“Musical chemistry”: local band Kapowski communicates through music

By Rachel Gibson| gargoyle@flagler.edu

Live music fills the air on weekend evenings in downtown St. Augustine, while locals and tourists litter St. George Street searching for the artist of the night.

Kapowski, a local band, are the ones responsible for the standing room only at Colonial Oak Music Park. The band has played a handful of shows at Colonial Oak, and the experience gets better every time, they said.

“The overall atmosphere is probably the best part. Playing underneath that mammoth of an oak tree with all the lights hanging, the crowd engagement, and just being outside in the elements. It’s an amazing venue,” said Christian Powers, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the band.

Ten months ago, Powers and three musicians came together to form Kapowski with Justin Lane on lead guitar, Michael Monahan on drums and Rob Pittenger on bass.

The band plays at venues all across St. Augustine and landed their first show at Stogies Cigar Bar last March. From their first show to now, these four musicians have turned into a family of musical artists.

“Having the support of the community is huge. A lot of our opportunities so far have come from word of mouth and people hearing about us from others who have been to a show. Without them, we wouldn’t be playing a lot of these shows,” Powers said.

The support they receive inspires them to continue writing their own songs. Creating their own music is something the band is very passionate about.

“Playing our originals is most definitely our favorite part,” he said. “There’s nothing like playing something that we’ve all created and worked on in front of a crowd and hearing their reaction to it. It’s one of the best feelings there is.”

Aside from their constant stream of local performances, Kapowski lives and breathes like a family. One of their favorite things to do is get together and cook. They even started the hashtag #kookingwithkapowski to show their love for the culinary arts.

“I think my favorite part is just being together and creating music,” he said. “We can just jam and come up with something amazing without thinking or saying anything. The musical chemistry is crazy between the four of us, it’s a whole other level of communication.”

You can keep track of Kapowski by following their social media pages to see where they’ll play next at @kapowski_the_band on Instagram and Facebook.