Fall 2007

		JASON SPOONER The Flame You Follow At any given moment there’s a good chance that Jason Spooner is a finalist in a songwriting contest somewhere. The Portland, Maine singer-songwriter has been scoring props-a-plenty over the last several years, and understandably so. Honey-roasted voice, check; tasty guitar chops, check; Velcro melodies, check; evocative lyrics, check; tight, groove-laden band …. You get the picture. Read more.
		CINDY LEE BERRYHILL Beloved Stranger Some of you may remember Cindy Lee Berryhill’s cult hit, “Damn, I Wish I Was a Man.” That song poked fun at societal perceptions of sexual inequality (and Jack Nicholson’s beer belly). One of her new songs, “When Did Jesus Become a Republican?” is no less provocative, and while you’re not likely to hear it often on the radio, it is climbing the charts on Neil Young’s Living with War website. Read more.
		DAVID LAIBMAN Guitar Artistry of David Laibman Classic Ragtime Guitar David Laibman is a master of fingerstyle picking and an entertaining purveyor of ragtime guitar music. He began playing the guitar in the early ’60s and is considered to be one of the founders of modern fingerstyle classic ragtime guitar. A pair of engaging, instructive DVDs, Guitar Artistry of David Laibman and Classic Ragtime Guitar, bring his skilled technique within fretting range of other developing ragtimers. Read more.
		SYLVIE LEWIS Translations The musical past was a rich prologue for Sylvie Lewis. Specifically, her grandfather’s record collection, which ignited her early love affair with the Great American Songbook. Lewis acknowledges becoming smitten with Ella Fitzgerald and many of that era’s great voices and song crafters, including Duke Ellington, the Gershwin brothers, Cole Porter, Kurt Weill and many others. Read more.

Summer 2007

		CARTER & BODLOVICH The Shadow Out of Time Even if you’re not a jazz fan, you might find yourself succumbing to the infectious jazziness of Carter & Bodlovich. The guitar duo met as music students at Sonoma State University and have been performing in the Northern California region for over seven years. Their chops are formidable enough to have earned opening slots for Joe Satriani and for the fusion supertrio of Al Di Meola, Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty. Read more.
		TYRONE WELLS My Time in the Desert A couple of years ago, Tyrone Wells was using his weekly coffeehouse gig as a testing ground for his songwriting. It wasn’t long before he was selling out the most popular clubs in Los Angeles. Not bad for a guy whose stage fright almost kept him out of the limelight. Read more.
		DANIEL LEE MARTIN On My Way to You It’s a curious but gratifying phenomenon that many of today’s most popular country artists appreciate, and are so adept at playing, both contemporary and traditional music. The trend really started with Garth Brooks, who admitted to the annoyance of some Grand Ole Opry stalwarts that he was a fan of both Billy Joel and Kiss, and Vince Gill, whose country credentials are solidly established but who also plays killer rock guitar and once sang lead on a pop-rock hit with Pure Prairie League. Read more.
		BELINDA GAIL & CURLY MUSGRAVE Red Rock Moon It’s a comfort knowing that talented musicians like Jim “Curly” Musgrave and Belinda Gail are still out there writing, recording and performing traditional Western music — or “cowboy songs,” if you like. Separately, these two acclaimed singers and guitarists have each carved a nice little niche over the past few years as valued preservationists of this classic American music genre. Read more.
		ALBERTO CALTANELLA Il Profumo Dell'Acqua He’s not listed on allmusic.com; his website and his labels are solely in Italian; and you’re not likely to find his CD at your local Best Buy. But you may want to take a class in Italiano, text-message the chef at your local trattoria for assistance, or try the “contatti” link on albertocaltanella.com to get a copy of this CD. Because Il Profumo Dell’Acqua (“the smell of water”?) may be a hidden gem, at least on this side of the Atlantic, but it’s a gem nonetheless. Read more.
		ARTIE TRAUM Thief of Night It would not be a hackneyed expression to say that Artie Traum has gone back to his roots for his new CD, Thief of Time. Traum for now has edged out of the smooth jazz world, where prior releases such as Meetings with Remarkable Friends were well received, to let his songwriting dictate the direction of his new release, and he brought in producer Wendy Waldman to help him. Read more.

