins, Toto, and Hall & Oates. Probably one of my favorites is Heart to Heart. One of the most fun things about our show is that we try to strike a balance between honoring the original recordings of these iconic songs, while also bringing our own style. From Sailor Hawkins rocking out on songs like Reelin’ In the Years and Africa, Tommy Buoy’s ripping guitar solos, Baba Buoy’s smooth Bass Lines, Pauly Shores roaring sax solos, Matthew McDonald’s medleys on the keys and Stoney Shores antics behind the synths, we all have our chance to shine.
What is your Grove in Anaheim audience going to experience?
If they have never been to see us before, we hope they are in for one of the best shows they will ever see. That’s truly what we strive for. Every show we make an effort to leave it all on the stage and give our best to our fans. That’s one of the things that makes it so rewarding. For our fans who have seen us before, they know what we do, and they love being a part of the fun, which is why they show up wearing captains, hat and sailor outfits. Oh, and they know every single word to every single song and they don’t hesitate to shout it out. Whether you’ve been to see us before or this is your first show, just come prepared to have a great time and probably drink a fair amount, lol.
What has been your favorite on stage experience so far? We have had the honor of sharing the stage with some truly great musicians since starting Yachtley Crew. We’ve had Elliot Lurie from Looking Glass, Peter Beckett, from Player, and even Nick Hexum from 311 all join us on stage. One of the fun things about playing a residency in Hollywood, is you never know who is going to show up. We have had celebrity fans like Craig Robinson, Mario Lopez, Baba Buoy from Howard Stern and Redfoo from LMFAO all in the crowd singing their favorite Yacht Rock songs.
What upcoming projects or albums is the crew working on? We are currently finishing our first EP that we have been recording with legendary music industry engineer and mixer, Chris Lord-Alge. The record will be out on Mailboat Records, owned by Jimmy Buffett in the next few months. It’s going to have five yacht rock favorites and one original song and it sounds truly awesome. We are so proud to share this EP with our fans.
Yachtley Crew
8 p.m. Saturday, March 3
City National Grove of Anaheim
For more info: https://www.citynationalgroveofanaheim.com/events/detail/yachtley-c=ew
