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Plugged In: Yacht Rock Revue's dream tour with Kenny Loggins swings home to Georgia. 'It's a rush!'

May 10, 2023 12:06 PM

• Kristi York Wooten

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Welcome to Plugged In, our digital interview series on GPB.

GPB's Kristi York Wooten talks with members of Yacht Rock Revue, an Atlanta band known for playing hits of the 1970s, '80s and beyond. The band is currently on tour with one of its musical heroes, Kenny Loggins, and will perform May 13 at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta. Frontmen Nick Niespodziani and Peter Olson are here to talk about this once-in-a-lifetime gig.

Kristi York Wooten: Welcome, Nick and Peter. How are you? 

Nick Niespodziani and Peter Olson: Great. Thanks for having us, Kristi.

Kristi York Wooten: Excited to talk to you. So I want to get started with something that's in the news today, and that is that while you were on the Kenny Loggins tour in Texas, you had some things stolen, your instruments and things. Do you want to give us a little bit of an update on what happened? 

Nick Niespodziani: Yeah, we came off stage with Kenny Loggins in Fort Worth on Friday, our first show with Kenny, and it was amazing, incredible energy from the crowd, everything you would hope for. And we woke up the next morning to discover our entire trailer had been stolen off the back of one of our vans. It was wild. Very high moment, followed by a very low moment. 

Kristi York Wooten:  So I know that's disconcerting for musicians to not be with their instruments, some of which I believe you told me earlier you've had since high school or college. So what are you going to do about the next couple of shows? I know you said you might borrow some instruments and things like that to get those shows done, and until you find out what happens to the others. 

Nick Niespodziani:  Yeah, the show goes on. 

Peter Olson:  That's right. Yeah. We've had incredible support from the musician industry. All of our friends have reached out not just to offer, you know, emotional support, but lots of offers to borrow gear, anything that we need to. To keep the show going. Just Saturday night, the night after we had the gear stolen, we were fortunate in that another band was on the bill and they allowed us to play some of their gear in order to make things happen. So we cobbled it together with some rented pieces and pieces borrowed from other musicians. And that's how we'll make it happen here until we can get things replaced.

Nick Niespodziani:  And I just want to make the point, you know, we're lucky we have insurance and we're also lucky that we're big enough and our organization is established enough that we can take a hit like this and keep going. Like, if this happened to an indie rock band who's not playing on the same scale as we are, it can be a deathblow to a band. So just next time you see this happen to a smaller band, find a way to get out there and support them. Like, we're lucky we're going to be okay. But not everyone is so lucky. 

Kristi York Wooten:  Good advice. So take us back to the beginning. Nick, we'll start with you. Take us back to the beginning: You're putting your band together. It had to stem from a childhood love of these — these songs that you heard on F.M. radio in the '70s or '80s. So can you take us back to the beginning of the idea for the band? 

Nick Niespodziani:  I mean, the band kind of came about on accident. It was never intended to be a band. It was supposed to be a one-off show that we were doing in a series of other one-off shows, and this one-off show connected with people in a completely different way than any of the other ones did. And ever since that moment, we saw the way it connected with the audience and the feelings that this music gave people. And we've been kind of chasing the head of that snake ever since. 

Kristi York Wooten:  And what year did you start, Peter? 

Peter Olson:  2007 was the first Yacht Rock show. 

Kristi York Wooten:  So tell me a little bit about when  The New York Times featured you in a 2020 story about the pandemic. You guys were one of the first bands out there playing in that sort of bizarre moment of people driving cars to watch a concert in their cars in a field. Can you talk a little bit about that experience, each one of you? 

Nick Niespodziani:  Man. That was one of the most nerve-wracking weeks leading up to a concert that I've ever experienced, because the week before that, another artist, I can't remember his name, it was a country artist, had thrown a concert that was not, like, COVID-friendly and had just gotten lambasted all across the media. And, you know, we were taking it very seriously and the last thing we wanted was for our one New York Times article to be about how we were going against COVID protocols or whatever. So we had extensive talks with Live Nation to make sure that this was going to be actually a safe situation and they were going to enforce it. And it all turned out okay. But it was very nerve-wracking. 

Peter Olson:  Yeah, and it was, I think, in normal times everyone was so spread out and it was we were playing to a giant field of people that were so far away that it would be hard to harness that energy on stage and give it back. But because of the circumstances of coming from isolation and quarantine, it was like just the honking of horns from all the cars and everything. It was like we were just feeding off of that, that there were real people in front of us.

Kristi York Wooten:  That's great. 

Nick Niespodziani:  I forgot about the horns, though. That was how the encore was asked for. It was like a choir of car horns. Yeah. 

Kristi York Wooten:  So you've kind of experienced the gamut of what live performance is in ... the age of streaming. So around the time you all started your rock revue is when things like Spotify were becoming popular. So tell me a little bit about how live performance itself has changed since then — or has it? How have things changed over the course of ... obviously you've made it through the pandemic … and here we are at a new phase. How has either your audience or the way you approach music … has any of that changed since you started? Do people request different things from you? Do different songs get bigger cheers, anything like that? 

Nick Niespodziani:  I mean, I think part of what we do is definitely emblematic of the Spotify era in that we are like a playlist, an infinite playlist of songs from an era. And that's an experience that people are looking for now. But I think, you know, whether we're talking about our first shows when we were starting out, or whether we're talking about the live streaming during the pandemic or everything that's happened since then, the one constant threat is that people want that person-to-person connection of live music. And that's been our livelihood. You know, we never made a bunch of money off of selling records so those changes to the business haven't affected us. And I think that, you know, whatever changes are coming in the future, that person-to-person like live music connection is the thing. 

Peter Olson:  Yeah. I feel like from a performance standpoint, we kind of picked up where we left off. Not a lot changed. It's amazing how long ago that the pandemic phase can feel. But it was like when we started playing again, it was just like we had just had our last gig a month before. But the thing that was really different was that we kind of were at a phase in our career where we were garnering a national fanbase, and over the course of the pandemic, they had this opportunity to connect with each other via the livestream concerts that we did. So when we came out back out on tour, there was already this connection, not necessarily with the — well, there was a deeper connection with the band and our fans, but also the fan-to-fan connection was just unbelievable. And we see that live on, which is really cool. 

