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N OV E M B E R 27- D E C E M B E R 3 , 2 0 1 3
Old Souls
SOUL POWERED Left to right: Jeff Kissell, Marty O’Reilly and Chris Lynch of the Marty O’Reilly Old Soul Orchestra, who play the Black Friday American Roots Festival at Moe’s Alley Friday.
The Marty O’Reilly Old Soul Orchestra is part of a thriving local scene showcased at the Black Friday American Roots Festival BY JACOB PIERCE
W
hen Santa Cruz’s Marty O’Reilly is playing guitar on stage, he sometimes closes his eyes, loosens his jaw and starts to sway.
“I noticed it as soon as I started playing—that I make ridiculous faces when I play,” admits O’Reilly. “It was something I was self-conscious about for a while, but I came to realize the more important thing than
worrying about that is staying focused and keeping my head in the music.” Sharing his philosophy, he says, are fiddler Chris Lynch and upright bassist Jeff Kissell, the other twothirds of the Marty O’Reilly Old Soul Orchestra. “We all do funny little things when we’re playing music,” says O’Reilly. “I think people like to see that we’re so in it. We don’t really care what we look like.” Whether or not O’Reilly realizes it, basic biology
might be behind what he’s doing. And if he wants to drop his jaw low enough mid-solo to fit a country biscuit between his molars, he might be better for it. “You will never be in the zone without your jaw unhinged and your tongue relaxed,” Illinois-based life coach Jim Fannin wrote in Esquire last summer. “That's why Michael Jordan stuck his tongue out when he went to the hole. That's why A-Rod, when he's at his best, looks like he's yawning.”
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