Spring 2007

		CHRIS PROCTOR Ladybug Stomp The first Taylor clinician, Chris Proctor, is one of today’s finest steel-string fingerstyle guitarists, in the same league as such esteemed players as the late Michael Hedges and Leo Kottke. Distinctly rootsy in character, Proctor’s multilayered compositions draw from folk, jazz, pop, and classical styles. Read more.
		WENDY WALDMAN My Time in the Desert Wendy Waldman’s new studio album, My Time in the Desert, gets off to a rocking start and doesn’t let up on quality or heart. Waldman worked on this record for five years off and on, until she felt the whole collection of songs gelled. Waldman co-produced with Michael Boshears, with whom she worked on her Warner Brothers records in the 1970s. Read more.
		THE GUGGENHEIM GROTTO ...Waltzing Alone Hailing from the same Dublin songwriting scene as Damien Rice, Irish trio The Guggenheim Grotto might not be as well-known within the U.S., but that’s beginning to change. Syndicated taste-shapers like Morning Becomes Eclectic’s Nic Harcourt (KCRW) and The World Café’s David Dye (WXPN), among others, have taken notice of the group’s musical artistry, and deservedly so, given the exquisitely crafted folk-pop of their LP debut, …Waltzing Alone. Read more.
		ALBERT & GAGE Cry Love Christine Albert and her husband and musical partner, Chris Gage, are a perfect example of why Austin, Texas, has such a thriving music community, not just a “scene.” In addition to various musical collaborations, they’ve lent their talents to countless benefits (for organizations like Meals On Wheels, United Way, and the Austin Children’s Museum, and often to help fellow musicians out of a bind), and Christine’s speaking engagements have included everything from the Family Violence Task Force to the Rotary Club. Read more.
		AMERICA Here & Now The first time I saw America in concert more than 30 years ago, Gerry Beckley, the band’s co-lead singer, guitarist and keyboard player, walked on stage in bare feet, a white t-shirt, and faded jeans with holes in the knees. Smiling from ear to ear, he had a dark tan and long, thick blonde hair that flowed halfway down his back. Coolly and casually strutting across the stage, he was the absolute embodiment of his band’s breezy, sun-drenched songs. But then he sat down at the piano... Read more.
		GERRY BECKLEY Horizontal Fall Even more impressive than America’s new CD, however, is Beckley’s new solo effort, Horizontal Fall, which preceded the band’s project by a few months. A melodic, atmospheric masterpiece, Horizontal Fall was some six years in the making, Beckley says, but it sounds like it was recorded in its entirety in one late-night surge of creative melancholy. Read more.
		REID JAMIESON The Unavoidable Truth Canada’s Reid Jamieson brings sweet choirboy crooning to the honky-tonk. An unabashed fan of the vintage vibe, his musical sensibilities tend toward a country-tinged, retro-roots sound, and over that musical framework his crystal-clear alto softly soars, filling his tunes with supple tenderness. Read more.
		MARC SEAL Marc Seal As of the spring of 2007, Los Angeles-based rock guitarist Marc Seal was finishing the packaging for his latest, self-titled CD, recorded solely with his T5-C2. You might recognize a couple of the riffs if you’ve checked out any of the T5 features on our website recently. Read more.