Kristi York Wooten:  That's a good point. So you talked about your live show being a playlist. So let's talk about this playlist. So how did you first come up with your very first gig of which songs you were going to choose? And let's tell the audience to what your personal definition of yacht rock is. I asked a member of Toto what his definition of Yacht Rock is, and he said, "I don't know because I don't have a yacht yet." But you can tell us how you came to love bands like Toto, artists like Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, The Doobie Brothers, and how you kind of put that first playlist together and how, that has grown or changed over the years as well. I know that that Yacht Rock has now been expanded to allow some songs from '90s and 2000s to sneak in a little bit.

Nick Niespodziani : Yacht Rock is now whatever we say it as far as we're concerned. [Laughs]

Kristi York Wooten:  You own it. 

Nick Niespodziani : Yeah, well, you know, there's no point in a limited definition for us because our whole thing is having fun with people at the concert and like, saying that Yacht Rock can only be made between 1976 and 1984 in Southern California doesn't really, like do anything for us or for our fans, you know. I mean, that is the that is the center of it. That's where it starts. But it goes out from there. And Yacht Rock is really less, to me, of a genre than it is a vibe. And if you set that vibe, then anything can be Yacht Rock.

Peter Olson:  Yeah, people like to put those parameters on like the date and where it was recorded and that kind of thing. But you don't do that to any other genre. It's not like grunge had to come from Seattle, right? Grunge was made all over the country. It was just a style of music. It's a feeling or a general sound. 

Nick Niespodziani : It's kind of like basketball, like it's fun to talk about, like whether, you know, Kobe's Lakers would have beaten Jordan's Bulls. But in the end, you just want to go watch people play basketball and have fun. And that's kind of my view on the whole ‘what is Yacht Rock?’ and ‘what is not Yacht Rock’ debate? 

Kristi York Wooten:  So you're out on tour with Kenny Loggins. Tell us about the first gig. Tell us about what went over well in your show. And then you said that you were able to talk with [Kenny Loggins] as well. So tell me a little bit about that first night on tour with Kenny Loggins. Peter, we'll start with you. 

Peter Olson:  It was the first time I think we all had butterflies in quite a while going up on stage, but it was incredible. It was at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, and it was a packed house, and we had a little bit of arena experience, but not like this. And so when we got up there and I think we kind of were all in our heads a little bit through the first few songs and a little nervous. But once we found our flow, it felt really good, and it was a lot of fun and then it was over like that. Our set was 45 minutes that night and it just came and went so fast. But it was a rush.

Nick Niespodziani : It was interesting because most bands who've gotten to the level that we're at spent a lot of time on the road opening up for other bands, right? Like, that's pretty common. That's what you do. And when we when we were in an indie rock band, we would play 45-minute sets opening up for, you know, whoever. But this band had actually never opened up for someone else before, so that was a new experience. And we were also — another thing we haven't done a long time, we were playing in front of a bunch of people who we needed to win over. Like we're, you know, at this point we're playing places like Chastain headlining ourselves and everyone is there to see us and we've been there already and they've bought into what we're doing. So it was kind of like being the young buck again out there, like having to prove ourselves in an opening set. It was unfamiliar territory and a lot of that kind of like nervous energy came out, I think, in a pretty positive way. 

Peter Olson:  Yeah, and we're taking that two-hour playlist that we're so used to delivering. And when laying it down, when you talk about what is the Yacht Rock sound, like doing what we're best at, we had a limited time to, to deliver that.

Kristi York Wooten:  So what songs can folks expect when they come to Alpharetta next Saturday night? 

Nick Niespodziani:  We won't be playing any Kenny Loggins songs in our set. [Laughs]

Peter Olson:  So we check out what you might call the major boxes mean you can anticipate. Doobie Brothers and Christopher Cross and Toto. We can't give away the set list. I can’t tell you everything. 

Kristi York Wooten:  We’ve got to have some surprises there. You told me earlier that Kenny Loggins had asked you all to be on this tour. That it was a request from him. So how did that feel? 

Nick Niespodziani:  It was so cool. He came up right before we played and introduced himself to all of us and said, ‘You know, I'm really excited to have you guys. And it was my decision to have you on this tour. It wasn't my agent. It wasn't my manager telling me I had to do it. It was it was my decision, because I see the energy that you guys bring, and I want that to be a part of my show.’ And that was really a ‘Wow, we've made it’ kind of moment. 

Kristi York Wooten:  So did you watch from the wings? You watched Kenny from the wings, or were you out in the audience?

Peter Olson:  Oh, yeah. From the wings. We watched the whole show, and it — man, he brings it. He's still incredible.

Nick Niespodziani:  Yeah. If you're out there wondering, ‘Can Kenny Loggins still sing?’ The answer is emphatic, 'Yes!' His voice is money. 

Kristi York Wooten:  Do you have a show highlight from his set list? 

Nick Niespodziani:  Oh, there were several. For me, “Danny’s Song” is always one that gets me because that was one that my dad would play. He’d play those Loggins and Messina records in the garage when I was a kid. But then [Kenny] closed the show with “Forever,” which is a song that I hadn't really remembered as well. But then it got to that, that moment where he sings the big “forever” [sings] at the at the end. And he just nailed the note after his whole set. It was ... that one just knocked me back. It was incredible. 

Peter Olson:  Yeah. “Keep the Fire” is one of my favorites. But he touches on, he does the whole span of his career, and he breaks it down and pulls out the acoustic guitar. And not only can the guy sing, but the guy can still wail on the guitar. He's incredible. 

Kristi York Wooten:  And so this tour is going for several months this year. So do you have any plans for. Is it going to Europe or just this is just the North America tour? 

Nick Niespodziani:  Just United States? I don't know. Tell Kenny that he's wanted in Europe because we want to go. 

