One man bands and Shakey Graves

I am not sure about you, but when I hear the term ‘one-man band’, I think of something like this:

or this:

Interesting – yes. Requiring a great deal of talent – yep! Fun – yebo! But cool – not so much. But then along came Shakey Graves with his kickdrum fashioned out of a suitcase, drum heads and bass drum pedals. Wow – what talent! I have been showing him to everyone who will listen to me and they are all converted after listening for a minute or two. Shakey you are a real star!

Now tell me this isn’t cool:

It may be because he is young and good looking but he is also very very good.  Shakey Graves is the stage name of  25-year old Alejandro Rose-Garcia from Austin, Texas.

Arden Ward writes of Graves: The true beauty in Shakey Graves as a performer is his ability to captivate an audience with subtleties. Armed only with a guitar, a soulful voice, and a kick drum fashioned from an old suitcase, his performance is not that of the passive singer-songwriter. From the moment the first drum beat sounds, you’re consumed by the experiential nature of his music.