Travis Colby Band take it to a higher level on A Better Age
Travis Colby Band just dropped their sophomore CD A Better Age, and it’s chockfull of great blues guitar and piano styles. Colby has erased his New Hampshire accent entirely for this recording, sounding like a blues singer from a better time in the genre. There is also a lot of sophistication within this collection of cool blues, hot soul, and driving funk.
Jennifer Greer proves queen of techniques on engaging Hey Tide album
Jennifer Greer’s fourth album, Hey Tide, is an assemblage of artful, colorful songs. Featuring Greer’s honeyed voice and lively piano melodies, these tunes flow in a variety of currents, some subtle, some intense, all infused with her often spellbinding talent.
Singlecast rock hard and rock well on debut CD
Singlecast’s self-titled CD is loaded with impressive hard rock songs that consist of fine melodic vocal belting, piercing guitar phrases, and a rhythm section with plenty of chunk. Keeping their music well structured and melodic as well as hard driving is what makes this trio’s debut so much fun to listen to.
Dan Blakeslee makes beautiful music his own way on Owed To The Tanglin’ Wind album
Dan Blakeslee’s latest album Owed To The Tanglin Wind is fine collection of new fangled twists on the folk and Americana roots music he has become so well respected for. Though it is impossible to categorize Blakeslee into any particular genre or subgenre, he does conjure a lot of the emotive qualities associated with acoustic music and older forms of American music. Yet, he uses those genres more than they use him, forming his own individual songwriting patterns, keeping his genres fresh while adding some edge. A lot of his songs do not follow expected songwriting structures, leaving his listener with a goulash of instrumentation and vocals that moves in unusual patterns
Famous Jane stand out with their roots rock album New Persuasion
Do you know how sometimes a really, really good local album seems to come out of nowhere? Well, it’s happened again. The upstart New Hampshire band called Famous Jane, brain child of producer-singer-songwriter-guitarist Hank Decken, just released their debut album, New Persuasion.
Munk Duane works wonders on Argue With Gravity album
Munk Duane’s new album Argue With Gravity is a classy rock and roll affair with ballads, R&B, and a few other styles. Duane’s smooth, soft timbre coats each song with warm, emotive charm. The soundscape beneath the voice consists of many fine musical elements. Depending on the song, there could be anything from a dreamy […]
High Hopes band offer much reggae fun on Forever Love album
We’ve got the fun, mahn. High Hopes Band latest album Forever Love is an enjoyable journey through a few different takes on the possibilities in reggae music. These recent winners of the New England Music Awards for Best In State: Massachusetts show why they are popular with other musicians as well as popular with mass […]
The Luxury thrive on Bones & Beaten Heart album
The Luxury’s latest full length album Bones And Beaten Heart is a shimmering piece of artwork. From its opening synth notes to its grand finale of acoustic guitar rock, The Luxury don’t try to imitate any other band in existence. It’s impressive all that they have a lot going on while they entertain the ears with an unusual approach to song structure. Influences likely range from The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Electric Light Orchestra to more modern rock bands like Snow Patrol. But, they never wear those influences on their sleeves, and their complexity of songwriting makes it very difficult to compare them to any other artists.
The Joshua Incident master folk music idioms and literary lyrics on debut album Red
Fans of acoustic, roots, and folk music won’t be able to get enough of The Joshua Incident’s debut album, Red. Natural acoustic instruments provide plenty of gritty picking styles, tender melodies, and atmospheric moods while lush, full vocal harmonies carrying one away like a magic carpet ride. The Portsmouth, New Hampshire quartet open this album […]
Blindside Thunder rock hard, rock well on 100 Proof album
Blindside Thunder’s third album 100 proof is chockfull of hard rock idioms spawned from the late 1980s until the present time. Swaggering lead vocals, aggressive guitars and bass, and chugging, pounding drum work are the order of the day. Recent nominees at last month’s New England Music Awards, these Providence, Rhode Island boys prove their […]