Kristi York Wooten:  Well, thank you both for being here. Nick Niespodziani and Peter Olson from Yacht Rock Revue performing and opening for the first time on a tour when they are used to being headliners. Opening for Kenny Loggins at the Ameris Bank Amphitheater in Alpharetta, Georgia, on May 13. Thank you again.

Peter Olson:  Thank you. 

Nick Niespodziani:  See you out there, Atlanta. 

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About the author.

Kristi York Wooten ( she/her ) is a digital editor and journalist based in Atlanta. She works with the GPB radio and digital news teams as an editor, writes and produces features for digital and radio and leads editorial and production for the GPB News Weekend newsletter. Her work appears in  The New York Times ,  The Economist ,  The Atlantic ,  Newsweek, Rolling Stone  and others.

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Yacht Rock Revue explain why they're charting a new course with original music

Sarah Rodman is the Entertainment Editor, covering TV and music for EW.

After nearly a dozen years confidently steering the S.S. Nostalgia, playing the beloved soft rock hits of the ’70s and ’80s to packed crowds wearing captain’s hats, Yacht Rock Revue are charting a new course by releasing their first album of original material. Hot Dads in Tight Jeans won’t be released until Feb. 21, but EW is bringing you the first single, “Step,” right here.

“We wanted to hit a note that was both retro and could be right now,” says shades-sporting co-frontman Nick Niespodziani of the synthy-smooth jam. “We wanted it to be outside of time.”

That musical mood dovetails nicely with the vibe of a group that began on a lark in 2007 and has steadily grown into an act that crisscrosses the country to play for its own devoted fans. The Atlanta septet can draw thousands of people to sing along to spot-on renditions of hits by Hall & Oates, Toto, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, and other artists whose names some in the audience have forgotten, or never knew, but whose hits have endured, such as “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl),” by Looking Glass. While there may have been an element of irony for some attendees at the beginning, the shows tend to be unabashedly joyous affairs.

Niespodziani, drummer Mark Cobb, and co-frontman Peter Olson were all in a band called Y-O-U in the early 2000s that enjoyed some regional success but ended up petering out. “We were all splitting off to do other things,” says Niespodziani. “Peter was thinking about moving to Colorado and I had started law school and we were all kind of ready for what was happening after music. Because when you’re 27 and you haven’t made it yet, you’re an ancient guy. And in the midst of that we did this one Yacht Rock show and then all of a sudden it became what it is now. We’ve got an office, and a band, and a 401k.”

Soon they will have that album of original material as well as a documentary detailing their unlikely route to success as they rose from bar band to amphitheater band.

In addition to sharing “Step,” the group also curated the ultimate Yacht Rock Spotify playlist for EW, and we chatted with Niespodziani about the band’s step toward original songwriting and mixing up the smooth classics in their set.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You’ve finally decided to make original music, again. How much anxiety do you have about fan reception since they’re used to you playing songs they love? NICK NIESPODZIANI: We played it for the first time at our big Atlanta show in August at Chastain Park Amphitheater in front of 7,000 people. I was pretty nervous because all these songs that we play, everybody knows every word. Like, every song we play would be the encore for whatever artist it is that we’re covering. So how do you put up a song that people have never heard before, at all, against those songs? I was originally super nervous about it, but our fans really surprised me. I expected everybody to leave for the bathroom or the bros to start booing. But they stayed and they got into it, and the reception everywhere we’ve been with it has been awesome. People are into it. So I’m much less nervous now than I was before.

The album itself is not a “yacht rock” record but is obviously in a similar wheelhouse and has a cheeky humor to it. Do you get the sense that you’ve built up enough goodwill from the fans since you’ve been playing for so long that they’re open to original songs? Yeah, and I’ve noticed, especially over the last three or four years, when we go places, whether it’s the people at the venue or the fans that we’ve talked to, they treat us like artists. In the beginning, I felt like a glorified stripper where people just wanted to pull my hair and see if it was real and it was more of a novelty thing. But now I feel like we’ve earned that respect from our fans and they’re open to it, or at least they have been so far. I’m hoping that that streak continues.

How did you decide that now was the time for you guys to try this? I was kind of going through my midlife crisis checklist, choices like “I could wreck a red sports car” or “I could have an affair with a busty nurse.” And I was like, “You know what I really should do is make an album with my ’70s soft rock band.” So we threw the idea around and were like, “Why not try it,” talking about that goodwill we built up with our fans. The cool thing for me especially is that I’ve made a lot of records over the years, little side projects that had no budget and no hope for people to hear them. And this experience has been the opposite of that. We were able to get an incredible producer and make a cool video all with the power of the Yacht Rock machine that we’ve built behind it. And it’s been really inspiring and fun.

Who produced it? Ben Allen, he’s from here in Atlanta. He produced Walk The Moon and Animal Collective’s big records and he just did the new Kaiser Chiefs record, which is [a hit] in the UK right now. He did Gnarls Barkley. He’s a close friend of mine and I was kind of nervous, even though we hang out and go to the gym together, to ask him about making a record with Yacht Rock because I thought there would be this stigma because he produces Deerhunter and all these super hipster bands. And he was immediately like, “Yeah, let’s do it. That sounds really fun.”

A song like “Step” could probably slip into your sets with relative ease since it has that blue-eyed soul falsetto thing happening that spans from disco, like a sliver of Giorgio Moroder, to a group like Hall & Oates to something like Beck’s song “Debra.” Yeah, we definitely leaned on more on that ’80s side of the coin, Hall & Oates and even some ’80s David Bowie and some of the synthier stuff like Giorgio Moroder. That just strikes closer to our personal taste and I think it’s easier to see how that fits in with modern music. Whereas if you make something that’s just like a Steely Dan rip, that’s really a very segmented thing off to the side.

We didn’t want to come out with something that could maybe be viewed as a novelty single for the first thing. When you’re a cover band coming out with original music, getting taken seriously is the first hurdle that you have to leap over. So “Step” felt like the right choice because it’s a mission statement for the whole album in a way. It’s about deciding who you want to be and making the space for that in your life.

