Josh Clayton-Felt Grog Shop January 19 - 1996 Back when Josh Clayton-Felt was swimming with his former outfit, School Of Fish, any traces of him becoming a funkafied force were about as hidden as a pirate's treasure. After Monday night though, it's obvious that a cool mixture of The Kinks and Rick James is where he feels most comfortable. His ability to write a great hook is still intact, as he opened with a couple of British Invasion influenced tunes, "Another Dead American" and "Inarticulate Nature Boy." When he followed with the guitar-laced "Window," Clayton-Felt let the good-sized crowd onto what he was really up to. One more pop tune, "Helpless," which had a wondrous Crowded House vibe, and the rest of the set was funkalicious. His band (the Family Tree) was quite ready and capable to burst into that mode as well. With Pete Mahoney on drums, Walt Vincint on bass and DC Collard on keys, Clayton-Felt had a trio of quality musicians backing his venture. Each song Clayton-Felt started to loosen more and more, while the sound the Family Tree branched out on was clear, concise and nothing short of glorious. As soon as he gained the crowd's approval, Clayton-Felt seized the opportunity to play a version of Prince's "Erotic City" that was tenfold finer that the original. Another original, "Trumpet," was a mid-tempo gem that combined both his pop and funk sensibilities into one, before he finished with a Hendrix cover that highlighted an already superb 10-song set.