Shippensburg residents ordered burritos with a side of blues at Polly and Stone Thursday night.
The family-owned restaurant Polly and Stone welcomed the New York Skyla Burrell Band to entertain foodies and music fans alike at their first-ever “Burritos and Blues” event on Thursday night.
Skyla Burrell led the pack with Mark Tomlinson (MT) on electric guitar, Charlie Hilbert on bass guitar and Ezell Jones on drums.
While blues music tends to be depressing as its name suggests, Skyla Burrell Band brought an unusual upbeat atmosphere. Burrell dominated the show with her fiery voice and feisty energy.
Despite Burrell’s powerful voice, the instruments played a role as well. In the middle of the songs Burrell would go silent as listeners were taken on a voyage in their wandering minds. The spell from the guitars and drum set were unrestrictive like typical words.
At one point in the show, Burrell and MT moved their guitars against each other so that MT was playing Burrell’s. The two had great chemistry and continuously did a call and response with their guitars.
One song Skyla Burrell Band performed was “Trouble” from their latest album, “Blues Scars.” It discussed the issue of running into a “bad boy.”
“When he looks like trouble, Walks like trouble, Talks like trouble, That mannnnn is nothing but trouble,” Burrell sang.
Throughout the evening, Polly and Stone employees floated in and out to serve attendees everything from pizza to tater tots. The restaurant even served a special crab dip for the event.
Skyla Burrell Band formed in 2002 when Burrell and MT joined forces. The duo recorded four albums with original songs they both wrote. Their first album, “Working Girls Blues,” was released in 2004 and gave MT an honorable mention in the 14th Annual Billboard Songwriting Contest for his song “Bad Dream.”
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