LAKE HAVASU CITY — Why not steal away into the night, with cover band Yatchy by Nature at Lake Havasu’s First Friday’s event?
Fondly known as ” Captain Carl,” Carl Nelson started his journey in music at age eleven. Growing up with parents who loved to dance and sing, Nelson began taking piano lessons at age eleven and continued throughout his teen and adult life. In the 1980s, Nelson was a keyboardist and singer with the band’s current vocalist and bassist, Scotty McYachty in a separate cover band.
Playing together for almost twenty years, it was in 2016, that a specific genre of music, was now being classified as having a smooth wave vintage sound. While entertaining at a gig, Nelson recalls an audience member asking the band if they played yacht rock, a term he did not know anything about. What exactly is yacht rock? Theoretically, the term is used to describe the soft rock music produced between 1975 to 1984. Sometimes referred to as the ‘West Coast Sound,’ the expression was born when writer comedian J. D. Ryzner created a mockumentary titled Yacht Rock.
With the opening song of the film being What a Fool Believes by Michael McDonald, the inspired title for this style of music also came from the nautical terms used in famous musician’s videos, album covers, and lyrics. Because of his 1979 hit song titled Sailing, most listeners may consider McDonald’s colleague and singer Christopher Cross to be the epitome of the yacht rock sound. Knowing that this music had a big following, Nelson and McYachty made the decision that the band needed to undergo a makeover.
With McYachty already knowing guitarist Wes Coast and drummer Big Wave Dave, they both accepted invites to join the group. With a need for a third vocalist, Julie Vukojevic joined in as their singer and dancer. She even took on the stage name of Julie McCoy based on the character name of the cruise director in the 1970s and 80s television show, Love Boat. In 2018, Pacific Rim was included to add saxophone and flute to their sound.
As previous performers of Lake Havasu’s annual Xscapers Bash, the Yachty by Nature, is ready to give attendees a chance to get away from it all. “Lake Havasu is definitely a Yacht Rock town and we’ll be performing songs from bands like Captain and Tennille, Looking Glass, and Kenny Loggins,” Nelson said. Come aboard, they’re expecting you to come out and enjoy their fantastic voyage on Friday April 3 beginning at 6pm at 2101 McCulloch Blvd N. Get ready to sail away and revisit this magical era of music.
