By: Rick Landers
More than a little musical magic erupted at Northern Virginia’s Reston Coffee House steps away from the waters of Lake Anne, with the Ken Avis–Dave Kline Duo performing several sets of originals and cover tunes sparked by Ken’s stylish guitar work and Dave’s spins with his formidable violin action. The two mixed it up splendidly engaging the audience with clever and humorous banter between tunes drawing out smiles, laughter and appreciation from a full house of fans – some new!
Ken Avis – photo credit: Rick Landers
The two Brits were joined by Ken’s muse, Lynn Veronneau, who was there to hang out, but agreed to dive into the potent trio rolling out a few songs to the delight of the crowd with spot on vocals, with such tunes as, “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics and “What A Wonderful World,” that recalled the legendary Louis Armstrong.
In the audience was one of the D.C. area’s A-List harmonicats, Larry Tapper, who met Ken and Dave for the first time at the gig. With his always on hand case of harps and with some persuasion from another member of the audience, the duo graciously asked him to join them on several songs. That can be a bit risky. But Tapper rolled in with top notch riffs of his own, with Ken and Dave smiling, as the three fused their styles remarkably well. Pure magic!
Ken Avis – Larry Tapper – Dave Kline – photo credit: Rick Landers
French Canadian Lynn and Ken, tour internationally as Veronneau and have entertained folks in the U.S., the U.K., Europe and recently Canada. Catch them if you can; you won’t regret it one iota. And, Dave is the leader of his own Dave Kline Band. During the performance Ken had everyone smiling when he humorously plugged his newly published book, A History of Popular Music in Northern Virginia.
Lynn Veronneau and Dave Kline – photo credit: Rick Landers
The coffee house is a staple of the Reston, Virginia music scene, as well as offers a great menu of food and drink, and with its view of on the Lake Anne it’s become a hot spot for locals and visitors to the D.C. area. And tonight, the dueling duo of Ken Avis and Dave Kline offered up an exceptional show, and the inclusion of Lynn Veronneau and Larry Tapper added to the musical spectrum, as surprise guests who helped make the evening one for the ages!
Ken Avis – Larry Tapper – Dave Kline – photo credit: Rick Landers
Dave Kline – photo credit: Rick Landers