I guess in my view everyone is putting on an act of some sort. We pretend to be these coked-up ’70 dudes, but we are who we are inside and I’m inspired by people like Lizzo and Pete Buttigieg and Puddles The Clown. It’s definitely an act that all of them are doing, but the heart of what they’re doing is true. The center of it emotionally is honest and unapologetic. And that’s what “Step” is about. And that’s what this whole album is about for us. Because we are a bunch of 40-year-old dads who are trying to make our first record that people listen to, why not just bear hug it instead of run away from it?

Do you ever think how wild it is that you all have built a career out of this, particularly since you’re not a straight tribute band of one group? All the time. It’s crazy. If you would’ve told me when we did the first show “that this is going to be your career,” I would have slapped you in the face. There’s just no way. I never imagined doing something like this. And it’s funny because I feel like in that early band, I thought music was all about what’s inside of you as an artist and that if I can find inside myself this great, soul-wrenching truth that will be the reason that I become famous and whatever. And I think over the years with Yacht Rock — grudgingly at first — I started to realize that music is actually about the shared experience and being there in the room together, having fun, and just escaping from life for a while. And I feel like it’s been this 11-year penance that I’ve gone through, and now I’ve come out on the other side and I have a completely different view of what music is and what it should be. That’s what inspired this record and it makes me so happy to do what I do now.

Which is funny on one level because probably for 90 percent of what you’re performing, the original artist is sick to death of playing that song. But you all have now performed some of these songs so many times that it is entirely possible that you are as sick of singing something like “Africa” as Toto is. And yet you always legitimately seem like you are having fun. It’s funny you mention “Africa.” That’s the only song we have to play at every show. And I think it kind of goes through waves. It’s like a Saturday Night Live joke where they keep repeating the same thing and it gets really monotonous and not funny. And then if you repeat it for long enough, it becomes funny again. It got to where it got old for a while and now it’s really fun to sing that song, even though I’ve probably sung it 2,000 times, literally. It’s not a problem.

Coldplay has to sing “Yellow” every night no matter what. There are five or six other songs they have to sing every night no matter what. We don’t have to do that. We have thousands of songs to choose from. So, in some ways, it’s been a blessing that we can stay fresher because we can always change out songs and add new songs.

Let’s talk about this playlist. You have a pretty wide range here, including yacht rock staples like Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgettin'” but also songs from Lake Street Dive and “Juice” by Lizzo. How do you all even define yacht rock now? For me, yacht rock is more of a vibe and an energy than necessarily “soft rock music made in Los Angeles between 1976 and 1984.” It’s more about when the song comes on, does it put a smile on your face in the first 10 seconds? If you use that as your first barrier to entry, then what can be considered yacht rock becomes a lot more wide. If you’re out cruising on your boat on Saturday afternoon, what’s going to feel good?

“Juice” is going to feel good. Yeah. And it feels like the transition from “I Keep Forgettin'” into “Juice” doesn’t feel like a hard left turn. It feels natural. I guess our perspective is that people are going to need yacht rock now and in the future, and what it can be is a lot wider than the strict dictionary definition. Lake Street Dive, they’re a genre-bender for me. I think that they have a lot of different influences. And again, it’s the positive energy behind it is what makes it yacht rock.

How did you pick the classic ones to intersperse in there? We wanted to make sure that anybody who hasn’t gotten familiar with the yacht rock yet — which I don’t know who that might be at this stage — got a good dose of the healthy vitamins of what real, 100-percent yacht rock is. So we picked the ones that felt right to us and then also had something in common with our record.

You’re in your forties now. Is this sustainable? Can you do this until you retire? That’s a great question. If “Bad Tequila” [from the upcoming album] ends up being like “Steal Away” was for Robbie Dupree, then I definitely can. That’s what this move is, just to see if we could have one song that makes people feel the same way that I felt when I danced with my wife to “Steal Away” at my wedding. And I’ve talked to Robbie about that. And he has this relationship with that song where he got tired of it and he loves it again. But for us, in the next 20 years, I don’t want to get morbid about it, but a lot of these bands that we love and the classic rock artists are going to age out of touring. And there’s going to be a void there and I hope that we will be positioned to help fill it. It’s weird to think about but it is true. It gives us a little bit of job security.

In the last few years, several other bands in this vein have popped up. How do you feel about that? I imagine it’s hard to be mad about other cover bands when you’re a cover band. It’s great that this music has become so popular and imitation is finest form of flattery, right? So when I see these bands doing our dance moves, or wearing the sailor outfits like we used to 10 years ago or adding the same songs to their setlists, that’s cool. Part of me wants to say, “Go get your own unoriginal idea.” But like you said, there’s no honor among thieves, really. So it’s fine. I got nothing but love for any of them. I think what we do stands on its own.

Yacht Rock Revue will hit the road for the Hot Dads in Tight Jeans tour Jan. 9 and will be pulling into ports across the country, from Boston to Los Angeles.

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Confessions of a Cover Band: Yacht Rock Revue croons the hits you love to hate

"I never would've guessed I'd be doing what I'm doing now. The 23-year-old me would punch me in the face."

One night in 2012, a man in a Ronald Reagan mask paused beneath a stop sign in the Old Fourth Ward. Armed with a stencil and a can of white spray paint, he transformed the sign into a tribute to a 1978 hit by a mostly forgotten Canadian pop crooner named Gino Vannelli: “I just wanna STOP & tell you what I feel about you, babe.”

“I Just Wanna Stop” is the kind of song whose words most Americans over 40 know despite never consciously choosing to listen to it. After peaking at no. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978, the tune never quite disappeared, becoming the aural equivalent of a recurring wart. The song found a second life—an endless one, as it turns out—in the musical nether region where the smooth, soft-rock hits of yesteryear remain in heavy rotation. Yes, that’s “Africa” you’re hearing in the dentist’s office. And “What a Fool Believes” in line at CVS. And that faint melody burrowing into your brain while on hold for the next available customer service agent? That’s “Steal Away.” Songs like these, disparaged by critics in their time then jokingly christened “yacht rock” by a comedy web series in 2005, are now the soundtrack to American tedium.

