KJ Acoustics at the Garden Grill

On Thursday this week, on Cinco de Mayo day, KJ Acoustics performed at the Garden Grill. The two featured performers were singer Jay Burke and acoustic guitarist Keith Radonis, who does some vocals as well.

Jay and Keith are part of a larger group, named Slingshot, which was originally formed in 2009 as a four-piece alternative rock band. It has since transformed into a top-40 party band.

While typically playing two 80-minute sets, this performance featured one continuous two-and-a-half-hour set by Jay and Keith, who played in the intimate and comfortable bar area at the restaurant.

Beginning with the ever popular “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffet, Jay and Keith showed their wide repertoire by playing songs from the Beatles, Bill Withers, Nat King Cole, Journey and others. However, it was “Shut up and Dance,” by Walk the Moon, which got people up and dancing.

Slingshot, described by Jay as a “top 40 party and dance band,” actually has five members. The band members include Jay as lead singer, Keith on guitar and backup vocals, Clayton Hart on drums and vocals, Eric Johnson on keyboards, and Anthony (Boz) Bozzanca on bass, vocals and violin. Keith also doubles as the “resident rapper,” says Jay affectionately. All of the musicians also have full-time occupations besides their music careers, so they are busy people.

While Keith is an accomplished guitarist, it was Jay’s full throttled singing voice and passion which captured patron’s attention. Jay is also the band’s chief promoter, handling all their advertising, public relations and social media accounts.

When the subject of Covid-19 came up, Jay explained Slingshot had to cancel all performances from March through September 2020. KJ Acoustics was, however, able to play some outdoor shows during the summer of 2020. Finally, things began to return to normal starting with the Spring of last year. Now they are fully engaged in performing once again, and looking forward to playing outdoors with the warmer weather.

Keith and Jay played for over two hours, including well done renditions of “Can’t You See” by the Marshall Tucker band, “Wagon Wheel” by Darius Tucker and “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. The renditions were spirited and robust versions of the original tracks.

Slingshot has a professional website, slingshotjams.com, which features photos, a song list, upcoming gigs, band video, testimonials and more. KJ Acoustics also has a Facebook page.