I count myself as part of one of the fortunate generations that got to grow up listening to the music that is now known throughout the world as Yacht Rock. The term for this genre of music was coined by some comedians in 2005 and now Yacht Rock boasts multiple radio stations, as well as a plethora of cover bands that are completely dedicated to the iconic, breezy, fun and free sounds of the late 70s and early 80s. Yächtley Crëw is the cream of the crop of these cover bands, so much so that they were signed to Jimmy Buffet’s Mailboat Records in 2022.
This seven-piece band from California has sailed the Seven Seas, or at least several of them, to bring their authentic covers (as well as some sweet originals) to audiences who truly can’t seem to get enough. Nautical wear is encouraged, captain hats are for sale at their merch table, and these sailor-attired gentlemen are talented musicians who re-create the songs of the era with incredible skill. They cover songs by favorites like Hall and Oats, Christopher Cross, Boz Scaggs, the Bee Gees, Africa, Michael McDonald, Toto, and many more, and the good vibes on their live videos are palpable. I had a great time talking with Rob Jones (a.k.a. Sailor Hawkins) who is one of the founding members and drummer of Yächtley Crëw. They will take the stage at Volcanic Theatre Pub on Saturday, Aug. 9 at 8pm.
the Source: Have you been able to figure out what makes the music of the Yacht Rock genre so enjoyable?
Rob Jones: I think it’s timeless music, but it’s also a fresh sound for a lot of ears. I think people kind of miss the fun and the quality of the music. And it’s feel-good music. A lot of the songs are about love and fun, you know, and I think that that’s something we are kind of missing a lot today.
tS: I wonder if the music was different then because it was pre-internet and life was a little more laidback? And so maybe that feeling made its way into the music?
RJ: I think there was a lot more freedom in music too, like writing it and creating it. Today, everything is just so produced, you know. There was definitely an art form and a skill, especially with some of the songs. As a musician, a lot of these songs have almost jazz chord structures, too. It wasn’t considered a genre in the day, it was just popular music. And now it’s kind of nestled into its own genre, of being soft rock or Yacht Rock.
tS: I read that you came up with the idea to do a Yacht Rock cover band while you were sitting in a hot tub one day.
RJ: My music partner Chaz [Ruiz] who plays bass (A.K.A. Baba Buoy), and I were in a Jacuzzi at this house one night, having some cocktails and listening to this music, and we were thinking it would be kind of a fun thing to do. You know, maybe we could do it [Yacht Rock] as a side project to other things that we had been doing. We had been playing music since we were in our young 20s, essentially kids. When we did put the band together, we thought we would do like, maybe three or four shows, and it would just be some kind of fun, tongue-in-cheek thing. No one thought we were going to have records, a tour bus and tour internationally. At first, we couldn’t even get any of the venues to book us that we had played in previously with other projects. They thought it wouldn’t work.
tS: That’s wild!
RJ: The first show we finally booked was probably 300 people, and they couldn’t fit another body in that little bar and grill that we were playing down in Orange County. And then the second show we did was in Ventura, and that was the same thing… I mean, there was a line around the block. I think people were interested and curious to see what in the heck this was going to be, because the posters of us in the venue showed seven guys dressed like Thurston Howell from Gillian’s Island, and they said, “Yacht Rock.” People at the time [2016] were still even like, what’s Yacht Rock? Nobody knew what that meant. And for a long time, we had to describe what it was.
tS: From your live videos, it looks like people show up wearing captain’s hats and maybe even full sailing suits.
RJ: When we first started the group, we would write on the fliers to come and have fun and that nautical attire is encouraged. We used to give captain’s hats way, just so people would have fun and not feel like they were the only person wearing one, even though there are seven guys on stage in full nautical attire [laughing]. After a while we realized that people really wanted these, so we started selling them, and now, the hats are our biggest seller from our shows. We travel with a lot of fun merchandise, but our hats are the biggest seller. And people come all dressed up now. People wear life vests; somebody was dressed like a boat at a recent show in Arizona. She had a homemade boat kind of thing around her waist! It’s a really fun time.
tS: What are a couple of songs that when you play them, you always feel happy?
RJ: The happiest I feel is when I see people having fun, and people being happy. And when you hear people singing along to these songs. When we play “The Pina Colada Song,” I mean… they freak out.
tS: I love that song!
RJ: And when we first started, our audience demographic seemed like it was people in their 40s to mid 60s and now we are starting to see younger generations come to our shows.
tS: Is there anything you’d like us to know about your upcoming show in Bend?
RJ: We are excited to come to Bend. We have three shows in Oregon coming up, and coming through this region for us is exciting because there are a lot of people that have seen the band online, and we do get a lot of requests to play in the Pacific Northwest. So, it’s exciting to finally bring this to them.
This article appears in Source Weekly July 31, 2025.
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I saw YC in Palm Springs this winter and they are absolutely fantastic. Go see them!