They’ve also become the source of a very good—if conflicted—living for the man who defaced the stop sign: Nick Niespodziani, the singer, guitarist, and de facto leader of the wildly popular cover band Yacht Rock Revue , which tours the country, headlines 1,000-plus capacity venues, and occasionally even plays with the original artists behind these hits.

At the time of the Vannelli vandalism, Yacht Rock Revue had begun to graduate from a local curiosity to a national one. Niespodziani’s sister videotaped the incident and posted it on YouTube. They then printed T-shirts of the sign and, when Vannelli performed at the Variety Playhouse, they got one to him.

On a gray Monday afternoon not long ago, Niespodziani was standing at this crossroads, looking at the sign, trying to explain the motivation behind the prank. “We had this idea, so we videotaped,” he said. “It was definitely guerrilla marketing.” Also, he was pretty drunk.

The episode seems to capture something ineffable about Yacht Rock Revue—part fandom, part joke, part self-promotion, each element infused with irony. When YRR takes the stage at Venkman’s, an Old Fourth Ward restaurant and nightclub co-owned by Niespodziani and bandmate Pete Olson, the band is fully in character, complete with gaudy shirts and sunglasses. They crack jokes about each other’s moms and theatrically highlight multi-instrumentalist Dave Freeman’s one-note triangle solo during America’s “You Can Do Magic.”

“This music isn’t easy to perform,” Olson says. Yacht rock songs tend to be filled with complicated chord changes. All seven band members are accomplished musicians, and Niespodziani, who trained for a spell as an opera singer, is a rangy vocalist, capable of gliding through the high notes in Hall & Oates’s “Rich Girl,” Michael McDonald’s gruff tenor in “I Keep Forgetting,” and Dolly Parton’s amiable twang in “Islands in the Stream,” without seeming to strain. He, Olson, and drummer Mark Cobb first played together in Y-O-U, a band they formed at Indiana University in the late ’90s. They found scant support for original music there, so they relocated to Atlanta in 2002.

My Weekly Mixtape

A playlist curation podcast, ep. 79: the ultimate yacht rock playlist.

This week’s guest curators are Nick Niespodziani & Peter Olson of Yacht Rock Revue , and together our challenge is to build the ultimate yacht rock playlist, featuring 20 smooth-sailing songs that some might consider to be (as one of the amazing Patreon Mixtapers so eloquently put it) “the yachtiest rock to ever rock a yacht!”

We also discuss Yacht Rock Revue’s 2024 Summer Tour with Train & REO Speedwagon , as well as “album dive” into their 21-track concept album, Escape Artist .

• George Benson – Turn Your Love Around
• Christopher Cross – Ride Like The Wind
• Crosby, Stills, & Nash – Southern Cross
• Pablo Cruise – Love Will Find A Way
• Michael McDonald – Sweet Freedom
• Jackson Browne – Somebody’s Baby
• Kenny Loggins – I Gotta Try
• Toto – Africa
• Redbone – Come & Get Your Love
• Robbie Dupree – Steal Away
• Daryl Hall & John Oates – She’s Gone
• Rupert Holmes – Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
• Sanford Townsend Band – Smoke From A Distant Fire
• Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street
• Sade – Smooth Operator
• Player – Baby Come Back
• Little River Band – Cool Change
• Boz Scaggs – Lowdown
• Steely Dan – My Old School
• Yacht Rock Revue – Tropical Illusion

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About Yacht Rock Revue™

What is left for Yacht Rock Revue to prove? This top-notch group of musicians has already rocked onstage with John Oates, Eddie Money (RIP), and both versions of the band Player. They’ve trademarked the term “yacht rock,” both metaphorically and literally (U.S. Registration Number 3834195). From humble beginnings in a basement, touring in partnership with Live Nation and Sirius XM, they now headline sold-out shows across the country, from Webster Hall in New York to the Wiltern in L.A. While rising from bars to amphitheaters, they’ve ticked every box on the Rock Star Accomplishments bingo card. Except for one: Writing and singing their own songs.

Yacht Rock Revue’s first original record is ten songs inspired by the smoooooth sounds of the Seventies and Eighties. They’ve brazenly titled it Hot Dads In Tight Jeans – forgive them for bragging, but that’s what they are – and it returns Yacht Rock Revue to their roots in original music.

“I had a midlife crisis. That’s why we made this album,” says Nick Niespodziani, the group’s singer, guitarist, and spiritual leader. “Everyone in the band is a dad now, so we needed to make this happen, before we become grandpas. I’ve sung ‘Escape’
by Rupert Holmes at least a thousand times, and if that isn’t paying your dues, I don’t know what is.”

It’s rare that musicians in their 40s chase their rock star dreams. You’d have to be crazy to try. YRR knew they were underdogs, but resolved to take one more shot at the Top 40, and maybe even become a Cinderella story of midlife fulfillment.

Yacht Rock Revue began in the least-yachtiest of states, 2,000 miles from breezy Marina del Rey. Niespodziani and Pete Olson met in the fourth grade in suburban Indiana, went on to Indiana University in the late Nineties, formed the band Y-O-U, then escaped – Rupert Holmes reference intended – to Atlanta. One night, Y-O-U tucked their tongues deep in their cheeks and played a show of Yacht Rock songs. The rowdy (a nice way of saying drunk), sold-out crowd loved it.

When the club owner asked them to do it again, Niespodziani didn’t want to. But the club owner had an ace up his sleeve: money.

Over the years, YRR (there’s also a Dave, a Greg, and literally three guys named Mark) have turned themselves into human wine spritzers, playing 120 to 150 shows a year, mastering Yacht Rock’s slick chords and mellow grooves, and partying like it’s 1979. What began as a joke among friends soon put a ripple in the zeitgeist, starting a national trend through YRR’s concerts, lauded as “unabashedly joyous affairs” by Entertainment Weekly. They accumulated an extensive wardrobe of white belts and polyester shirts. Yacht Rock Revue were revered and well-compensated! Their life was a tenor sax solo! This is what every musician wants.

But even as YRR was sailing the smooth seas of tribute-band superstardom, and the band members all became dads, Niespodziani was still writing original songs.

