Something new (of course) from Goodrow

Evan Goodrow

On Saturday, Evan Goodrow and Sergio Bellotti will debut their duo project at the Coppertop. Goodrow, singer and guitarist in the soul-rocking Evan Goodrow Band, and Bellotti, a drummer with several projects and instructor at Berklee College of Music, have been plotting to work together for some time, and the intimate setting of the Coppertop looked like just the type of venue for bringing the project public.

“This duo was made for a setting like that. I think the band would be too much,” says Goodrow about coming to the Coppertop after playing at a Wachusett festival with his group. “There’ll be a lot of adapting songs I do with the band and stuff happening on the spot. It’s no pre-planned.”

Goodrow will come armed with an acoustic guitar and looping pedals to create layers of sound, while Bellotti works with a battery of percussion. The show starts at 8 p.m.

Expect the sort of musical balancing act Goodrow has been performing routinely around the Northeast (and spring trips to the Caribbean), as he fuses musical adventure with solid entertainment.

“Everything has to be left brain and right brain,” he says. “You can’t do this without nurturing the creative side, but if you just turn inward you end up in your bedroom waiting for the world to come to you. Or if you just want to be an entertainer, it quickly becomes the flavor of the month. The greatest music has always been a mix.”

With his band, Goodrow has crafted a lively sound that stretches out musically into funk and soul in a tight, three-piece setting while never losing sight of catchy hooks and welcoming melodies.

Goodrow describes himself as a voracious writer, and even as well-received as his last album "Say It" was, he already sees the new material for the band pushing off into fresh directions.

“This group functions like a jazz band even through we’re not playing jazz. Everyone is intently listening to each other. There are no set lists when we play, every show changes. It keeps it fresh for us, and I think that keeps it fresh and interesting for the listeners.”

And those ideas, no doubt, inform the new duo he’ll be springing on Saturday.