Donnie & Steve & Rhythm & Blues
By Chris Manson April 24, 2003 Issue

Donnie Sundal sat behind his keyboard and started playing something that sounded like space age Rick Wakeman instrumental noodling. Percussionist Steve Ferry stood by behind his arsenal of drums and congas, ready for anything. And then, surprise! Sundal began to sing the old Sly and the Family Stone chart-topper—It’s a family affair...

Their inventive arrangements of familiar songs are a big part of this duo’s appeal. Donnie and Steve have been performing together since last September, when they launched their act at Soleil et Luna in Destin. Donnie and Steve currently appear at the Funky Blues Shack Thursday nights at 9:30, Bud & Alley’s in Seaside Sundays and Mondays from 8 p.m. until midnight and Saturday nights at Soleil et Luna. Sundal also appears solo at the Soleil on Wednesday evenings.

A recent set at the Funky Blues Shack began with Taj Mahal’s Fishing Blues, followed by a soulful rendition of the great Al Green ballad Let’s Stay Together. Sundal sang all of the songs and played a nice solo during Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay—a smart substitution for the famous whistling on Otis Redding’s version—while Ferry had one hand on the congas and another playing snare drum.

A Sly Stone medley incorporated Everyday People, I Want to Take You Higher and Dance to the Music. One of the greatest songs ever written, People Get Ready, followed. There was brief concern over some speaker noise, but soon the duo got back to making great music, with a percussion-driven interpretation of Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes. A song that Sundal recently learned, Feeling Good by Nina Simone, was so passionately rendered that you’d think the guy had been singing it for years.

Bill Withers’ Use Me showed off Donnie and Steve’s funky side, and the spare percussion touches on John Lee Hooker’s Crawling King Snake Blues demonstrated that Ferry can lay down the heavy beat when it’s called for, but he also knows when to pull back.

Ferry describes the duo’s sound as a mixture of “Latin music, reggae, blues and R&B with lots of jamming.”

“We run the gamut from funk and soul to more progressive music like Peter Gabriel and Radiohead,” Sundal added.

The drummer also plays vibraphone and rates Destin higher than Pensacola and Mobile in the live music department. “On any given Saturday night, you have eight or more bands within a one-mile radius,” Ferry said.

Ferry listens to a lot of jazz music, especially Miles Davis. He praised the recent DVD Calle 54, a documentary about the history of Latin jazz music. Bob Marley is also in heavy rotation, and Ferry notes that “Donnie knows about 30 of Marley’s songs.”

So far, the highlight of Ferry’s 24 year professional music career was his appearance in the movie Jaws 2. “I was the drummer in the Amity High School band,” he bragged. And the low point of his musical journey thus far? “Appearing in Jaws 2!” Ferry joked.

Sundal has made a living playing music for the last 12 years. “There are a lot of great players here. All the guys are real cool,” he said. Sundal also noted that many great musicians end up staying here once they’ve seen what the clubs in Destin have to offer. And not having to travel is a plus.

Sundal—a fan of Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Peter Gabriel-era Genesis and lots of old blues guys—is currently working on original music. He has written about 75 songs, and hopes Donnie and Steve will record and tour in the near future. (Top)

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