These new tunes had the spirit of Yacht Rock, but were more modern – akin to Phoenix or Air, the hip bands that adapted Yacht for a younger audience. They brought the songs to a hot producer, Ben Allen, who’s worked with Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, and Neon Indian. Allen gave the songs a lustrous shine, for both new audiences and their ever-loyal fans, the Nation of Smooth. Niespodziani and Olson even co-wrote a song, “Big Bang,” with Yacht Rock master Matthew Wilder, famous for his massive 1983 hit “Break My Stride.”

“Step,” the record’s first single, is a peppy number replete with falsetto and bumping bass, a cross between the Bee Gees and Steely Dan’s “Peg.” It’s also the mission statement for the album in a way, because it’s about deciding who you want to be, and making space for that in your life. The seven-piece band display tight chops, and the songs incorporate Yacht Rock Revue’s sense of humor, especially on the funky, pro-margarita “Bad Tequila,” the flute-fired “Another Song About California,” and opening track “The Doobie Bounce,” where Niespodziani brags, “I used to sleep on couches/Now I sleep on nicer couches.”

Hot Dads In Tight Jeans is as plush and shiny as Kenny Loggins’ beard. And YRR are already dropping these new songs into their sets, to great response from longtime fans who are thrilled to hear new smooth. While others in YRR’s position stick with the tried-and-true, Niespodziani hopes the album will let them welcome aboard new fans, too. To paraphrase a notable mariner… they’re gonna need a bigger yacht.

“Here’s how I see it,” Niespodziani concludes, sliding into a waiting limousine. “We have only one fewer hit than Player did, and Player is immortal. We built this Yacht Rock thing on the power of memories and good vibes. None of that is changing; we’re just gonna make a few new memories as well.”

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Creativity abounds in Yacht Rock Revue singer’s intown Atlanta home

The walls in musician and singer Peter Olson’s home scream out his family’s love for making art and making music.

The children’s red, white, black and green paintings and drawings of sea creatures, flowers and people join album covers, guitars, chalkboards, magnets, family photos and pictures of landmarks shot by Peter, who collects vintage cameras.

“There’s not really anything in our house that’s totally off limits for the girls. It’s their space just as much as it is ours,” he said.

While they hadn’t planned to tape the kids’ artwork on the walls of the playroom, bedrooms and bathroom of their home in Lake Claire, an intown neighborhood, he said they figured, “Why not?”

“What are we going to do, put this in a folder and look at it 20 years from now? It’s just enjoying celebrating their style, just as much ours,” he said.

Residents: Peter and Alyssa Olson and their kids, Synnove, 5, and Seija, 3, and cat, Buster. Peter, a musician, is a frontman of Yacht Rock Revue and a restaurateur, and Alyssa is an event planner. They're expecting a baby boy this summer.

Location: Atlanta's Lake Claire neighborhood

Size: 3,000 square feet, four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths

Year built/bought: 1999/2011

Architectural style: Shotgun-style Craftsman with Colonial elements

Favorite architectural elements: "Because it's long and skinny, it's nice and deceiving from the front. It's very understated from the front, but when you come inside, it's bigger than it appears," he said.

Renovations: They refinished the hardwood floors with a darker stain and painted the walls to provide some contrast between the two, which originally had the same light look. The kitchen had open shelves, so they added cabinets, a Viking vent hood, and GE Profile, Jenn-Air and Kenmore appliances. They replaced the white Corian countertops with black granite and created a dry bar. The main level floor plan also was a bit too open for them. They found the blueprints and discovered that some doorways and walls were removed in prior renovations. They added a half wall in the kitchen and a wall in the living room, where Peter's piano now sits.

Design consultants: Claire Wire with Claire Wire Interiors for the kitchen design. Custom cabinets by George Emerick.

Interior design style: Shabby chic

Favorite interior design elements: Mid-century modern furniture. Their hometown of Columbus, Ind., began in the 1950s to bring in architects from around the world, including Scandinavian designers, to create public buildings and interiors. As a result, they have some tables and chairs by some of those designers that were passed down from friends.

Favorite collections: Album covers and vintage cameras. Covers on the walls are signed by performers that Yacht Rock Revue has joined. He has signatures from Bobby Kimball, the lead singer of Toto, and Steve Augeri, a former Journey frontman.

Favorite artwork: Their late friend, artist Dolores Williams, painted a portrait of the couple on their wedding day based on an image taken by photographer Sarah Dorio at Piedmont Park. Peter met Williams, a nun who spent most of her life in the Peace Corps in Africa, when he was a fitness instructor at Clairmont Oaks, a retirement community.

Resources: Furniture from IKEA, Intaglia, Kudzu Antiques, ABC Carpet & Home

About the Author

Credit: Courtesy RBH Group

Yacht Rock Revue

Since 2007, Yacht Rock Revue has steered audiences through a melodic voyage of classic hits, founded in Atlanta, GA. The 10-piece ensemble, including Nicholas Niespodziani, Peter Olson, Greg Lee, Mark Dannells, Mark Bencuya, David B. Freeman, Keisha Jackson, Kourtney Jackson, Jason Nackers, and Ganesh Giri Jaya, infuse their unique styles with the iconic yacht rock vibe. We chat with Nick about how the ensemble got started, where their name came from, how many songs they know, how they’ve helped other groups get back together, creating their own original songs and more.

Jonathan’s Drinking: Penelope Rio Brandon’s Drinking: Red Wine

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Yacht Rock Revue: 70s and 80s Hits, Live from New York

Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024 at 3:30 p.m. on KPBS TV / Stream now with KPBS Passport + Encores Sunday, Sept. 1 at Noon and Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV

In a musical voyage like no other, “Yacht Rock Revue” sets sail on the shimmering seas for a nostalgic journey through the hits of the late '70s and early '80s, where soft rock and smooth grooves rule the waves. A talented group featuring exceptional musicianship and tight harmonies, the program pays homage to the golden era of yacht rock, delivering pitch-perfect renditions of iconic classics from artists like Hall & Oates , Steely Dan , Toto , Michael McDonald , and more.

