Keith Fertwagner Demonstrated Improvisation at its Absolute Finest Saturday Night at The Slowdown

Audrey Kay xx

I had nothing particularly special planned for an article on Saturday's show; just a regular old write-up talking a bit about each set.  While I still could have chosen to take that route, I wanted to really focus on Keith, who in my opinion was the star of the night.  It was not an easy day for him I would suppose, as two Beat Seekers members chose to leave the band not so long before the night of the gig. As the headlining band, that creates quite a difficult decision to be made; whether or not to go on with the show at all.  Honestly, could anyone really have blamed him had Keith decided to cancel altogether?  I think that would be pretty shitty if anyone did.  Some people in the place had no idea what had happened, and sat in confusion as Keith pulled out his acoustic and a chair, and no one else was in sight setting up their equipment. Keith adopted a very audacious "the show must go on" mind set, and floored the crowd with a very soul-baring, spur-of-the-moment solo performance.  He began the show visibly uneasy with such a spontaneous act, even mentioning he was "embarrassed".  After a few shots of scotch and a 25 dollar tip from a very gracious audience member, he eased up a bit and gained full confidence to perform without completely knowing where he was going with it.  Is he an amazing songwriter?  Absolutely.  Guitarist?  Even better.  But what made him stand out so much to me was his willingness to go through with it, despite all the personal shit he dealt not so long before, and that is downright commendable in my book.

I have seen the Beat Seekers before and I liked it just fine, but found it ironic that the one complaint I had for the band was completely diminished when I heard Keith on his own.  When I heard the band a couple months back, at times I became frustrated with watching their routine because you barely heard anyone besides Keith.  I like when there is a good balance between all band members, with one standing out a bit more than the others, but overall a good, steady equality of sound.  Keith, on the other hand, stole the show.  Once I got a chance to get acquainted with him he is one of the nicest, soft spoken, most humble people I have met.  So clearly, his strong presence is not a result of arrogance or cockiness.  Is it really coincidence he outshone the others by a long shot?  No, he really IS that good, and it all came clear to me Saturday night.  There are some people who do better in bands, there are some who do better on their own, and some are capable of pulling off both.  The Keith I saw in Beat Seekers was so completely atypical from the Keith unaccompanied by anyone.  He was free at that point to absorb all of the attention he deserves for being the mastermind behind the music written.  Saturday felt authentic, you felt real personality and essence intertwined with the lyrics and music itself.  It was more than just watching a great musician play and appreciating the hard work behind it.  I could feel the sensitivity and sentiment behind each song.  Even doing covers, such as The Monkees "Daydream Believer", there was a distinctive character behind it.  I love acoustic sets, and when bands change things up a bit to do an unplugged performance, I typically find enjoyment in them.  But this was different to me.  It strikes me as something he should be doing all the time.  To me, it works and appears to be his niche.  I felt that although I have seen him play before, it was like watching a brand new artist.

Keith has been around for a long time in Omaha’s music scene, mostly in various collaborative projects including the infamous Fonzarellis, Magpie Faction and The Runarounds.  On top of those developments, he has performed on numerous occasions alone, but not nearly as recognized for his singer/songwriter abilities as predominantly as a band participant.  As much as I respected his writing abilities before, I hold him in such high regard watching him play Saturday under less than advantageous circumstances.  I understand and appreciate that he likes being part of a group, and that Saturday’s show was not necessarily planned per say for him to be the only Beat Seeker on stage, but it was very well received.  The crowd was small which actually worked to his benefit, because it helped loosen him up and take the edge off a bit.  I do not know the whole story, many people probably do not except for the band themselves, but despite what the future holds for The Beat Seekers, the future holds extraordinary things for Keith.  Whether the band can come to some sort of reconciliation or not, I hope he keeps doing his original, own thing because whether he knows it or not, it is remarkable work.   What Keith did took some serious balls (okay, and maybe the liquor helped).  I thought that he approached his difficult situation with style and grace, and successfully did so, and felt he more than deserved to be recognized for it.  Hats off to you, friend.

Audrey Kay xx