Best Local Groove/Jam Act

High Water Moon

When you think of a jam band, chances are some kind of Grateful Dead-inspired guitar noodling comes to mind, which is certainly not the case with the somewhat bluesy, definitely ballsy High Water Moon. Much like the Allman Brothers defined what it means to improvise while still retaining some teeth, High Water Moon's psychedelic ramblings are of the brown acid, bad-trip variety -- rather than the elevator muzak Jerry and the boys dished out. Besides the Allmans, the group also conjure up aspects of Derek and the Dominoes, Albert King, Luther "Houserocker" Johnson, the Black Crowes, and Little Feat. HWM's chief songwriter and vocalist Mike O'Connell's 18-month stint touring with the Radio Kings has also rubbed off, as his phrasing is akin to King's frontman Mike Dinallo's. Which is to say that High Water Moon are a tight foursome who are able to cherry pick from a variety of influences equally vital to their sound, and mash it together in a big rock sandwich. It also doesn't hurt that the band members spent the better part of the past decade playing alongside one another in various outfits. Hot Box Shuffle beget the Hell Hounds (with the Henchmen thrown in somewhere) beget the new-and-improved High Water Moon. The chemistry between the boys is obvious at live gigs, and it's an infectious energy that keeps the bar crowd going. They groove, you grind, and everything's okay with the world again, at least for one evening.

-- John O'Neill