Winter 2007

		DAVE BARNES Chasing Mississippi In the course of two albums, Mississippi-bred, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Dave Barnes has managed to win glowing accolades from John Mayer, turn Amy Grant into a self-proclaimed stalker, and sell more than 30,000 records without the help of a music label. Sounds like a sign of good things to come. Read more.
		TIM THOMPSON Revved Up A longtime musician, Tim Thompson began playing piano at the age of nine, then switched to trombone before finally settling on his instrument of choice, the guitar. At the same time, he delved into songwriting. Driving frequently between his native Minnesota and Nashville, Tennessee, to pitch tunes, Thompson finally settled down in Music City in 1993. He picked up work as a staff writer for a small music publisher, and also began producing music. (He now has some 35 albums under his belt.) Read more.
		BLAINE LARSEN Rockin' You Tonight Dear Blaine, I hope this finds you well. Just dropping this line to tell you that the night I was assigned to write a review of your new record, I was sitting at home with my wife watching the Grand Ole Opry live, and to my surprise, during a tribute to Barbara Mandrell, there you were. I hadn’t listened to your CD yet, but after hearing you perform the first few bars of your opening song — the catchy, Spanish-tinged “I Don’t Know What She Said” — my wife and I just looked at each other with mouths agape. Read more.
		BIRD YORK Wicked Little High Bird York’s explanation of how she approached recording her major label debut, Wicked Little High, is telling. Rather than succumb to the standard pressure to produce an album with alternating tempos and moods, York thought about how often she chooses music from her own CD collection that is "dialed in" to heighten a particular mood. “A ‘make out’ CD is a ‘must have’,” she says, “so I did my best to create an intelligent version of one.” Read more.
		DAVE MACKENZIE Live! I discovered bluesman MacKenzie’s music a couple of years ago, via his CD, Solo. I’ve been collecting blues records for about 40 years and writing about its players for 30, so my first reaction was, “How could someone this good escape my notice?” (Which then, of course, leads to the question, “If I’m just finding out about this guy, what other killer players are out there?”) Read more.
		BYRON ZANOS Somewhere in the Middle While failed relationships aren’t known for offering consolation prizes, singer-songwriter Byron Zanos managed to get an album’s worth of material out of his. Who knew emotional turmoil could sound so good? Read more.

Fall 2006

		BEPPE GAMBETTA Slade Stomp The essential pleasures to be derived from a deftly flatpicked steel-string guitar in the service of inspired music are in abundance on Beppe Gambetta’s new release, Slade Stomp. It takes only seconds of the first cut, “Hunterdon Bolero” — whose dominant twin-string figure dances like water droplets on a hot skillet — to be swept into the slipstream of a master at the top of his game. Read more.
		HALEY DYKES The Mystery of Her Haley Dykes is a study in wonderful contradictions. Innocent yet worldly, serene yet longing, this singer-songwriter-mandolinist’s songs are steeped in old-timey simplicity and poignancy, but are also very much of their time, with catchy, radio-friendly melodies and even a bit of an edge. And they stay with you. Read more.
		ART TURNER Sonora Acclaimed Canadian fingerstylist Art Turner didn’t take up the guitar until age 31, but the award-winning photographer and former motocross racer evidently made up for lost time. On his fourth release, Sonora, Turner spirits the listener into a world of shapeshifting instrumental mood pieces — some solo acoustic, others as collaborations with several of North America’s elite instrumentalists. Read more.
		DOUG MACLEOD 101 Blues Guitar Essentials One of the things that makes the blues difficult to teach is that it’s such a personal mode of expression; many legends have employed their own unorthodox techniques and tunings. Albert Collins tuned to an open chord; Otis Rush plays upside-down and backwards; Albert King did both. Read more.
		SONS OF MAXWELL Sunday Morning Mention the magic words “sibling harmonies” while describing a music act and you’ll be sure to boost the expectations of listeners. Well, Halifax, Nova Scotia-based brothers Dave and Don Carroll, a.k.a. the Sons of Maxwell, don’t disappoint. Their vocal interplay forms the melodic centerpiece of their classic roots-pop sound, and on their seventh release, Sunday Morning, they brew up a fresh blend of tight two-part harmonies that would likely score a supportive nod from the Everly Brothers. Read more.

