THE BLUES … Lead Guitarist Aayan Niam sings and plays on his guitar during the group’s performance at the Fayette Opera House. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER, STAFF)
By: Jacob Kessler
The Fayette Opera House hosted the group known as The Good, The Bad And The Blues on Saturday, March 26th.
The group is a quartet of musicians who play their own blend of soulful blues, paired with a mixture of funk and gospel.
Together, they were able to create an album through the Toledo School of Arts and have performed all over.
The group features “Aayan Naim, on lead guitar, BJ Love on the keys, Steve Griffin with his bluesy, funky, gospel back beat, and Tim Collings, a true blues bass technician.”
Lead guitarist Aayan Naim grew up in Chicago but is now a native to the Fulton County area. He started singing in the 7th grade before turning pro in the 9th grade and has not looked back since.
He grew up directly across the street from Howlin Wolf, his brother-in-law who was a Temptation. It is safe to say, if anyone understands blues and its heritage, it would be Aayan Naim.
The performance that night was electrifying with Bj Love putting fourth real feeling from his keys and exceptional guitar playing coming from Aayan.
The soulfulness of his voice was captivating to say the least with each and every song being just as good as the last.
Steve Griffin on the drums also made sure the beat was never lost and Tim Collings kept the music flowing on bass.
No matter where you looked you could tell people were having a good time. Heads were nodding to the beat throughout the night and applause would come for each songs end.
It was all around a great group for the Opera House to bring to the Fayette area.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com