“Yacht Rock Revue” takes audiences back in time with their lush instrumentation, soulful voices, and tight jeans. Their infectious enthusiasm and engaging stage presence create a feel-good atmosphere that encourages everyone to sing along and dance the night away. The music transports viewers to a bygone era of breezy melodies and yacht rock magic.

Yacht Rock Revue is on Facebook / Instagram

Take a walk through the most ancient Kremlin in Russia

The Novgorod Kremlin, which is also called ‘Detinets’, is located on the left bank of the Volkhov River. The first fortified settlement was set here during the reign of prince Vladimir Yaroslavich, the son of Yaroslav the Wise. During these times, all the state, public and religious life of Novgorod was concentrated here. It was the place where people kept chronicles and copied the texts of books. The Novgorod Kremlin, the most ancient one in Russia, was founded here in the 15th century.

St. Sophia Cathedral (11th century), The Millennium Of Russia Monument, Episcopal Chamber (15th century) and the main exhibition of The State Novgorod Museum-reservation located in a public office building of the 18th century are all situated in the Novgorod Kremlin. The exhibition will tell you about the whole Novgorod history from ancient times to the present day. There are also restoration workshops, a children’s center, a library and a philharmonic inside the Kremlin walls.

Send a letter with the State Novgorod Museum-reservation stamp

While visiting the main building of the Novgorod Kremlin museum, you’ll see a small bureau near the souvenir area. Two more bureaus like that can be found in the Fine Arts Museum and the Museum information centre. This is the Museum Post, the joint project of the State Novgorod Museum-reservation and Russian Post.

The tradition to exchange letters (at that time written on birch bark sheets) dates back to the 11th century so it’s hardly surprising that such a project appeared here. The bureaus are desks and mailboxes at the same time, so you can send your friends a postcard with a view of Novgorod right from the museum.

Find the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin among the figures of The Millennium Of Russia Monument

In 1862, 1000 years after the Varangians were called to Russia, a monument dedicated to this event was launched in Novgorod. To tell the story of Russia’s one thousand years, the sculptor used 129 bronze figures: from state and military leaders to artists and poets.

One of figures portrays Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin, a politician and reformer who was responsible for Russia’s diplomatic relations in the middle of the 17th century. He is believed to be the father of international and regular mail in Russia. He was also the person who came up with the idea of the first Russian Post official emblem — a post horn and a double-headed eagle.

Cross the Msta River over the first arch bridge in Russia

The steel bridge in Borovichi town that connects two banks of the Msta river was built at the beginning of the 20th century. The project of the bridge was created by Nikolay Belelyubsky, engineer and professor of St. Petersburg State Transport University. This is the first arch bridge in Russia.

In 1995, it was included in the national cultural heritage register. More than 100 bridges across Russia were developed by Belelyubsky, but only this one is named after him.

Cast a virtual bell

When in the Novgorod region, you’ll definitely hear bells ring and learn about the Novgorod Veche Bell. During the siege of the city, tsar Ivan III ordered to remove this bell from the bell tower and send it to Moscow. Legend says that the bell didn’t accept his fate, fell to the ground near the border of the Novgorod region and broke to pieces against the stones.

In the biggest Museum Bell Centre in Russia located in the Valday town, you can see bells from across the world and learn why Novgorod bells are unique. The museum’s collection represents bells from different countries and ages, some of them dating back to the 3rd century BC. You’ll learn about the history of casting and modern bell-making technologies and also play games on a touch table. For example, harness virtual ‘troika’ (three) horses with bells or cast a virtual bell.

Spot the pigeon on the cross of St. Sophia Cathedral

St. Sophia Cathedral was built in Novrogod between 1045 and 1050 by Kievan and Byzantine masters. It was conceived as the main cathedral of the city, and during its first years it was the only stone building in Novgorod. So where does the pigeon on the cross of the cathedral’s biggest dome come from?

Legend says that while tsar Ivan the Terrible and his Oprichniki were cruelly killing peaceful city folk in 1570, a pigeon suddenly sat down to the cross of the city’s main cathedral. It looked down, saw the massacre, and was literally petrified with horror. Since then the pigeon has been considered the defender of the city. People believe that as soon as the pigeon flies away from the cross, Novgorod will come to an end.

Visit a monastery, that was founded by Patriarch Nikon

The Valday Iver Monastery is situated on the island in the middle of the Valday lake. It is considered to be one of the most important and picturesque orthodox shrines.

The monastery was founded in 1653 by the initiative of Nikon who had just been elected Patriarch. Nikon wanted the monastery to look like the Iviron Monastery on Mount Athos, including the architectural style and monk’s clothes. Legend says that Nikon saw the spot for the monastery in a dream.

Check out Fyodor Dostoevsky’s country house

Fyodor Dostoevsky, a famous Russian writer, first visited Staraya Russa town in 1872 during a summer trip with his family. They liked it so much that the next year they rented a house near the Pererytitsa River’s embankment and spent every summer here ever since.

Dostoevsky loved this house, called it ‘his nest’ and considered it the perfect place to work and to be alone. In Staraya Russa he wrote his novels ‘The Adolescent’, ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ and ‘Demons’. Today, this place is a museum where you can explore what Dostoevsky’s house looked like and see his family’s personal belongings, photos and letters.

Visit an authentic Russian ‘izba’ (wooden house)

If you want to really enjoy the atmosphere of the old Novgorod, you should come to the Vitoslavlitsy Museum of folk wooden architecture that is located on the Myachino lake not far away from Veliky Novgorod. In this open-air museum you’ll see the best examples of Russian wooden architecture, including authentic old ‘izbas’ (wooden houses), rural chapels and churches.

During the year, the museum hosts fairs of crafts and folklore, christmastides, and even an international bell ringing festival.

Learn what Brick Gothic looks like

The Episcopal Chamber of the Novgorod Kremlin is the only non-religious German Gothic building of the 15th century preserved in Russia. You can have a good look at the facets of the gothic cross-domed vaults inside the chamber. This is why this building is also called ‘Faceted Chamber’ or ‘Chamber of Facets’.