Summer 2006

		MIKE KENEALLY BAND Guitar Therapy Live Mike Keneally, a longtime Taylor clinician and former stunt guitarist for the legendary Frank Zappa, is a musical chameleon. Just check out any of his recent works — projects as disparate as the orchestral pieces of The Universe Will Provide and the solo-piano arrangements of Vai Piano Reductions Vol. 1. Read more.
		ELTJO HASELHOFF Fingerstyle Guitar Solos Take a gander at the website of Dutch fingerstylist Eltjo Haselhoff, with his detailed, 3,000-word essays on “Recording Acoustic Guitar”, “Setting Up Your Guitar”, etc., and you might well ask, “Is this guy a guitarist or a physicist?” The answer is: both. Read more.
		DAVID PACK The Secret of Movin' On As a teenager, I fairly idolized David Pack for the phenomenally creative music he made as vocalist/guitarist/composer with the band Ambrosia. Pack came to pop music emboldened by his work with Leonard Bernstein and determined to make a mark similar to that of his idols — the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Yes. Accordingly, Ambrosia’s first two albums featured seemingly endless invention and ambition, while maintaining a firm hold on accessible rock/pop dynamics and melodicism. Read more.
		AMY SPEACE Songs for Bright Street It takes chutzpah, or just plain toughness, for a female Yankee singer-songwriter to call herself an “Americana roots-rocker with a folk streak,” as Amy Speace does when forced to say it in seven words. But when your music simultaneously befits the funkiest little coffeehouse in New Hampshire as it would the dustiest honky-tonk in Texas, the description rings with the authenticity of an artist who transcends the easy classification of marketing. Read more.
		KEV Acoustic Dreams Those who have witnessed KEV’s incendiary live shows will be in for a surprise when they hear his Acoustic Dreams CD, which offers a more relaxed and melodic side of San Diego’s most energetic “guitar activist” (he’s the founder of the San Diego Guitar Society) On his new CD, KEV plays his original compositions with such simple clarity that some might wonder if this can be the same long-haired guitar-slinger whose onstage energy informs his live shows with joyful-yet-edgy passion. Read more.
		BRIAN BUCKLEY For Her I’ll confess that the instant I matched Brian Buckley’s voice and surname, I wondered if the late Jeff Buckley had a younger brother, or half-brother, or some genetic link to this kid. (No relation, it turns out.) While Jeff’s spectacular voice has left a stylistic imprint on a whole generation of singer-songwriters, Brian’s voice often bears a hauntingly uncanny resemblance not only to Jeff’s timbre and range, but to the natural, sweeping grandeur with which JB could inflate a melody. Read more.

Spring 2006

		LEO KOTTKE & MIKE GORDON Sixty Six Steps In the early and mid-’70s, Leo Kottke achieved an unprecedented status for a solo acoustic guitarist: he essentially became a rock star. Not a folk icon like pre-electric Dylan, but a rock act on a major label (Capitol) — headlining auditoriums, appearing on TV shows like Midnight Special, and even placing a record as high as 45 on Billboard’s Pop Albums chart. Read more.
		ANDRA MORAN Listening This soft and sweet collection of mostly love-gone-wrong songs is Andra Moran’s third release. Although it was recorded and produced in Nashville, it sounds more like the light ’70s pop of LA. Think Karen Carpenter. Read more.
		ALI HANDAL Breathing Underwater Even if you’ve never heard of Ali Handal, you’ve probably heard her music. The L.A.-based singer-songwriter’s material has been featured on everything from HBO’s Sex and the City to WB’s Dawson’s Creek, as well as on numerous film scores, radio shows, and even on Northwest and KLM Airlines’ in-flight audio programming. But the industrious Handal has a solo career as well, and plenty to say on her own terms. Read more.
		KEVIN BANFORD Between Heaven & L.A. First impression: Uh-oh, check out them sideburns, vintage Western get-up, and ’50s touring bus. This package is screaming, “Danger, Will Robinson! Incoming retro-poseur with nothing to say!” At least the boy had the good taste to brandish the peghead of his Taylor. Read more.
		THE AUDREYS Between Last Night and Us It’s tempting to conjure up a new genre of music when describing the Audreys’ debut CD. The Melbourne, Australia band’s website heralds its music as “smoky, alt-country pop.” I prefer to call it “Aussiecana” — connoting an infectious hybrid of rootsy Americana with an “outback” sensibility. Read more.
		JODY WHITESIDES Practical Insanity A proud partisan of the double-ought Apple generation, Jody Whitesides is armed and dangerous with his Mac, his looping programs, a boatload of effects plug-ins, and music editing software. Together with his rock-star guitar chops and creative instincts, the abundance of talent and tools could easily spell trouble — think runaway vanity project. Read more.
		THE COTTARS Forerunner You might not know a jig from a gigabyte, but you’ll feel like dancing when you hear the Cottars barreling through one of their infectious fiddle-and-pennywhistle-driven medleys. Forerunner, the group’s third album and their debut on the legendary Rounder label, abounds with instrumental virtuosity and outstanding sibling vocal harmonies. Read more.

