As the fall music season kicks off at Bellingham’s New Prospect Theatre (NPT), the venue continues to present music that’s intriguing, creative, and unique. On a recent weekday evening, the Marty O’Reilly Trio treated an appreciative audience to songs steeped in traditional delta blues, folk, and gospel while simultaneously conveying a contemporary vibe.

Blues, jazz, and gospel legend Odetta Holmes said, “The blues is celebration, because when you take sorrow and turn it into music, you transform it.” That is precisely what O’Reilly does with his music. From the moment he stepped onstage at the NPT and began playing that gorgeous resonator guitar, one could almost sense the room grow smaller and more intimate. We were indeed transformed on Sept. 10.

Opening with “Firmament” (from his 2018 release, Stereoscope), O’Reilly and his bandmates — Kyle Turek (drums) and Jeff Kissell (standup bass) — served notice that this would be a powerful night of music. The song began with a delicately finger-picked folk melody and O’Reilly’s soft, expressive vocals, but ultimately grew in intensity and volume. It is a song that speaks musically to dual sides of the human condition: soft, tender, understated, soon succumbing to the messiness of real life: loud, intense, and chaotic.

Watch “Firmament” performed live by Marty O’Reilly at the Volcan Theater Pub in 2017 via YouTube:

O’Reilly’s vocals come from someplace deep inside his gut, and heart. Imagine a combination of Van Morrison’s Irish lilt with Tom Waits’s romantic growl, and you’ll get an idea of O’Reilly’s vocal range. Following the opening song, O’Reilly introduced “Lightning Gonna Catch Me” as loosely based on Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning.” Performing both songs together gave the audience a taste of Marty’s bluesy, powerful voice.

See Marty O’Reilly perform “Lightning’s Gonna Catch Me Here” live during the Tomboy Sessions in Santa Cruz via YouTube:

Watch Marty O’Reilly & the Old Soul Orchestra perform “Smokestack Lightning” live at the Norwich Arts Centre.

Marty’s vocals again took centerstage on the two softer, acoustic numbers during his solo set midway through the concert. “Dreaming of Home” and the brand-new tune, “Better World” revealed a deeper, folkier side to his music. When Turek and Kissell returned to the stage, the trio ran through a few selections from O’Reilly’s catalog: “Cocoon” (from 2014’s Pray for Rain), “Lighthouse,” from the latest release, Signal Fires (2020), and “Left for the Wolves/Shudder” from the 2015 EP, Preach ‘Em Now. The main set concluded with “Jonestown,” another song from Signal Fires, again featuring Marty’s forceful and emotional vocals.

Stream Signal Fires by Marty O’Reilly on Spotify:

Eschewing the traditional encore, Marty instead invited the audience to join him and his band in front of the stage where they performed in truly unplugged fashion, surrounded by the enthusiastic crowd. The final song, “Samson and Delilah,” hewing close to Reverand Gary Davis’s (and Reverand T.E. Weems before him) original recording was nearly unrecognizable at first until the phrase, “If I had my way…” By channeling Lightning Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf, and, yes, the Grateful Dead, O’Reilly follows in a long line of artists whose music honors tradition with contemporary and forward-looking intent.

Listen to the traditional version of “Samson and Delilah” by Reverend Gary Davis via YouTube:

On his website, Marty states, “I started playing music as medicine for myself to feel good and digest some melancholy. Over time, I realized if music makes me feel good, the people around me who become a part of it will feel good too.” Experiencing Marty O’Reilly turn “sorrow into music” proved yet again that celebrating the blues is good medicine.

Marty will be touring across the country ending up on the East Coast in November. Check out his schedule (and music) on his website here.

Here are some more photos of the Marty O’Reilly Trio performing at Bellingham’s New Prospect Theatre on Sept. 10, 2024. All photos courtesy of and copyright Mark Caicedo.