by Chris DeVille
Published: Columbus Alive,
Thursday, June 25, 2009

The Floorwalkers
10:10 p.m. Friday
Gazebo Stage
Web: thefloorwalkers.com

It would take a long shopping list to run down all the ingredients that make The Floorwalkers one of this town's most beloved bands. They're faithful students of the full spectrum of American music - pop, rock, jazz, soul, country, funk and whatever else strikes their fancy - and they integrate each shred of inspiration so deftly into their bitchin' brew that if you didn't see their youthful visages, you might think they had been doing this for decades.

Published: Columbus Alive, Thursday, July 23, 2009
By Chris DeVille

First, a note about The Floorwalkers: This band has been bouncing around town for most of this decade, but I didn't really give them the time of day until early this year, when I stumbled upon one of their weekly Wednesday night gigs at Ruby Tuesday (the Campus bar, not the chain restaurant).

I soon discovered I had been overlooking one of this town's true treasures. I rarely gravitate towards jammy, bluesy pop music, but The Floorwalkers reeled me in from the start and have continued to ingratiate themselves ever since.

Each player brings so much to their omnivorous sound, but special honors go to singer Jonathan Elliott, so magnetic even he defies frontman decorum by mostly hunching over his microphone and simply letting his formidable voice do its thing.

That thing, more specifically, is a versatile tenor that coos as well as it wails - fitting for a band that so thoroughly pillages the musical landscape from easygoing balladry ("Fly Away") to smoky dirges ("Morning Song") to effervescently energetic purebred rock ("Up the Vine").

Such sonic splendor is available weekly at Ruby's, but I encountered The Floorwalkers last Friday for a special engagement at Rumba Cafe. They were as impressive as ever, but in truth I was there to witness the next act.

MojoFlo is not quite as polished as The Floorwalkers, which makes sense seeing as these Capital kids haven't been going at it for nearly as long. Given their busy summer gig schedule, they'll likely sharpen things a bit before long.

That's not to say they disappointed Friday night; quite the opposite. It's hard to follow a band as accomplished as The Floorwalkers, but MojoFlo, despite showing their greenness, held their own.

Ostensibly, MojoFlo is a soul outfit, but they rarely conjured the same flavor from song to song. The group shifted from instrumental Latin fusion funk to show-stopping signature jam "Waiting," as much a showcase for their not-yet-fully-tapped songwriting potential as for Amber Knicole's pipes.

Horns blaring, dreadlocked keyboard player swaying with the vibe, MojoFlo continued to unfold its restless muse with a jazzy take on Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" and a chipper duet between Knicole and guitarist George Barrie.

On a song-by-song basis, this crew brought its A-game. My hope is that soon they'll find that spark that ties together all these pleasant dabblings into something breathtakingly singular. They're good; they could be great.

It might seem inconsistent to praise one band's versatility only to complain about another band jumping around with its sound. But even as I appreciate MojoFlo's adventurous spirit, I can't help thinking they're still in the process of feeling out their identity. Watching them do so should be a pleasure.

For more local music news and reviews, click to the Sensory Overload blog at ColumbusAlive.com

Published: Columbus Alive, Thursday, June 25, 2009
By Kerry Henderson

Perennial ComFest favorites The Floorwalkers hit the Gazebo Stage Friday night. In anticipation, guitarist Kerry Henderson tells Alive what albums he's obsessed with.

Beirut, "Elephant Gun EP"
I normally wouldn't consider ukuleles and accordions to be epic instruments. I stand corrected. Beirut weaves songs around single riffs intertwined in catchy horns and Zach Condon's eloquent voice. I'm enamored with their penchant for all things gypsy and European. This short EP has been in heavy rotation.

The Beatles, "Magical Mystery Tour"
This one has been a staple for me since childhood, and it only gets better as I get older. Though half the songs on this record are a collection of British-released singles, it works. To this day, it blows my mind what they were able to do with only four tracks (and full-time drug habits). This album just makes a long summer drive really come together for me.

