Written by: Geoff Tischman

Last Friday was the perfect cool summer night to make my first trip to the Levitt Pavilion in Westport, CT for a free concert by Karina Rykman and her bandmates Chris Cosico (drums) and Adam November (guitar).

I’ve seen the New York City-born Rykman play with Marco Benevento’s fabulous band, but this was my first time seeing her with her own band.  The fact is, Rykman is one of the best bass players out there and her style of playing and magnetic stage presence makes it hard to take your eyes off her.  A typhoon of energy and onstage charisma, she’s a non stop performer who covers so much  ground onstage, it would make a Fitbit smoke.

Not only that, but she’s always laughing and smiling – her joy utterly infectious.  And she sings, too!

All the locals showed up at the very picturesque venue, which is on the Saugatuck River— from the young to the old members of the community, they were there in their lawn chairs to see the show.  Soon into her set the kids and adults alike were on their feet dancing and cheering for her.  Several times she addressed the crowd and you could tell she was so happy with the turnout and the enthusiastic response to the show.

In addition to her wonderful original material she played some fun covers by tracks from everyone from The White Stripes to the Butthole Surfers to Wet Leg.

Her aptly titled debut album Joyride comes out today (8/18) and is available on streaming and in Vinyl.  The record was co-produced by Phish’s Trey Anastasio who also plays guitar on five tracks.