ENTERTAINMENT: Yacht Rock Revue, touching down in the DC metro area, with hot summer concerts

July 11, 2024

By AnnMarie Akpan, Staff Writer

Photos: Courtesy of Yacht Rock Revue

Yacht Rock Revue, hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, has become synonymous with the smooth, melodic sounds of late ’70s and early ’80s yacht rock. Known for their captivating performances and nostalgic hits, the band has garnered a dedicated following. They are the opening act for Train at Jiffy Lube Live on August 6th in the DC metro area. DC Spotlight’s reporter AnnMarie Akpan had the pleasure of sitting down with Nicholas Niespodziani, the lead singer of Yacht Rock Revue, to discuss their journey, their unique genre choice, and what fans can look forward to in the future.

Annmarie: Today I’m here with Nicholas, the lead singer of Yacht Rock Revue. How’s it going today?

Nicholas: Great, a little bit tired. I’m learning how to sleep on a tour bus, but otherwise, doing great.

Annmarie: Welcome to DC Spotlight and thank you for coming out! There are so many questions I want to ask you! So, I’m going to start off with, how did you guys land as an opening act for Train? Do you guys know the band members of Train?

Nicholas: Yeah, we’ve had the good fortune to know Train for a while. We’ve done a series of music cruises with them, which is basically like a floating music festival. And we connected with them on the first one of those. I think they saw what we do, and they really enjoyed it and we linked up. Since then, we’ve partied together and now we’re touring together.

Annmarie: That sounds so fun! So what made you guys choose the yacht rock genre to focus on?

Nicholas: I would say it’s more that the yacht rock genre chose us. We weren’t setting out to make a yacht rock band. We’re just doing a one-off show back in 2007, and it sold out and then the next show sold out. Then all of a sudden everybody’s quitting their jobs, and we’re buying vans and trailers and starting a business. Here we are. Crazy!

Annmarie: Yeah, I know. It’s so crazy. So what year did you guys start? Was it 2007? Or was it earlier?

Nicholas: 2007 was our first show. Now Peter, the other singer and I, have known each other since elementary school in Columbus, Indiana. We started bands together in high school, and we had an Indie Rock band in Atlanta before yacht rock. So the history of the group is quite deep.

Annmarie: Okay, wow! Really cool! Can you tell us how Yacht Rock Revue was formed and how did the band members come together?

Nicholas: Yes, so Peter and I had that other Indie rock band, and we did the first yacht rock show. We were trying to choose like, the best guitar player, the best bass player and the best sax player. They all said yes and that’s basically how it happened.

Annmarie: Wow, that’s so cool. So how did you become the lead singer and was there like a vote?

Nicholas: (Laughs) So the rock songs, a lot of them are very high and difficult to sing. So you must be a high tenor. You have to have a pretty, pretty impressive range to pull off Michael McDonald, Stevie Wonder, and Hall and Oates. It’s in all the singers that we do. So, it was kind of by default, because I was the guy that had the range that could reach all those guys.

Annmarie: So are you a baby boomer? Which generation are you in? What’s it like singing some of the greatest hits in America, and do you have any favorites [or]favorite artists?

Nicholas: So I was born in ’79. So I’m kind of in between Generation X and Millennial actually. And I would say, I kind of identify half and half with each generation. So some of the songs I knew growing up. Others, I just learned as the band started to learn them. Like, I had never heard “Escape: The Pina Colada Song” before. I learned it for this band, which I think is amazing, because now I hear it in every grocery store and CVS that I go into. So yeah, once again, kind of backed into it, but here we are.

Annmarie: So you have ten members of your group. So let’s see if I can, name all of them. So, there’s Nicolas, which is you, Peter, Mark, second Mark, David, Keisha, Kourtney, Jason, and Ganesh. I’ll bet you guys have a lot of fun on the road. So can you share any memories or funny moments that you guys had on tour?

Nicholas: You missed Greg and Dave. Yeah, I think that’s all of them. It’s hard to keep track when they’re ten. Yeah, we’ve had some epic moments on the road. One particularly memorable moment, we all went out drinking in Cabo in Mexico. [We] got separated and ended up, you know, Peter and I are in the cage elevated above a dance club, like dancing [at]two o’clock in the morning. Dave is in some hospital in the outskirts of Cabo, emailing everyone trying to find his way back. He was fine. He just had taken a bus, on accident, all the way out to the end of Cabo. So yeah, we’ve had some wild moments.

Annmarie: Oh, my goodness! So what do you and your band do during your down time?

Nicholas: You know, man, so I spend a lot of time with my kids during down time. I write a lot of songs. What I like to do is spend time in the studio writing and producing. I produced a record for an acapella group called “Straight No Chaser” last year, and produced an album for our friend to underscore John Driskell Hopkins from the Zac Brown Band last year. So lots of music, lots of kids, a little bit of hiking, you know, pretty normal life actually.

Annmarie: Yeah, that’s actually pretty cool. So, what are your plans for the future of Yacht Rock Revue, and are there any upcoming projects, tours or collaborations fans should be excited about. Also, how can your fans stay connected with you on social media?

Nicholas: Oh, yeah, we’re all over the gram (Instagram) the Facebook and the TikTok and all those things. You just look up Yacht Rock Revue, and we’re right there. In terms of what we’re excited about, we’ve just finished a new double album called “Escape Artist,” and it comes out in November. We are releasing singles from it right now. I think there are a couple out as of the recording of this interview. So if fans want to get on Spotify and check out our music, we’ve been writing and recording our own songs. I think they’re pretty awesome.

Annmarie: That’s pretty cool. Well, it was great talking to you today, Nicolas, and I really hope you enjoy the rest of your day. I hope I get to see you guys next month for August.

Nicholas : Yeah, thanks for having me. Come on out DC. Yes. Thank you!