The Band, "Music from Big Pink"
Bob Dylan really knew how to pick a backing band, huh? And it shows they picked up a thing or two from good old Bobby. They have such a loose sound that, upon further examination, turns out to be incredible musicality. And with each listen, I pick up on more and more within the lyrics. Not to mention that I've been listening to Robbie Robertson's guitar playing from day one.

Stevie Wonder, "Innervisions"
"Living for the City," are you kidding me? This stuff is ridiculously funky, and catchy. And then I listen to words - dear Lord. I didn't even need the lyrics to be good to love this record, but they are, and I do. Game, set, match.

Andrew Bird, "Noble Beast"
I can't help but be sucked in by Bird's orchestral crescendos and tongue-in-cheek delivery. Plus, big words that rhyme are always fun! The meandering of tracks like "Anonanimal" roll from pulsing, plucking violins to near hip-hop and back again. He definitely has a mild case of musical ADD, but it also takes one to know one.

MAJOR MINOR: Tantalizingly Close to the Big Time
They just need the right producer: The Floorwalkers

By John Petric
Published: The Other Paper, Wednesday, February 11, 2009 4:01 PM EST

I was listening to the Floorwalkers EP the other day for the first time in, oh, 18 months and I was seriously struck by how beautiful and soulful singer Jonathan Elliott’s voice is. It’s just heartbreaking—he’s a white, junior soul man. The cat can sing. (And whoever did the engineering recorded him near perfectly.)

By coincidence, the Floorwalkers were playing at the Thirsty Ear Friday, so I went, getting in at the end of their first set just as they were in the homestretch of the Allman Brothers’ “One Way Out.” Guitarist Kerry Henderson was sitting, playing a lap steel and smokin’ a blistering reincarnation of Duane’s sweetly stinging leads.

Clearly, this band always has had and still does have something.

Their second set was mostly original, mostly good-timey, slightly jam-bandy and mostly easy going. Girls danced every song, a rarity in that place. Girls, that is.

As for the songs themselves, the Floorwalkers are concerned with feel first, form second. In short, they are but one sympathetic producer away from tweaking their material to what I think would be the beginning of the big time for them—they are that tantalizingly close to having it all in one fine package.

In the meantime, my loving criticism, gentlemen: Fire your soundman, or at least beat him until he mixes Jonathan’s voice where it should be—out front and in the open. It is simply too fine an instrument to have competing against everyone else’s output.

As for your penchant for trading instruments among yourselves more than any band I’ve ever seen, uh, I think that might not fly once you get to the next level.

But then again, do whatever the hell you want. You sure do seem to love making music.

READ THE ARTICLE ON THE OTHER PAPER'S WEBSITE

NOT ONLY DO THE FLOORWALKERS ROCK BUT THEY ROCK THE BLOCK! Straight out of Columbus, OH The Floorwalkers mix of rock and roll influenced by their diverse and eclectic backgrounds makes for familiar sounding music that is inherently their own. Their long history together also makes for six musicians who are not only skilled at their craft but comfortable enough with each other to reach in new directions and push for strong diversity song to song.

The true challenge for The Floorwalkers comes then in unifying these diverse songs into music that not only has a natural flow together, but sounds as though it could all have been created from a single mind. Their musical road is one followed more and more by musicians who are growing up in a very well mapped and accepting musical landscape.

Much of their true cohesion comes in the form of three and four part harmonies propped up behind the infectious melodies and robust voice of Jon Elliott. The band's Frankfort EP shed some light on all of the possibilities that their full length LP is bound to more fully encompass. From the blistering opening track "First Dreams" to the leg shaking closer "The Good Word" The Floorwalkers offer up timely and incisive lyrics covering politics, personal relations, and people, all in stride.

All the tracks on the EP were recorded collectively at two locations, one Frankfort St. in Columbu,s OH and one on Frankfort Ave. in Louisville, KY. This conincidence inspired The Floorwalkers apt title.

This summer the band will self-release their full length LP, and with help of their producer, Danny Keily of In Room One, search for a suitable record label to support and re-release their efforts.

"Carolyne" live at Relay Studios