Sharing a musical experience with Naomi Wilder is to enter an Age of Aquarius. She dedicates her old-school funk to sore souls in need of an escape into peace and harmony.
“I pray that the people who hear my music are meant to hear it,” she said. “I pray that the music will find them.”
Wilder and her band, the Courteous Rudeboys, will make a stop at the Yacht Club, 13 S. Linn St., at 9 p.m. today as the group makes its first musical venture across the Rockies to Wilder’s hometown of Chicago. Admission is $6.
“I know how much [the UI] likes to rage,” Wilder said, remembering the time spent during her college days visiting friends at the UI. She specifically asked the group’s tour booker to find an Iowa City venue suitable for the band’s potpourri of African, New Orleans, and Caribbean rhythms.
“We usually book local bands on Thursdays,” said Scott Kading, the owner of the Yacht Club.
However, upon researching Naomi and the Courteous Rudeboys’ background, Kading could not pass up the opportunity to share this Santa Cruz, Calif.-based band.
“These guys are super-talented,” Kading said. “We’ve had several bands perform [at the Yacht Club] with similar funk and soul sounds … which have always drawn in huge crowds.”
Wilder developed her musical interest through her former days as a dancer. She appreciates the way music moved her to dance, and when her mother presented her with a new guitar at age 18, Wilder’s songwriting career commenced.
Naomi and the Courteous Rudeboys released its début album, Beautiful Beings, in 2007. Currently residing in a redwood forest, she seeks nature, as well as people, to create songs of “universal love.”
Onstage, the audience comes first. She engages her listeners as a storyteller would and provides a background narrative to her songs. She has created an assortment of dances to her songs that she regularly includes in her performances so fans can become familiar and dance along. The singer/songwriter’s music is enhanced by her natural stage presence and playful theatrics. Shows are known to include costumed dancers, choreographed kung-fu demonstrations, and the tossing of rose petals into the crowd as if they were confetti.
Wilder accomplishes individuality in her artistic approach, but she still remains a humble character in the musical world. The young performer seeks guidance from seasoned musicians including gospel trio the Stovall Sisters. Making music since the 1970s, the Stovall Sisters collaborated with Naomi and the Courteous Rudeboys on Beautiful Beings, and that group continues to mentor Wilder’s vocal development.
As a performer for the people, Wilder is buoyed by audience participation. Her favorite tour memory occurred in the small Montana town of Hamilton, where she estimated the entire town came out to see the show. As she grooved onstage, a dancing fiend in the front row entertained her. Turns out the exuberant fan was a ripe 92 years old.
“Here’s this 92-year-old dancing her ass off and living life,” Wilder said with awe in her voice. “That’s how I want to be when I’m that old.”
The words “fame” and “money” do not grace Wilder’s lips. Instead, her mellow articulation parallels her altruistic use of her artistic talents. Looking forward to her appearance at the Yacht Club, she hopes to help settle students during their first week of school.
“I’m excited to meet the people who come out,” she said, urging concertgoers not to be shy. “I wish everyone a happy return to the school year.”