Fresh off a “cool change,” Yachtley Crew will drop anchor at the Pima County Fair on Monday, April 20, and Tuesday, April 21, with a new voice at the helm — Capt. Ian.
Born Ian Ward, the frontman is an “American Idol” Golden Ticket winner who has collaborated and performed with Sir Tim Rice, Idina Menzel, Pat Benatar and Cyndi Lauper. Yachtley Crew connected with him through a mutual friend, according to guitarist Thomas Gardner Jr., otherwise known as Tommy Buoy.
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“He came in and blew us away with his vocal talent and stage presence,” Gardner said.
“His vocal range is just incredible. He can sing super high notes with a full-chest voice. His energy on stage is just infectious. He gets the crowd involved, so he makes us want to put more energy into the show for sure.”
Garner is a longtime lover of the genre, which revives soft rock and Top 40 hits from the late ’70s to the early ’80s.
“The genius part is [yacht rock bands] took the intricacies of jazz and ‘popified’ it,” he said. “Should I trademark ‘popified?’ Anyway, you know what I mean: They added catchy melodies and memorable lyrics into a 3- or 4-minute song format.
“It’s not like punk rock, the blues or country music, which is three chords and the truth. With yacht rock, it’s like 300 chords and the truth.”
The nautical-suited and captain’s-hat-clad Yachtley Crew also includes drummer Rob Jones (Sailor Hawkins), bassist Chaz Ruiz (Baba Buoy), backing vocalist Curt Clendenin (Stoney Shores), saxophone/flutist Paul Pate (Pauly Shores) and keyboardist Matt Grossman (Matthew McDonald). Jones “steers the ship,” if you will. He keeps a log of set lists from each city, so Yachtley Crew doesn’t replicate it during the next concert. Yachtley Crew returns to Arizona on Saturday, June 20, to play the Pepsi Amphitheater in Flagstaff.
“I think people who come to our shows, not knowing what to expect, leave saying, ‘Oh my gosh. I knew every song,’” Gardner said.
“The set is a lot of one-hit wonders, but also the classics. It’s amazing how, 40 years later, these songs still connect with people — and a younger generation, too.”
In 2023, Yachtley Crew released the EP “Seas the Day,” which features Boz Scaggs’ “Lido Shuffle,” Ace’s “How Long,” Robbie Dupree’s “Steal Away,” the Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love” and Christopher Cross’ “Ride Like the Wind.” The set also includes an original song, “Sex on the Beach,” which was accompanied by a video starring Mario Lopez.
Last fall’s collection, “Seas the Night,” complements it with Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love,” Ambrosia’s “Biggest Part of Me,” Pilot’s “Magic,” Toto’s “Hold the Line” and Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams.”
The single “Pain of Losing You,” written for Yachtley Crew by multi-award-winning songwriter Diane Warren. She has penned nine No. 1 and 33 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
Millennials and younger have been sucked into the hook-laden songs, thanks to Music Box: Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary,” the “Guardians of the Galaxy” soundtrack and Weezer’s “Weezer (also known as the Teal Album).”
“As a group — everyone — realizes these songs are great, too,” he said. “The songs from the ’70s and ’80s, like Michael Jackson and rock bands like AC/DC and Aerosmith, never went away. But people say, ‘Wait a minute. There’s this other type of music that has been forgotten. That’s where we come in.
“We want to be the Kiss of soft rock. Anybody can go up and play a song. But we want to go up there and entertain people. That means we have lights and dance moves and banter with the crowd. Sometimes we go into the crowd, sometimes we bring the crowd up on stage. We just want people to leave and say, ‘Wow. That as a show. It wasn’t just a band or group of guys playing music up there. It was a show.”
