Ravinia 2021 - Issue 2

WILL BYINGTON Story continues on page 30 High-Water Mark Yacht Rock Revue casts off on tour with a bright North Star By Tricia Despres FIVE-YEAR-OLD Nick Niespodziani rarely went anywhere without his Fisher Price AM/FM player by his side. Coming from its low budget, bright blue speakers came the songs of everyone from Michael Jack- son to Neil Diamond, serving up a soundtrack to a rather sweet life. “I loved his song ‘Heartlight,’ ” the Yacht Rock Revue co-frontman tells Ravinia Magazine about the Diamond classic that would hit the top of the adult contemporary charts in 1982, the same year that brought us the birth of Prince William, the death of John Belushi, and the arrival of the almighty computer. “Listening to that song now, it sounded pretty yachty , you know?” Yacht rock —it’s a term that has been used and reused, a term that has been somewhat understood but frequently confused, a term that brings with it a slew of different feel- ings from those who essentially find shelter within it from the reality of the present time. And it’s a form of music that Yacht Rock Revue has built an impressive career on. “This is the music of my child- hood, you know?” Niespodziani says with a passion that routinely comes out during his renditions of the most overly emotional songs of the ’70s and ’80s. “For us, yacht rock is more of a mood and a lifestyle than it is a genre. When you come to see us play”—as rock lovers can do at Ravinia on July 31—“you’re going to hear Steely Dan and Ambrosia, but we might throw in a Whitney Houston or a Queen song in there too. Who knows?” It’s this rather haphazard, hap- py-feeling playlist featuring the un- forgettable melodies of artists such as Daryl Hall & John Oates, Toto, Kenny Loggins, and Christopher Cross that fans of the seven-member Yacht Rock Revue can’t get enough of. “Our job is to get people together and have a lot of fun,” Niespodziani says. “If we are really strict about what this is, then it isn’t Yacht Rock. We like to keep it wide in terms of definition.” Granted, the members of the At- lanta-based Yacht Rock Revue never set out to become the legends that they are quickly becoming. Originally, Niespodziani, drummer Mark Cobb, and co-frontman Peter Olson were simply an indie rock band from Indi- ana University by the name of Y-O-U that got their start back in the early 2000s playing everything from pop to psychedelic music, but they never RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 24 – AUGUST 15, 2021 22