CD Reviews

Blues Tonight Band score big with Zombie Blues CD

Blues Tonight Band score big with Zombie Blues CD

Blues Tonight Band have released their first full length CD Zombie Blues. The disc is loaded with feisty blues songs steeped in traditional idioms with modern aggression. All 11 tracks are original songs written by guitarists-vocalists Craig Farrington and Dave Bottom. Each songwriter is steeped in a variety of blues styles and their multiple influences […]

Photo credit: Irene Young

Rebecca Harrold shines on debut CD The River Of Life

After serving as piano player for the Boston Ballet for several years, Rebecca Harrold has recorded and released The River Of Life CD. Harrold fills each track with a variety of instrumental mood music. From stirring, striking themes to forlorn expressions of life’s not so happy moments. Through it all, Harrold maintains high musical integrity, […]

Brendan Kelley could go national on strength of Quicksand CD

Brendan Kelley could go national on strength of Quicksand CD

Young Boston rocker Brendan Kelley kicks ass on his new Quicksand CD. Kelley’s raspy vocal, pounding rhythm section, and edgy guitar work make this a non-stop party. The crystal clear sonics are polished and let every note ring clean and pure. Kelley and each of his players don’t just play instruments. Each player layers these […]

Barbara Cassidy shines on traditional sounding CD Leaving Things The Way I Found Them

Barbara Cassidy shines on traditional sounding CD Leaving Things The Way I Found Them

Barbara Cassidy sings and writes in a style solidly influenced by traditional folk idioms passed down through the centuries. Aside from that distinction from modern folkies and singer-songwriters, she also uses her voice in a style suggesting classical refinement. When she puts it all together on this Barbara Cassidy Band album, Leaving Things The Way […]

Kayla Ringelheim expresses beauty and truth on Wandering Feet CD

Kayla Ringelheim expresses beauty and truth on Wandering Feet CD

Kayla Ringelheim graces her Wandering Feet album with her silky smooth timbre and her stellar lineup of notable local players. Personal stories and emotional honesty make this a very warm and likeable album. Ringelheim composed music that’s loaded with lush melodic and harmonic textures. Producer(and drummer) Lorne Entress pulls a beautiful, natural sound out of […]

Stefilia's Stone CD Like The Moon is a hearty, fulfilling first effort

Stefilia’s Stone CD Like The Moon is a hearty, fulfilling first effort

The Stefilia’s Stone debut CD Like The Moon feature lush duets that carry the listener along many musical and lyrical adventures. Some bright, some dark, the duo efforts of Carrie Rowan and Adrienne Fawkes are considerable and enjoyable. Title track “Like The Moon” opens the CD with a lush harmony from Rowan and Fawkes. Thus […]

Mongrel bring fresh take to metal and punk on Reclamation CD

Mongrel bring fresh take to metal and punk on Reclamation CD

Mongrel have released their fifth CD of hard rocking metalish-punk rock. Reclamation rocks right out with rich lyrical themes on top of driving music with just the right amounts of metal and punch. “Bored To Death” comes charging right in with a raspy throated tough mama vocal, a blazing guitar progression, and a bombastic rhythm […]

Rick Berlin strikes again with Always On Insane CD

Rick Berlin strikes again with Always On Insane CD

Rick Berlin With The Nickel & Dime Band let their high octane rock and roll music pour forth on their new Always On Insane CD. Berlin’s scratchy vocal, edgy backing players, and ebullient song structures are grand and diverse here. Berlin has a driving rock style that cannot not be compared to anybody else. Just […]

The Stone Coyotes rip it up on rocking A Wild Bird Flying CD

The Stone Coyotes rip it up on rocking A Wild Bird Flying CD

Aside from having an interesting personal history, The Stone Coyotes are a whip smart rock and roll trio with carefully crafted, hard-driving songs. The trio has a faint trace of roots rock in their sound. Enough to keep their songs engaging, not so much it feels like a novelty act. Their time period is hard […]

Ron Levy offers up huge creative genius and madness on Funky Fiesta CD

Ron Levy offers up huge creative genius and madness on Funky Fiesta CD

Ron Levy is a madman. In a good creative kind of way. But a madman none the less. Levy’s compositions on his new CD, Funky Fiesta, feature numerous musical styles and instruments crisscrossing and or supporting each other in way that are not usually done. Each composition is like a journey through Levy’s mind, and […]