I have always admired top poker players and the time and energy they invest in improving their gameplay constantly. After spending some time making up the ways to get to Vegas and feel the rush of playing poker at famous poker tables of Bellagio or Caesar’s Palace, I realized that I should probably sell a kidney to afford this ultimate gambling adventure. I feel pretty attached to both of my…
Two years. That’s how long Stars in Toledo have been building a relationship as a band. Two short years. And yet, when I listen to their eponymous debut album, I don’t hear a group of musicians who have only spent a couple of holiday seasons together as a family of artists. I hear a band that has found their groove and gotten in sync with each other in a way…
Lexie Rose’s rise from under the radar budding songwriting talent to major global star begins with this five song EP release. On My Own finds the seventeen year old giant in the making working alongside top notch producer Max Allyn to craft a collection that aims high and consistently hits its mark. It isn’t just breathtaking to hear a young songwriter so capable of learning from her collaborators; it’s equally…
Monsieur Jobs’ “Chow Chow eyyy Pow Pow” is an attention grabbing debut single featuring a cadre of top flight musical and songwriting talent. No Mercy’s long-standing vocalist Martin Citron gives this immediate commercial appeal it might have otherwise lacked, but the combination of Toby Holguin, Leo Jaramillo, Stan Kolev, and Charlie Illera deliver the goods from a musical point of view and their contributions are informed by a deep grounding…
Enrico Fernando’s Red Black Red project debuts with Resettlement, an eight track first effort that makes clear this New Jersey based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist demands serious and widespread attention. The songwriting is inspired in large measure by issues close to Fernando’s heart and his labors on making the release reality reflect his intimacy with the subject matter. You hear that intimacy in even the most brash, abrasive moments on Resettlement.…
Ashley Delima’s debut single “Stay in America” enlists some heavyweight songwriting, production, and musical talent to make the biggest possible splash. Producer Marc Swersky teams with Delima and songwriter Brielle Brown and some of the best accompanying musicians working in popular music today strengthening her efforts here. The burning heart of the song, her words and voice, is what matters most and it gains immense luster from the surrounding virtues.…
The debut single from C.K. and the Rising Tide, “Friends”, comes from an uniquely magical configuration of musicians. Brother C.K. and Wayne Flach have played together before in an earlier band named The Kindness and C.K. released his first solo recording Empty Mansions following the band’s disbandment. The well-received album promised to be the first of many for C.K. Flach and he definitely demonstrated the needed songwriting skills to sustain…
Randy Lyght’s “Bumped into Love” is a fantastic single from his fourth solo studio release, Another Side of Me, and marks another high point in the career of this fantastic vocalist and song interpreter. Lyght plays to what we know as familiar, but he has the talent and good sense to choose outstanding collaborators in such a way that there’s a signature luster emanating from the tune that others will…
The first single from the new Vessbroz album featuring Kyle Davis’ singing and lyric contributions, “Nothing”, has all the catchiness you’d hope for, but there’s an additional layer of substance coming from Davis’ songwriting skills. Davis doesn’t settle for just writing a grab bag of phrases but, instead, constructs a natural sounding lyric that his vocals handle with more than a little aplomb and that have something genuine and powerful…
Reina Mora’s first single from her debut album Bird’s Eye View is the invigorating “Trouble”. She wisely doesn’t aim for remaking the musical wheel with her first single release, but Mora does prove herself quite skillful at pouring old wine into new bottles with her mix of light atmospherics, an evocative performance both vocally and from the supporting musicians, and a definite rock attitude coming through the song.
It has taken Ashley J a few forays down dead end streets for her to find her way, but her wholehearted embrace of the pop form has proven to be the ideal vehicle for her considerable skills. The latest result of her pop oriented direction, “Satisfied”, is a highly polished single that nevertheless pulses with real warmth and life rather than sounding like the sterile sort of product often pushed…
Kathleen Brooks is a bright example of an artist who follows her Muse wherever it leads her. She’s shown considerable talents as a recording artist, actress, director, playwright, and even an educator, but she’s also shown the unique confidence to make an equal go of these pursuits thanks to her willingness to take chances and the needed confidence to make them pay off. Her qualities in this area are in…
Massachusetts native Albert Cummings returns to his hometown Williamstown as a conquering king with the blistering live set Live at the ’62 Center. His twelve song concert album blasts through an assortment of takes on blues rockers, slow blues, funkafied blues, all supported with colorful organ and occasional electric piano fills. Cummings’ guitar work is very forceful, but there are many melodic touches making their presence felt during this concert…
Theo Czuk’s The Black Bottom is an impressively diverse twelve song collection that does a more than adequate job of surveying the stylistic range of jazz music. Czuk and his musical partners are obviously master musicians capable of assuming a variety of sonic and melodic voices without showing even a hint of hesitation and their playing is further served by Czuk’s near impeccable instincts for writing material in this idiom.…
Time working alongside some of the most popular acts in music today, among them Rascal Flatts, has honed Kevin Fisher’s songwriting skills into a finely tuned instrument for delivering mainstream delights. His debut collection Beer Me seizes upon a quintessentially American topic, the virtues of beer, and serves up a 12 pack of variations on the same joke. He has a skill for twisting everyday phrases into endorsements for the…
Kelly McGrath has enjoyed considerable and gathering commercial success in the last two years propelled by her acumen for writing and delivering songs possessing across the board appeal and genuine musical, as well as emotional weight. Her latest single “O Holy Night” expands on those qualities with a particularly affecting performance, both vocally and musically, that pushes far beyond the broad-stroked cheer and clichés typical to Yuletide themed releases. Instead,…
Liz Kennedy scores big with her latest studio release Hike Up Your Socks and enlists some major league firepower to pull it off. Taj Mahal guests on significant album cuts and adds another weapon in Kennedy’s sonic arsenal. It helps, however, that Kennedy has written her best collection of songs yet for this recording and, based on exuded confidence alone, comes off as a musical artist who entered the studio…
MkX has scored big with his newest single “Ghost” – this budding pop sensation spares no effort with a fantastic song that accomplishes the dual feat of making a personal statement with great artfulness and entertaining audiences with a highly musical and physical approach to performance. It’s a winning combination throughout. It’s been released with an accompanying video that emphasizes the intense connection MkX feels exists between his music and…
The release of the Midnight Sessions EP constitutes vocalist Brian Hutson’s first full on attempt to capitalize on the success he’s experienced with a spate of singles. His initial single releases revealed him as a young vocalist with unusual versatility and depth readily achieving effects that it takes other promising youthful talents a decade or more to reach. Much of this has to do with innate talent, naturally, but producer…
The latest release from singer/songwriter-Americana act Django Mack, 100 Page Tattoo, continues the band’s creative progress while consolidating their past achievements. Few outfits working today in this style can claim the depth and entertainment value of the six songs included with this new EP release.