Last summer, vocalist Brett Waters tentatively stepped onto the stage at Bird’s Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack with husband and musician Clyde Ramsey for Jim Crozier’s Lab Sessions. Ramsey has played a part in the Tallahassee music scene since he was young, but Waters says she was nervous to sing for the first time in years. 

Shortly thereafter, Waters and Ramsey joined guitarist Neal Goree at the Bradfordville Blues Club for another gig. The trio started throwing around names to play under. Waters jokingly suggested Brett Waters & the Pool Boys, thinking it would only be for a single performance. One year later, the name has stuck, and the band grew to include Josiah Pye on bass, Tristan Shiver on guitar and Steve Howell on drums. While the band has garnered many local fans, the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to their momentum.

“We started playing under the name accidentally,” laughs Waters. “Last November we played at The Junction on Monroe, and that was really memorable for me because I couldn’t believe just three months after we started that we would be playing there.” 

The Junction at Monroe (J@M) opened in late 2014 by Russ Pangratz, and quickly became a staple meeting ground for the Tallahassee music community. After closing for a short time during quarantine, J@M re-opened with new safety measures including sanitization, reduced capacity, human distancing and the wearing of face masks in order to keep both bands and patrons safe. 

As venues return to in-person programming, Waters says she and the band have continued to take precautions and have turned down many gigs in the past few months. Their upcoming post-Thanksgiving show at J@M on Friday, Nov. 27, will be the first time they take the stage since March. 

“It felt like just as we were starting to come into our own as a band and practice more, the pandemic happened,” says Waters. “We’ve had a few socially distanced jams but for safety, we’re still trying to distance ourselves from friends. It’s been kind of a rollercoaster. There have been moments where it feels good to practice and learn new material, I also miss being able to play with my friends.” 

Waters has loved music all her life. Her aunt gave her older brother an acoustic guitar when they were children. When no one was home, she would pick it up and play chords and songs on her own. She kept her guitar and singing skills under wraps for a long time but overcame her shyness after leaving home for college at Florida State University. 

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