Willie J. Laws Band will make everybody’s Cornbread Moan with new album
Willie J. Laws is a blues journeyman. Laws has learned the blues by playing and singing the blues all over the country. His education has paid off in spades. Along the way, he has learned a little more than he knew before, and now he stands before us as an electrifying vocal and electric guitar presence. Laws gives off as much spark on his new Cornbread Moan album as he does in his vibrant live shows. Willie J. Laws Band also features bass guitar man Malcolm Stuckey, drummer Osi Brathwaite, and sometimes organist Bruce Mattson.
Joel Cage offers many fine lyrical and musical nuggets on Eponymous album
Joel Cage’ s latest album, Eponymous, offers a whole smattering of styles and approaches that the singer-songwriter expands on in each song. Aside from having something unique to say in each song, Cage makes his mark by putting his songs together with fine craftsmanship. His unerring sense of what a song needs shows itself in each tempo, sustain, and instrumental accompaniment he chooses. Each tuneful work here is the audio vision of a painterly scene in the listener’s mind. His songs are loaded with nuance because this former member of Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes still creates music as if he’s writing for a full band.
Joey Freedom offers more fun rock and roll on We Gotta All Chill Out album
Worcester’s Joey Freedom is at it again. He strikes punk rock gold on this new album, We Gotta All Chill Out. Writing songs for 55 years tends to make one good at. Taking the time to study what one likes and what works for an individual artist is another luxury Freedom has earned. Working with producer Clintone to bring his lyrical and musical visions to life was a wise choice. Clintone packs plenty of punch, playing all drums, lead guitars, bass guitars and singing all of the background vocals.
The Tripping Souls deliver fine, fun 1960s inspired rock and roll on Don’t Waste Your Life album
The Tripping Souls is the name of the studio project in which songwriter Paul Makris creates songs around his compositions. He plays all of the guitars and keyboards and sings all of the vocals. He employs bass player Wayne Whittaker and drummers Steve Chaggaris and Harrison Seller for his rhythm section. But what’s in a name? Music this cool would sound just as good by any other title.
Andy Pratt continues his fine musical journey with The New Normal album
Andy Pratt’s The New Normal CD offers up a lot of what we know, expect, and admire about this recording artist. Pratt is a journeyman on a mission. He continues to create fantastic new music that remains distinct, individualistic, and wholly original. In addition to Pratt’s fine musical and lyrical sketches, there are some very pleasant surprises near the end. If you’ve spent 2014 waiting for an album to fall in love with, this might just be the answer to your prayers.
Arthur James expresses the sublime beauty of blues on Me, Myself & I
Arthur James has finally released his much anticipated solo acoustic blues album. Me, Myself & I finds the southern New Hampshire guitarist applying his craft to meaningful original blues guitar and vocals. His voice is so hefty on this album you’d think he was seven feet tall. His guitar sounds larger than life too, due to the volumes of emotive release it offers throughout Me, Myself & I
Jane Fallon shines throughout Tangled In A Tree album
Jane Fallon puts a lot of grit into her fifth CD, Tangled In A Tree. Her songs are rugged adventure stories and she supports them with an almost strident vocal, edgy country twang, earthy acoustic instruments, and a rock and roll heart. Fallon has lived all around the United States, and she picked up song ideas from every area she had settled in. This life experience gives the singer-songwriter a variety of lyrical inspirations and a variety of song structures.
Retro CD Review: The Installers delivered on 2008 Live – Plus 6 recording
The Installers have had a fairly long history in Central Massachusetts. With the booming voice of singer Stephen Clarke and players who can match his power with their stomping musicianship, The Installers became well known for their engaging, high energy live shows. It makes sense that they recorded themselves in concert at The Bull Run in Shirley. Live – Plus 6, released in 2008, is a fine document of what The Installers have to offer a large function room full of blues and rock fans.
Jeff Root continues his quirky brilliance with The Pig In The Python album
Jeff Root comes up with an album of engaging, interesting, and fun rock and roll music almost yearly. The Pig In The Python CD is another offering from his fertile imagination. Root, from the Central Massachusetts area, has a sound unlike anyone else in the local music scene. His smooth, unique vocal timbre rides over his melody line with a self-restrained energy unlike anything heard before. His song ideas are over the top wholly original, never following the usual songwriting patterns. The Pig In The Python is a dynamite album due to Roots’ ability to remain wholly original. The man seems genetically incapable of following in the footsteps of others. And that’s a good thing.
Tony Savarino plays beautifully, masterfully on Guitararino album
Tony Savarino’s latest instrumental album Guitararino not only plays on his name. The musical themes here play upon many themes from many genres. Savarino is part scholar mining deep reservoirs of genre and history and part master technician, playing each genre with a depth of musical knowledge and skill. This guitarist combines his fantastic gifts to come up with something that is a lot of fun to listen to while it impresses with many fine touches and nuances. This album is the final in a trilogy that began with Guitaring and continued with Guitaresque. After listening to this current album, listeners will probably be hankering for those two recordings.
