Lazer Lloyd brought his strong positivity and impactful songs to The Crystal Moon in Dahlonega on Sunday, March 31 and I was so excited to see and hear him.

Lloyd was born in New York and grew up in Connecticut. He now makes his home in Israel. He is Jewish by birth and by choice, which influences his philosophy of life, but what he spreads with his words and his songs is pure love and peace and a non-judgemental acceptance that goes beyond religion. The man uses his impressive guitar playing and singing/songwriting skills to just make an audience feel good.

This is not to say that his songs don’t sometimes rock out, although on this particular night, performing solo, the music is mostly more country-blues and country-rock, with rock, bluegrass, and ballads thrown in. We were sitting at a table with other guests and one of them was a fiddle-player who had jammed with Lloyd and was invited to come and play with him, although he had no idea what they were going to play. It turned out that most of the songs Lloyd was playing were brand new, yet he had perfect confidence this man could follow his lead, and he was right. The combination of fiddle and guitar was magnificent, both on the new material and on Lloyd’s haunting cover of “All Along the Watchtower.” And that is despite the fact that Lloyd admittedly likes to use weird tunings. He also pulled a harmonica player from the audience, who played with him superbly.

The new songs dealt with the various struggles life throws at us, as well as the joys. He sang about politics, love, sex, rock ‘n roll, country music, loneliness, and all the things that matter, and he talked about them too, with humor, compassion and, always, hope. This time, he sang his song”America,” an unflinching but deeply loving song that shows that although Lloyd has made his home and raised his family in Israel for the past 25 years, he still identifies with his native country. After all, he spends more time traveling it and talking to people than most of us ever do.

This show was the last on this tour so now he can fly home for a week. “Just so my children can recognize my face,” he said. Still, Lloyd stood in front of the stage and signed autographs, taking the time to talk to everyone who wanted to talk to him (which was everyone there.)  And despite his fatigue, it was obvious he really wanted to talk. “It’s a long road, but every face, every soul is worth the journey,” he says on his Facebook page, and I believe he means it. And if you believe you can  hear and  see an  excellent performer and also be touched in a meaningful way at a show, then you will experience that when you go to see Lazer Lloyd.