I checked out Mama Love and The Motivators this weekend – I had been looking forward to hearing them for a while, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Mama Love is Kendal Bush, a charismatic, gorgeous goof ball who takes great command of the room. It’s hard to take your eyes off her. She fronts a band made up of some of the best musicians in these parts – Mickey Maguire and his amazing beard on Bass Guitar, Craig Farrington on Lead and Rhythm Guitar, and on this night, the Great Leroy Pina on Drums. The band was tight, and looked like they were having a blast.

Kendal belted, growled and purred her way through sexy blues tunes, sassy funk tunes and some really great classic rock stuff, along with a few surprises. I didn’t expect to hear Tainted Love – but I did – and I loved it! Kendal’s patter during The Sky Is Crying took the song to a whole new level, and her rendition of I’d Rather Go Blind was heart aching, in all the right ways.

This is a band I’ll go see again. A strong, likable singer fronting a top notch band and performing songs I love to hear done well. The sound mix was good, but I think I would have liked Kendal’s voice to be a little more up front, that’s just a personal bias because I enjoyed her sound.

You can find Mama Love and The Motivators At mamaloveband.com, and you can check out some of their live recordings on YouTube.

Peace,

Cat

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