- Bryon Harris
Bay Station Band – ‘Look but Don’t Touch’
Bay Station Band is an Americana group that was born from two California artist. A California native, Deborah Crooks' lyric-driven and soul-wise music draws on folk, rock, Americana and the blues. Kwame Copeland is a Wyoming raised songwriter and guitarist who was raised in a musical family and steeped himself in Dylan before heading to California to craft his own story-telling sound. Bay Station Band was born out of a songwriting challenge where the two musicians found themselves combining their talents with help from their musical companions. The group is now getting ready to release their second 10-song project which will be titled, ‘Other Desert Cities.’ Their single “Look but Don’t Touch” gives an exciting look into what is to come from their new album.
The song kicks off with three huge chords from electric guitar before the drums enter leading into the full energetic arrangement of layers of bouncy guitar and bass as the verse begins. Deborah enters singing, “Gal waving a sign at the triple-X store/“Business is slow this year” they say at the door/Lost in the desert of course you’ll look twice/Found in the desert you better play nice,” as she sets the scene for the story with her raw earthy vocals making for an engaging experience for listeners.
“Look but Don’t Touch” tells the imagined story of the life of a stripper living and working in a small town in the Mojave Desert. The song was inspired by a woman they saw while on a writing retreat in Joshua Tree. Standing outside of an adult entertainment store waving a sign that said “XXX.” As they transition into the chorus, they sing, “You can stay all night long/You can look but don’t touch/Yeah I like you but don’t get me wrong/I don’t want to like you too much,” with light vocal harmony as they give the character in the story more personality as they captivate listeners.
Bay Station Band will always deliver an engaging story for listeners to relate to making their music compelling and memorable. “Look but Don’t Touch” is just one example of their many tunes and an exciting look into their upcoming project ‘Other Desert Cities.’ Their music is available for fans on Bandcamp. For more information, make sure to check out their website.