Winter 2006

		THE FARMERS Loaded The Beat Farmers came roaring out of San Diego, California in the 1980s to earn a diehard international underground following for its aggressive country-blues-rock. The band carried on until 1995, when singer/drummer/guitarist Country Dick Montana died onstage of a massive heart attack. Read more.
		BRANDI CARLILE Brandi Carlile Twenty-three might seem a tender age to score an album deal with a major label, let alone put out a mature debut effort. But when a musician has been singing and performing since the age of eight, and playing guitar since she was 17, that’s already a good number of years spent getting to know the mic, the stage, and what works to get a song across. Read more.
		JIM "KIMO" WEST Slack Key West On the cover of his new CD, Jim “Kimo” West stands barefoot on the beach, clad in baggy shorts, looking more blissful than Swami Satchidananda after his 19th epiphany. There is no accompanying thought balloon, but if there were, it might read, “Slack key, sí — Weird Al, no!” Read more.
		RICH ECKHARDT Soundcheck Best-known as Toby Keith’s guitarslinger, Rich Eckhardt represents the new breed of Nashville picker — one who plays country music but comes from a decidedly rock background. A product of the D.C. area, he cut his teeth playing covers of Foghat, the Doobie Brothers, and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and cites the Beatles and Monkees as early inspirations. Read more.
		EUGENE RUFFOLO The Hardest Easy Pop songwriting, as a craft, is deceptively elusive and difficult. The writer makes choices about instrumentation, harmonic content, form, melody, lyrics, and myriad other components long before the song’s final vision is realized. The hope is that the little pieces blend into one, the composite parts are forgotten, and only the song and its true meaning are heard and understood by the listener. Read more.
		JONATHAN KINGHAM That Changes Everything Romantic balladry is slippery turf. It takes a special knack for nuance to craft love songs (in this case an entire album’s worth) that conjure the feeling without laying it on too thick or setting off the cliché alarm. Fortunately, award-winning singer-songwriter Jonathan Kingham applies a sensitive touch on That Changes Everything, a classy assortment of candlelit confessions. Read more.

