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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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The Rule: One groove to rule them all
Thursday 03 August @ 15:16:43 |
 by Dwight Hobbes
 When Wain McFarlane, guitar virtuoso of Ipso Facto and Wain McFarlane & Jahz renown, discovers somebody, apparently he doesn’t fool around, as evidenced by the highly promising arrival of one The Rule aka Ryan Liestman, a singer-songsmith-keyboardist who basically has “can’t miss” stamped all over him. In block letters.
At only 23, Liestman, who was under McFarlane’s wing at 15, has bolted out of the gate with a killer CD and a choice gig, opening for Cyndi Lauper on a three-month tour in the fall. The only person harder to track down than Wain McFarlane for an interview is probably the notoriously elusive Prince. Liestman, however, was easy enough to get ahold of and readily agreed to meet at Bunker’s. The Rule (Liestman plus backup band) is midway into the vintage-soul sound of “See You Again” off the album. Talk about the night getting off to a good start. When the band takes a break, Liestman and I confer at the bar. “I had always been singing in the comfort of my own home,” he recalls. “But Wain pushed me to sing with him at his shows. I would sit in for a song or two several times a week. Once I started doing it regularly, I couldn’t stop. Eventually, Wain started hiring me to play keyboards and sing. Wain helped produce my first demo. It came time to shop that demo to labels and who better to shop it than Wain’s younger brother Micah.” Micah McFarlane just happens to be Lauper’s tour manager. Say what you may about nepotism; in this instance, it serves a just end: Liestman has chops to burn. Brandishing a mix of reggae and R&B, his material is remarkably fresh, delivered with a vocal style that is about as smooth as smooth gets.
And the quality is, to say the least, consistent. His self-titled CD, from opening
to closing cut, has no filler. It’s rich with smart hooks, inventive chord
progressions and melodies that stay with you long after you’re done listening.
 Take
the serenade “Darling Eyes.” By the time Liestman is done entreating
the lady of his desires, you want to enjoin, “Come on girl, give the boy
a break.” Echoing Bob Marley’s “Stir It Up” while artfully
avoiding mimicry, this is heat laid back as the islands themselves. And there’s
the breezy, classic-style soul jam “High Heels.” When homeboy croons
at the chorus, “She’s so bad when I see her/ In her high-heeled
shoes/ I catch myself staring at her the whole night through/ Will you wear
your white dress/ and some of your high-heel shoes,” the coldest ice-queen
must melt. The whole album goes on like that, full of heartfelt music that hits
and sticks. Ryan readily states, “Music is the most important thing in
my life aside from family and friends. I love to listen to all kinds of music
from many different times. Nothing is more fulfilling to me than writing and
performing music.” Not hard to believe at all.
Enlisted in The Rule’s endeavors is Liestman’s cut-running buddy,
tasty guitarist Jeff Love. “Jeff is the only other full-time member of
the band. If you see The Rule live, he’ll be playing guitar.” Accordingly,
Love is sold on Liestman. “I teamed up with Ryan,” Jeff says, “because
I really believe in the material. His songs are well-written and fun to play.
Moreover, we work well together and … complement one another. Being good
friends before the onset of this project made it [easy] to be honest with each
other, which is important if you want to get anything done.”
There’ll be detractors. It’s inevitable, especially among chronic
undergrounders and pseudo-hip know-it-alls who’ll diss The Rule’s
pop-tinged commercial appeal as sacrilege. Some will deride Ryan Liestman as
a throwback to the ’80s flash-in-the-pan Color Me Badd. The more snide
may snicker about him being a white Stevie Wonder. The fact that he’s
pretty, with blue eyes and blond dreadlocks won’t be lost on them. As
if there oughta be a law against having strong chops and being popular at the
same time. Said cynics herewith are referred to Mint Condition front man Stokley.
After Liestman left me at the bar, he milled around, hung out and then went
back onstage, starting his second set at the behest of some determinedly insistent
person in the crowd. I had to go home and get to work. Turns out, after I left,
Stokely dropped in from across the street, where he was drumming with Mint spin-off
Joto, and sat in with The Rule. Let the naysayers chew on that. Personally,
I wished I’d have had some warning. Sure would’ve loved to stay
around for that. ||
The Rule does Bunker’s
every Tuesday night. 9:30 p.m. $5. 21+. 761 N. Washington Ave., Mpls. 612- 338-8188.
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