Richard Marx & Matt Scannell: the not-so-Odd Couple

DUO - RICHARD MARX & MATT SCANNELL (of VERTICAL HORIZON)

Saturday, February 12 – 8pm.  $40

Box Office: 410.822.7299

http://www.richardmarx.com

http://www.verticalhorizon.com

What do you have when a late 80’s/early 90’s VH-1 staple teams up with a Gen X’er who’s also sold millions of albums? Why, you’ve got Duo – or more commonly known as musicians Richard Marx and Matt Scannell (of Vertical Horizon).

Richard Marx, you say? Yes, that Richard Marx. Writer of 13 #1 songs. MTV pretty boy. Let’s face it – if you’re a guy, you probably respected the man’s picture-perfect mullet, genuinely liked some of his more rocking tunes (i.e. “Don’t Mean Nothing”), and had a girlfriend that made you a mix tape with “Right Here Waiting” or “Endless Summer Nights” on it.  As for the ladies, well, he wrote the songs that made the whole world sing. The man was literally on top of the popular music world for a solid five or six years – a feat very few artists achieve.

Matt Scannell, lead singer and guitarist for Vertical Horizon, worked his way up from Georgetown University where he formed the band with classmate Keith Kane. After relocating and developing a cult following in the Boston area, the band was eventually signed to Sony Records, helping them to release the polished, radio-ready and multi-platinum Everything You Want, which included the hugely popular title track, as well as hits "You're a God" and "Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)". The band remains active and although they’ve yet to tap back into the commercial success achieved at the turn of the century, Vertical Horizon is still brought up in the same conversation as peers Tonic, Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, and Live.

Turns out the two singer-songwriters are best buds. They crossed paths somewhere along the way and realized they were big fans of each other’s catalog. The result of the partnership is Duo - beginning as an album only available for purchase on Marx’s web site, before the friends decided to take the jam session on the road in between each others’ schedules.

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Critics and concert-goers have praised Duo in unison for their tight harmonies, onstage chemistry, and completely refreshed versions of the songs that made them famous (as well as some very well-received originals). And maybe it should have been expected, with two savvy hit makers writing and performing together. But to some, the pairing may seem more of a musical ‘Odd Couple’. And while many will empathize with that line of thinking, those same doubters continue to leave Duo shows with a completely different picture, and thoroughly impressed.

So, in actuality, it’s a perfect pairing that continues to get better as the two fit in Duo shows whenever they can. The formula seems to work, too. You see, Duo is never ‘on tour’. Marx and Scannell simply book shows whenever and wherever it works into their own busy schedules. So when the two friends get together, it’s not just a tired, road-weary act that’s playing the same songs to yet another crowd in yet another town. They’ve most likely just arrived that day, separately, catching each other up on their lives, families, music, only to then continue the conversation on stage while poignantly performing a dozen or so songs of whatever they feel like playing that night.

In a nutshell, this show just may have everything you want. And wait – what’s that? Valentine’s Day is just two days later? Hmm…


-D.E. Ferraris