Seated L to R: Paul Overstreet, Lara Johnston, Tom Johnston, and John Cowen.
During the Tin Pan South songwriters festival earlier this month, I had the wonderful opportunity to see in an intimate writers round at The Country in Nashville, one of the best acoustic rounds I have had the pleasure to experience. In this round were classic rock legend & The Doobie Brothers’ co-founder, Tom Johnston, his equally talented daughter, Lara Johnston, hit songwriter, Paul Overstreet, and The Doobie Brothers bassist and equally talented, John Cowen.
Highlights of this round included Tom Johnston singing his hits with The Doobie Brothers, “Long Train Coming” and “Listen To The Music”. His voice is just as strong as ever, and hope to be listening to his music for a long time coming!
Lara Johnston’s rich vocals were a breath of fresh air in the male dominated round. We needed just a LITTLE estrogen in there to break up the mix. Although, she doesn’t have any hit songs under her belt yet, I especially enjoyed her uptempo original, “Pity Party”; during which bassist, John Cowen, joined in, along with her dad, Tom Johnston, leading the crowd to clap along. Seemed like Lara had the audience in the palm of her hand throughout this one as people actually sang along with her chorus after the first pass through it. Lara clearly inherited her powerful, soulful vocals from her dad, proving that the apple never falls far from the tree. We look forward to seeing what great things will happen with her in the future with this kind of talent!
Paul Overstreet was charming and entertaining as he shared stories about his many number 1 hits. My favorite of the evening from him was his much covered ballad and hit, “Without Saying A Word”.
John Cowen’s added bass skills and soulful sound was much-appreciated, as well.
Overall, an incredible evening of music that I did not want to see end!
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