The chamber was part of Vladychny Dvor, the place where all important city events took place: court hearings, gatherings of the Council of Lords of the Novgorod Republic, ambassador’s receptions and feasts. The seals of the city’s lords were kept here. The decree of tsar Ivan III on merging the Novgorod Republic with the Moscow State was first announced in 1478 in Episcopal Chamber. This is when the name of the new state, Russia, was first pronounced.

See the murals by Theophanes the Greek

The Byzantine Empire had a huge impact on the development of the Russian culture. Many works of art and architecture in ancient Russia were created by Byzantine artists and masters. Theophanes the Greek was one of them. He was born in Byzantine and created icons and murals in Constantinople and Caffa (modern Feodosia). After that he moved to Novgorod where he was commissioned to paint the walls of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Ilyina Street. You can enjoy his unique and expressive style if you look at the murals inside the dome of the church and the Trinity side chapel.

The most recognizable and the only monumental work of Theophanes the Greek that is preserved today is the chest-high portrait of the Savior the Almighty in the dome of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior.

Take a photo with an ancient Novgorod citizen who is learning how to read and write

In 1951, a letter written on birch bark dating back to the 14–15th centuries was found in Veliky Novgorod. Many decades later, in 2019, a sculpture designed by Novgorod artist and sculptor Sergey Gaev appeared on this exact site.

The sculpture portrays an 8–year old boy sitting on a stool and holding a piece of birch bark. At this age children in Novgorod started to learn how to read and write. During archaeological excavations in Novgorod, scientists often found ancient handwriting practice books and children’s drawings on birch bark sheets.

Feel like an ancient viking or prince Rurik’s guest

Novgorod is one of the waypoints of the famous trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. The route passed through the Volkhov river. In the 9–10th centuries there was a fortified settlement of the Viking Age here.

Some scientists believe that Novgorod is named after this area which was called ‘Stary Gorod’ (‘Old City’) at that time. Some historians and archeologists consider this place to be the residence of Prince Rurik who was asked to rule the city in 862. That’s why this ancient settlement is called ‘Rurikovo Gorodische’ (‘Ruruk’s Old City’).

Learn more about the Soviet modernist architecture

On the bank of the Volkhov river near the Novgorod Kremlin, there is an incredible building that looks like a spaceship and contrasts strongly with the ancient buildings of the city.

This is the Fyodor Dostoevsky Theater of Dramatic Art that was built in 1987. It is one of the most striking examples of the Soviet modernist architecture. The theater was built for 10 years according to the project of architect Vladimir Somov.

See what an everyday life of Old Believers looks like

The Krestsy town in the Novgorod region has always been considered to be the center of the Novgorod Old Belief community, and it still is. Before the Soviet revolution there were three Old Believers churches here.

The Lyakova village, which is located not far from the town, used to be inhabited completely by Old Believers. You can learn more about their lifestyle in the local interactive museum. You’ll be introduced to Old Believers’ traditional crafts and ceremonies, drink tea with healing herbs and learn how to chop wood and use an old spinning wheel.

Buy a traditional embroidered tablecloth

A unique embroidery style that is now famous all over the world was born in the Staroye Rakhino village in the Novgorod province. By the middle of the 19th century, it had become a folk craft. Since then, linen tablecloths, towels and clothing items decorated with unusual ornaments have been popular not only among the locals, but also travellers.

In 1929, the first cooperative partnership of embroidery masters was created in Kresttsy. Later it turned into a factory that still operates today. The factory has a museum where embroidery traditions are preserved and new ornaments and technologies are created.

Find yourself in the Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, Staraya Russa town could be called ‘the salt cellar of Russia’. That’s because salt making was the main trade here up to the 19th century. A few years ago, the old craft was brought back to life, and construction of salt works began. Later, an interactive museum was launched based on the results of archaeological findings.

This museum recreates a typical medieval manor of Staraya Russa of the 12th century with living rooms, a bathhouse, workshops, a livestock pen and traditional peasant household items. In this museum, you can also buy salt which is made in the same way as 1000 years ago.

See the place where Suvorov started his Italian campaign

Alexander Suvorov’s manor in the Konchanskoe village, which has now become the museum of the great commander, was originally the place of his exile. Suvovor openly disagreed with the reform of Russian’s army based on the Prussian model, and Emperor Paul the First didn’t appreciate such behaviour. He first fired Suvorov and then sent him away to his family estate.

However, the exile lasted for only two years. The great commander started the military campaign straight from his house in the Konchanskoe. During this legendary expedition, he crossed the Alps and defeated the French army.

Become a real hiker

If you dream of having a hike in the Novgorod region, but at the same time you are afraid that a tourist’s life may be too hard, you should try the Big Valday trail. This is a five-day 59-kilometer walking route. Its central part goes right through the Valday National Park’s territory.

You won’t have to cope with difficulties and inconveniences of camping life here. The route is marked with signs, and there are camping sites where you can find everything you need for an overnight stay from shelters and places for a fire to toilets. The trail finishes at the Dunayevshchina village where you can take a bus back to Valday. To take the trail, you have to fill out a special form and register on the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation website.

Russian Post has launched a limited series of products dedicated to the cultural heritage of the Novgorod region.

In autumn 2020, Russian Post announced an open contest to create the design for its limited series dedicated to Novgorod region. The project was supported by the Government of the Novgorod region, ‘Russ Novgorodskaya’ (Novgorod Russia) project, the State Novgorod Museum-reservation and Yandex.

Stamps and envelopes are traditionally used to spread information about historic dates and figures and famous landmarks. Now we can also use parcel boxes, packaging tape and postcards. The limited series products will travel around the world, introducing the most popular Russian attractions to six million Russian Post clients daily.

The participants were to create the design for the limited series featuring three iconic attractions of the Novgorod region, the Novgorod Kremlin, the Millennium Of Russia Monument and the Belelyubsky Bridge in Borovichi. Moscow designers and graduates of the Higher School of Economics’ Art and Design School Alena Akmatova and Svetlana Ilyushina won the contest. Their project was chosen via an open vote and by the expert jury.