Fall 2005

		LEDWARD KA'APANA Ki ho'alu There’s a reason why some guitarists are considered “masters”. The distinction has less to do with showy technical prowess than with virtuosity so innate as to remain a substratum of performance. Masters transcend the functional parameters of an instrument to tap into and present the essence of a genre; they are the “source” from which mortal players siphon inspiration. Read more.
		BAREFOOT SERVANTS Barefoot Servants 2 It takes a serious (and nervy) group of musicians to stake a claim as a revitalizing force in classic rock. You’d need an unabashedly rocking vocalist who’s unafraid to sing about small towns and girls in strip clubs; two guitarists who handle electric and acoustic six- and 12-string guitars with equal aplomb; and a rhythm section seasoned by years of studio work with everyone from James Taylor to Robert Plant to Bonnie Raitt. Read more.
		HAPPY TRAUM I Walk the Road Again The first thing that crossed my mind while moseying (and that’s the proper gait) through Happy Traum’s new CD was an appreciation of Woodstock as an ongoing musical community, as opposed to its festival’s iconic status as the three days that forever altered American pop culture. Read more.
		SCOTT HUCKABAY Secret Portal Scott Huckabay’s self-description as a “sonic alchemyst” may seem like a stroke of promotional embellishment, yet the tag genuinely captures his inventive approach to crafting acoustic-trance soundscapes. Musically, Huckabay lives and breathes as a one-man-band on stage, where he communes with his lovingly battered K20, looping and layering acoustic rhythms and percussive textures into a rich, holistic union. Read more.
		TOM BOYER A New Beginning It can be challenging to keep knowledge of an artist’s personal life from influencing a critique of his music. For that matter, listeners relate to an artist’s work, famous or otherwise, largely based on such knowledge, which provides clues to the music’s inspiration and sincerity. But it’s truly impossible to write about Tom Boyer’s new CD without taking a measure of the man himself and what this recording represents on more than one level. Read more.

Summer 2005

		MIKE McADOO Guitar Texas For serious students of classic country guitar and fans of clean, expert picking in general, this little gem of an instrumental CD will come as a soul-nourishing listen. McAdoo is a gifted technician and his obvious love of the instrument oozes from the 11 tracks on this, his third CD. Read more.
		BILL COOLEY A Turn in the Road Because human nature dictates that we categorize everything, it’s a rare reviewer who can hunker down to listen to a CD without being somewhat hamstrung by preconceptions. When I got the latest CD from Nashville guitar cat Bill Cooley, I expected to hear “country” music. Read more.
		PAUL TOGIOKA Ki ho'alu Inn The current, widespread surge of interest in slack-key guitar, or Ki ho’alu (literally, “loosen the key”), has raised the profiles of some outstanding players whose music otherwise might never escape the Islands. One rising star, Paul Togioka, is starting to branch out after emerging as Kauai’s premier slack key guitarist. Read more.
		CORINNE Bound For the Living Corinne West’s music lives smack-dab at that intersection of folk, bluegrass, and country styles that we call “Americana”. The term is a convenient handle for music that has rootsy, acoustic elements. Whether or not purist devotees of the genres listed above enjoy hearing them blended into a new category, I am certain they would agree that Corinne West is one talented singer. Read more.
		EG KIGHT Take It Easy Whenever a blues artist comes along with something fresh and personal to say, it’s cause for celebration. Let us now celebrate EG Kight, a woman who eschews the clichéd methodology too often endemic to the genre in lieu of her own uniquely rural, deeply personal sound and style. Read more.
		DARRELL SCOTT Live in NC From the first bass drum beats, shuffling hi-hat pulse, and anxious-yet-restrained electric riffing that opens up Live in NC, you can feel that something is going to happen on this CD from Darrell Scott, Danny Thompson, and Kenny Malone. It doesn’t take long for Scott to unleash his demons, and once he does, listeners will be swept up in the “livest” live album they’ve heard in some time. Read more.
		JOEL RAFAEL BAND Woodyboye: Songs of Woody Guthrie Vol. II “Joel Rafael, his family and friends are excellent examples of musical traditions that have helped make this nation great,” writes Dr. Guy Logsdon in the liner notes to Woodyboye: Songs of Woody Guthrie (And Tales Worth Telling) Volume II, the followup to 2003’s Woodeye [On Review, Winter 2003]. Logsdon refers to a list of traditions fostered by Guthrie, easily the most influential folksinger of all time, including family music, music of faith and belief in this country, and music confronting social concerns and issues. Read more.

