Jeff Summa And The Roasters offer up plenty of talent and fun on Who’s Got My Lighter
Jeff Summa and the Roasters new work Who’s Got My Lighter is robust with vibrant musicianship as well as humorous scenarios in every song. This Connecticut jam band keeps starting out with smart solid song structures for each number then expands each tune into a jam workout, giving the listener even more of what got […]
Namedroppers get even better with Cool Blue Shoes
Namedroppers offer up another fun album built on the solid foundation of blues, old school R&B, and oldies rock and roll from the late 1950s to early 1960s. Putting their own personal stamp on those idioms has, as always, resulted in an album loaded with vibrant songs that allure, entertain, and keep the listener coming […]
Tobin Mueller offers massively pleasant arrangements on Fragments
Tobin Mueller’s Fragments album certainly gives the listener a lot to sink his teeth into. Plenty of thick arrangements leave the tracks with many nuggets to enjoy with each listening. Connecticut’s Mueller digs in so deep that he has to give himself a composer’s credit with the original songwriters from the world of popular music […]
Sado-Domestics rock their exotic sound harder on Getting The Ghost
Sado-Domestics rose up from the Jamaica Plain area of Boston to offer some finely developed recordings as well as live shows in their native city. The band rocks things up much more on their new Getting The Ghost album, though their exotic blend of mandolin, pedal steel, and unusual instrumentation keep the listener just as […]
The Gravel Project certainly do Find What You Need rocking the blues with gusto
Gravel Project’s new release Find What You Need flows with groove in each big boss track. The size of this band’s musical personality carries throughout the album as husky vocals and eruptive instrumentation make the listener feel that someone’s soul was on fire when each song was written and recorded. “Love The Life” opens with […]
Retro CD Review: Joel Cage’s debut Last Hard Road proves a powerful portrait of the artist as a young man
I’m on a kick for writing Retro CD Reviews: Joel Cage’s 1995 debut album Last Hard Road is still bursting with energy from his aggressive vocal rasp and his gritty acoustic guitar assertions. The entire album is a masterwork as well as an accurate portrait of the artist as a young man. Playing all instruments […]
Retro CD Review: Singer-songwriter Karen Grenier soared on 2011’s Crazy Love
It’s that time again, folks. I’m going back in time to write a retro CD Review of a local artist released years ago, Karen Grenier’s 2011 release Crazy Love. On this album Grenier, a New Hampshire to Somerville, Massachusetts singer-songwriter spawns numerous romantic tales with a fine texture of country music idioms and acoustic instruments […]
Atlantic Thrills hammers out fun punk songs on Atlantic Thrills III
Rhode Island’s punk rock trio Atlantic Thrills is releasing its punchy third album soon. On this disc, Atlantic Thrills III, the trio create a sound that represents the way people have to kick, scratch, and claw their way through their daily lives. It’s a jungle out there folks, and Atlantic Thrills show what it takes […]
Alan Arena makes his mark with plenty of class on Deceived
Many in the area blues community know guitarist-vocalist Alan Arena from his work with Hugs For Lizbeth, an offshoot of his role as caregiver for a friend and veteran struck by Huntington’s Disease. Yet, those who follow Arena closely know that he’s also a solid blues musician. Arena’s new album Deceived may be his classiest […]
Molly Pinto Madigan, with daring musical expressions, looks unflinchingly at relationships in Romeo & Juliet In The City
Molly Pinto Madigan is at it again. After releasing an epic tale, progressive folk album a few years back, she now jumps headlong into Romeo & Juliet In The City, an album that takes an unflinching look at relationships, attraction, and loss with every song story told with layers of fine songwriting ideas. “Pilgrims” opens […]
