Batten down the hatches and tighten up your bottom end, as it’s high time for one and all to salute the news about Yachtley Crew’s Seas The Night 2026 Tour, which will land at Vina Robles Amphitheatre on Friday, September 4.
Yachtley Crew are a seven-piece SoCal band who burst onto the club scene in 2017, selling -out countless local venues before starting a nationwide Yacht Rock craze and being noticed by the legendary Jimmy Buffett, who signed them to his own Mailboat label prior to their deal with Earache/Universal Records.
*Tickets go on sale Friday, April 24 at 10 AM via Ticketmaster. Look out for several presale opportunities and early bird pricing.
The nautical-suited and captain’s-hat-clad Yachtley Crew (also known as “The Titans of Soft Rock”), include drummer Rob Jones (Sailor Hawkins), bassist Chaz Ruiz (Baba Buoy), guitarist Thomas Gardner Jr. (Tommy Buoy), backing vocalist Curt Clendenin (Stoney Shores), saxophone/flutist Paul Pate (Pauly Shores), keyboardist Matt Grossman (Matthew McDonald) and NEW lead vocalist Ian Ward (Captain Ian).
Ward joins The Titans Of Soft Rock with an impressive and wide-ranging resume that spans theatre, television and international performance. He has appeared on Broadway and starred in productions including Rock Of Ages, RENT, American Idiot, Footloose, and the iconic Jesus Christ Superstar at The Hollywood Bowl alongside Cynthia Erivo and Adam Lambert. Ward is bringing lead man vocals and commanding stage presence to venues around the world. He is also a Golden Ticket Winner and contestant on American Idol, and has collaborated and performed with Sir Tim Rice, Idina Menzel, Pat Benatar, and Cyndi Lauper.
For the uninitiated, Yacht Rock encapsulates the revival of soft rock and Top 40 hits from the late ’70s to the early ‘80s — and it has become an undisputed nationwide phenomenon, inspiring fans to dress the part and sing along. The band’s first EP Seas The Day was released in 2023 and featured fan favorites such as Boz Scaggs’ “Lido Shuffle,” Ace’s “How Long,” Robbie Dupree’s “Steal Away,” the Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love,” Christopher Cross’ “Ride Like the Wind” and the band’s first original song “Sex On The Beach,”
which was accompanied by a video with a guest appearance by Access Hollywood and iHeart Radio host, Mario Lopez. The video was directed by Myles Erfurth (Dead Sara, Ice Nine Kills, Twiztid).
“Pain Of Losing You,” made Top 15 On the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts and was written specifically for the band by the iconic multi-award-winning songwriter Diane Warren, who has penned nine #1 and thirty-three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. “We heard through our manager Andy Gould that Diane was a fan of Yachtley Crew and is a fan of the yacht rock genre. When we heard the song ‘Pain Of Losing You’ we knew that we had to record it. Honestly, it’s a dream come true to get to record a song written by someone as iconic as Diane Warren, and our producer Chris Lord-Alge knew exactly what to do to get it to sound like the Crew,” said Yachtley Crew.
Seas The Night was produced by Chris Lord-Alge (Stevie Nicks, Steven Tyler, Keith Urban, Bruce Springsteen, Green Day) and mastered by Ted Jensen (Eagles, Norah Jones, Evanescence, Alice in Chains, James Taylor) at Lord-Alge’s studios in Los Angeles. Lord-Alge also helmed Yachtley Crew’s 2023 Seas The Day EP. “Almost immediately after signing with Earache Records, we went into the studio with our incredible producer, Chris Lord-Alge, to bring some of our favorite songs to life, and to ensure they contain the same energy and fun that we play them with onstage,” said Yachtley Crew. “We spent the better part of 2024 in the studio whenever we weren’t touring, perfecting every note. The result is something we are not only so excited to share, but so proud of as well.”
Yachtley Crew have appeared on HBO’s Yacht Rock : A Dockumentary, Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live, helped ring in the New Year on KLAS and KTLA’s “Las Vegas Countdown to 2023” (the exclusive, Emmy-winning special syndicated program that reached more than 16.5 million U.S. TV households), performed on countless morning television and radio shows throughout the country, been featured on Fox News nationally, and performed on SiriusXM’s Yacht Rock Radio “Yacht Rock 311” show as the first ever Yacht Rock band to perform live at the satellite radio studio. The band held a four-year residency at The Palms in Las Vegas and performed at a multitude of charity and special events throughout the years including the Mario Lopez Golf Classic Tournament in support of the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center.
Yachtley Crew are proud to fly the flag of Yacht Rock for each and every generation that loves good fun and good-time music, and they very much look forward to sharing new and classic Yacht Rock tunes and are set to help one and all navigate the as-yet-uncharted waters of 2026, and beyond.
Yachtley Crew are fresh on the heels of a sold-out Australian tour and will soon embark on the 2nd leg of their 2026 Seas The Night Tour, with new dates in the U.S. and abroad being announced soon.