Spring 2005

		STEVEN KING Somewhere With You The inspiration for the title of Steven King’s latest CD came from his son James, who at age four was constantly saying, “Daddy, I want to go somewhere with you.” With this CD of 14 original instrumental compositions, Steven takes the rest of us where his young son wanted to go: on a musical exploration with the guitarist as the guide. Read more.
		KATE McDONNELL Where the Mangoes Are On her fourth CD, New England singer-songwriter Kate McDonnell delivers eight new tunes cowritten with Anne Lindley as well as two older songs she’s never recorded, an arrangement of the traditional “Railroad Bill,” and a cover of Steve Earle’s “Goodbye Song.” The CD kicks off with the funky, electrified “Tumbleweed,” a classic road song that highlights the great band that came together for this record. Read more.
		JOHN DANLEY Drifting Into Oblivion On his fifth independent release, John Danley makes brave choices every step of the way. Obviously allowing the music to drive him in unexpected directions on a moment’s notice, the 12 selections wander freely across constantly shifting rhythmic and harmonic vistas. Read more.
		BYRON HILL Ramblings... Record producers often say that in order to make a terrific record, one must start with an outstanding song. Byron Hill is an extremely successful songwriter, and might be considered a “go-to” guy for country music producers. Almost 500 of his songs have been recorded by such stellar artists as Reba McEntire, George Jones, Alabama, Kenny Rogers, and the late Ray Charles, and Hill’s work has earned numerous industry honors. Read more.
		JASON WHITE Tonight's Top Story Don’t let the frequently dark subject matter of singer-songwriter Jason White’s new record scare you away from a sterling batch of melodic, razor-sharp story-songs. White spent several years fronting the popular Cleveland roots-rock outfit the Janglers before forming Jason White and the Dying Breed in the mid-’90s. Read more.
		KIM McLEAN Happy Face Kim McLean’s new CD, Happy Face, is a major milestone on McLean’s journey to develop her own artistic vision. The North Carolina native and now Nashville-based singer and instrumentalist is a seasoned writer whose songs have been recorded by Tim McGraw, Shana Morrison, Trisha Yearwood, and the Judds, among others. Read more.
		PALI In Harmony Those who have surrendered to Hawaii’s tropical charms (guilty, your honor) should enjoy this latest effort by one of the Islands’ most accomplished vocal groups. By way of introduction, a little historical context might be in order. Read more.

Winter 2005

		ARTIE TRAUM Acoustic Jazz Guitar This outstanding collection spans two decades of Artie’s composing and recording with some of the finest musicians on the planet. Each cut is an exhilarating journey, exploring jazz, blues, and world music on acoustic guitar. As Donald Fagen of Steely Dan put it: “These 15 hot tracks are from a true master of the guitar. Artie Traum has the soulful touch that other players can only dream about.” Read more.
		MIKE KENEALLY & METROPOLE ORKEST The Universe Will Provide This ambitious album marks guitar virtuoso Mike Keneally’s first attempt at composing for orchestra, and the results are extremely impressive. Keneally, who co-orchestrated the work with Chris Opperman, clearly has the right stuff to become a major orchestral composer in his own right. Read more.
		DOYLE DYKES Chameleon A decade into Doyle Dykes’ residency as a Taylor clinician, we’re well past the “discovery” phase; I can’t imagine that anyone within reach of this publication doesn’t know that Doyle is a master of the steel-string flattop. With that awareness, of course, come expectations. Long-time fans expect Doyle to play impeccably clean, preternaturally fast, with high-viscosity smoothness, yet with the consummate taste of one who writes carefully synchronized “arrangements” for his fingers, as though they were a fleshy little chamber ensemble. Read more.
		JOHN BATDORF & JAMES LEE STANLEY All Wood and Stones How would it sound if Crosby, Stills, and Nash recorded an album of their favorite Rolling Stones songs? All Wood and Stones comes close to providing an answer. For this project, John Batdorf (remember Batdorf and Rodney?) and James Lee Stanley temporarily set aside their original songwriting muses to reinvent a number of Stones tunes, transforming even hard-core classics with sensitive, soulful lead vocals, sweet multi-layered harmonies, imaginative arrangements, and sparkling, beautifully recorded acoustic guitars. Read more.
		A.J. CROCE Adrian James Croce At the creaky old age of 30, A.J. Croce has already proven to be an inveterate musical talent who has etched a name for himself as a versatile singer-songwriter, performer, and bandleader. Over a decade ago, Croce’s self-titled debut cast him as an emerging exponent of classic, mid-20th century American roots music, namely blues-based, piano-driven tunes inspired by the likes of Ray Charles and imbued with the soulful spirit of Memphis and New Orleans. Read more.
		ZAK MORGAN When Bullfrogs Croak “Though it sounds like he’s retching, frogettes find it fetching,” Morgan sings on the title track in his deep, Crash Test Dummies-esque voice. The song opens with acoustic guitar, and the instrumentation builds. By the time the rock-and-roll rhythm section and lap steel had appeared, my toddler was standing in front of a speaker and bopping to the beat. Read more.
		VARIOUS ARTISTS Henry Mancini -- Pink Guitar No one composed more classic TV and movie themes than the late, great Henry Mancini, whose songs sometimes outshone and outlasted their narrative vehicles. Only the indifferent, cynical, or hardened heart is immune to the languorous poignancy of “Charade”, “Days of Wine and Roses”, “Moon River”, “Dear Heart”, or “Two for the Road”. Read more.

