Bill Copeland
Amy Kucharik masters early 20th century music idioms on her marvelous Cunning Folk album
Amy Kucharik’s debut full length CD Cunning Folk is delightful beyond what the word delightful could ever define. Listening to Cunning Folk makes one feel he’s just woken up inside the world of Jay Gatsby in the swinging 1920s. Kucharik has mastered the idioms and nuances of early American music so well that she completely immerses her listener in a lovelier, simpler time in history.
Local artists shone at NEMA Hard Rock Cafe showcase; Thomas Anderson Band, Fil Pacino, Singlecast, In Spades, Elementary
Hosted by the boisterous Bryan Tann of the Tanndemonium radio show and sponsored by Granite Coast Entertainment, the New England Music Awards hosted an artist showcase at Faneuil Hall’s Hard Rock Café in Boston last Saturday night. Each band had something special to offer, and each received quite a welcome and quite a boost from the ever so enthusiastic Mr. Tann. Man, can that guy announce a band.
Girls Guns & Glory show the proper respect on fun filled tribute to Hank Williams
A killer album is a killer album no matter when and where it was recorded or who wrote the material recorded for it. Girls Guns & Glory latest CD is a live recording of a tribute show to Hank Williams, titled, simply enough, A Tribute To Hank Williams Live!
Bruce Mattson offers much gumbo fun on Crescent City Swagger CD
Bruce Mattson’s new, mostly instrumental, Crescent City Swagger CD is a fantastic gumbo mix of blues, stride, and Louisiana flavored music. Mattson and his band mates play a huge, polished sound on this album, and it’s very entertaining from beginning to end. Mattson’s piano work adds authentic New Orleans colors and tones to many things on this album, and that keeps it sounding different from anybody else in the local scene indulges in. He’s also a hell of a Hammond B3 organ player.
Joanne Lurgio scores big on Rise From The Storm CD
Joanne Lurgio’s third album Rise From The Storm is a fully realized collection of songs focused on recovery and survival. Every number focuses on loss, struggle, and spiritual injury. Never maudlin, Lurgio presents each one as a story of hope, as there is almost always a way to change course, even if the only course is acceptance. Wrapping her singer-songwriter themes with flinty, gritty, emotive roots style instrumentation, she presents these nuggets as something wholly organic and earthy.
Jon Chi reaches great singer-songwriter heights on rockin’ roots album Another Rising Sun
Jon Chi’s latest album Another Rising Sun is sure to bring him ever greater recognition in his two fan bases. An artist who divides his time between Boston and Milwaukee, Chi’s Berklee education and his flinty life experience in a mill town make him an artist that many can relate to. He also has a lot to draw from in his musical palette, using it to create painterly stories from his well spring of encounters with interesting characters, including a childhood bully who grew up to be a convicted killer.
Anne Stott masters the musical quirk on Love Never Dies
Anne Stott’s third album Love Never Dies percolates with thick, irresistible grooves and sly rhythms. Stott’s voice is so strong that she raises each of her personal reflections into anthems, declarations, statements that her backing players punctuate with hefty slabs of bass and drums and incisive melodic lines from guitar and keyboards. At times, this Provincetown singer casually slides into a down tempo whispery piece of prettiness. Yet, her voice and her message remain as powerful as they come across in her more driving numbers. She also takes some different twists and turns in her song crafting, moving in directions refreshingly unpredictable.
Ruby Rose Fox is an artist on the way up, all the way up
Ruby Rose Fox has, through hard work and talent, risen to the top of the Boston music scene. After starting out a few years ago going to open mics and networking, she was selected to compete in the 2013 Rumble, got nominated for a couple of Boston Music Awards in 2013 and 2014, before winning a BMA for Best Female Vocalist at last December’s Award show.
Sarah Blacker needs help
BillCopelandMusicNews.com just received the following information from Sarah Blacker, Boston’s acoustic pop princess. Ms. Blacker is trying to raise funds for her upcoming album. She would like to reach 50% of her goal today. Here is her info:
Ross Arnold announces acoustic jam & workshop in Goffstown, NH
Ross Arnold and Steve McDonald will be hosting an acoustic workshop and jam at the Goffstown Parks and Recreation building the second and fourth Monday of every month.
