How a local cover band formed from inside the Newport mansions

It’s no secret Newport is a hotbed for cover bands.

Head down to the bars and clubs on Thames Street or on the wharves and you’ll hear bands doing renditions of classic hits, ‘80s new wave, ‘90s rock and the current Top 40, with audiences dancing and singing along to every word.

One of these bands is My Joe Called Life, who stand out through their instrumentation and the overall vibe they convey whenever they perform. Most of the members met while working at the Newport mansions operated by the Preservation Society of Newport County.

After discovering they each had musical backgrounds, this realization eventually became the nucleus that started the band.

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It was a slow process, with two of the members originally playing music together in acoustic fashion. Soon a foundation was formed after another member had some vocal talents and the ball started rolling from there.

“(Our guitarist) Brandon (Aglio) and our lead singer Joe Reznik just started jamming in the living room one day, just kind of playing some acoustic stuff,” bassist Meg O’Neil said about how My Joe Called Life got its start. “They were going to start playing some open mics and things like that.

“Then we found out Meg could play,” Aglio added. “We invited her over and it was even better when we found out Meg could sing.”

Colin Davis then joined on drums and when the COVID-19 pandemic became a reality, Josh Mason entered the fold on both saxophone and percussion.

Last December, while O’Neil was out of town, Chris Correia filled in for her on bass and when she rejoined the band, he switched over to guitar to complete the present lineup.

When it comes to crafting a setlist for an upcoming gig, the band likes to read the room, then cater to the audience.

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“Certainly I think we look at what venue we’re playing and what the people who normally hang out there are age-wise and perhaps interest-wise,” Aglio said. “We play songs that range from the mid-’60s to present in terms of repertoire, but we try to craft it to what’s going to be the most interesting to the audience.

"We’re not going to be playing modern songs to a crowd of individuals who are maybe 40 to 60 years old. We like to tailor it as best as possible to the crowd and their interests.”

“We play those Top 40 hits that span decades and generations while playing around the same kind of circuit of bars and knowing the clientele,” O’Neil added. “We go into whatever place knowing what people are looking for and wanting to hear. It’s your standard cover band bar fare setlist, but we like to throw in some newer stuff and we have a few different people that can sing.

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"I think that helps us expand our repertoire as to what we can play. I can do songs that have a female lead while Joe has a great range and Brandon takes the lead on some songs as well. We can kind of change things up quite a bit.”

My Joe Called Life just played a gig at Longplex in Tiverton on Oct. 8 and has another lined up Castle Island Brewing in Norwood, Massachusetts, on Oct. 22. Attendees can expect to see a unique instrument being played that offers a lot of different sounds.

“In normal circumstances, having Josh on saxophone is always a plus, but he also has a synth sax so he can delve into flute and harmonica for something more exotic,” Aglio explained. “When we do 'Come On Eileen,' we tailor to our abilities as opposed to having a fiddle so we try to make it fun but also having Josh as auxiliary instrumentation really can change it.

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"For him and I, our biggest influences are a band called Mad Dogs & Englishmen which was Joe Cocker’s backing band in the early ‘70s and it was one of the first soul revue bands that really hit big. We really dig that kind of flavor and that kind of good-time music that everybody gets involved in, Delaney & Bonnie, The Blues Brothers and stuff like that.”

“I think adding Josh to the band has been huge,” O’Neil said. “The number one question we get asked when people see us play is, ‘What is that thing that guy is playing?’ It’s basically a wind-synth that has this whole catalog of different instruments he can pick on his phone and it’s really opened a lot of doors for us when it comes to different types of songs we can play.”

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Cover band My Joe Called Life formed inside Newport Mansions