Fall 2004

		EVE SELIS Nothing But the Truth Eve Selis isn’t just a “singer” — she’s an emotion transducer who converts country, R&B, blues, folk, and rock ‘n’ roll signals into a megawatt zap that galvanizes everyone in its path. And as with fellow femme-furnace frontwomen Bonnie Raitt, Joan Osborne, Maria McKee, Melissa Etheridge, and Lydia Pense, the cauterizing power of Selis’s voice can arc-weld material from almost any genre into a personal manifesto. Read more.
		JUSTIN ROTH Shine Justin Roth has a gift for writing meaningful lyrics, stirring melodies, and hooks as memorable as anything you are liable to hear on a major label “pop” release. It’s a heady combination. Read more.
		JAFFE Something to Fall Back On The swift rise of affordable, studio-grade home-recording gear has done wonders for discerning independent artists eager to record their next project on a budget. Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Jaffe is a case in point, adding to the widening sonic blur between big budget production and DIY pluck with his spirited new pop-rock record, Something to Fall Back On. Read more.
		DULCIE TAYLOR Mirrors and Windows A array of sepia-tinged life truths find a glimmering voice on award-winning songwriter Dulcie Taylor’s latest release, Mirrors and Windows, a warm, intimate album of contemporary roots music infused with soulful Appalachian spirit. Steeped in the fertile soil of country-folk and honeyed harmonies, Taylor brings to her music a Southern vocal lilt, tender lyrical insights, and a knack for pristine melodies. Read more.

Summer 2004

		MIKE KENEALLY BAND Dog Mike Keneally has carved out a rather prolific career — part solo artist, part bandleader, part producer, part “ringer” hired to raise the bar in other artists’ bands. Whatever the context, he blends monster chops into subversive rock tapestries sometimes reminiscent of his virtual mentor and one-time employer, Frank Zappa. Read more.
		CARRIE NEWCOMER Betty's Diner: The Best of Carrie Newcomer Many of us who can trace our beginnings in acoustic music back to the era of the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul, and Mary generally are less than thrilled with the state of affairs in the genre today. There was a time when one could understand every word, actually remember a melody line, and walk away from a live concert performance remembering at least half a dozen songs well enough to hum them all the way home. Read more.
		ALAN RHODY Journey Alan Rhody has released six albums while leading the road-heavy life of a singer-songwriter-journeyman. He also has had many of his songs recorded by other artists, including “Christmas to Christmas” (Toby Keith, Tanya Tucker, Lee Greenwood), “I’ll Be True To You” (Oak Ridge Boys), and “Trainwreck of Emotion” (Lorrie Morgan, Del McCoury). Rhody also leads and participates in songwriting workshops at festivals and seminars across the U.S. and Canada. Read more.