Staff Editor on August 30th, 2019

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Singer-songwriter Sam Marine makes the kind of open-road Americana that feels like the meat of life. And when he arrived Thursday night at the Moroccan Lounge backed by his band the Walks of Life, he had several new tunes up his sleeve.

Wedged in the middle of Marine’s 10-song set was “Rockaway Girl,” the new single he revealed this week and a jam would make the late Tom Petty proud. It’s the first new music from Marine, who’s played with Rod Melancon, Jaime Wyatt and Sam Morrow, since the 2017 EP “Big Dark City.”

||| Stream: “Rockaway Girl”

Marine’s set included four songs from that 2017 EP, but it was not without a hiccup. The show was briefly slowed down when his amp decided to malfunction. “This is a full fail. Full fail,” he told an amused, but patient audience.

Order was restored soon enough and the show ended with an all-hands-onstage cover of Petty-penned “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”

Mara Connor preceded Marine with her songs of missed opportunities and broken relationships. Her set included the tunes “Someone New,” “No Fun” and “Joe” — plus a cover of “Blues Run the Game,” a song by Jackson C. Frank. Connor asked the audience if anyone had heard of this musician who only released one album, in 1965. No one raised their hands so she humorously picked on her father, “Dad, you can raise your hand. You’re a person, too.”

Roots-rock luminary Brian Whelan — who produced Marine’s 2017 EP — opened the night.

Sam Marine & the Walks of Life setlist: Drive My Car, On Or Out, Big Dark City, Dawn Come and Gone, I’ll Soon Be Gone, Rockaway Girl, Walk Tonight, That’s Alright, Freeze ’Em Out and Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.

Photos and show recap by Notes From Vivace