It's not often that an artist has such a strong, top-notch debut as local singer/songwriter Rob Green's Soul Dancing.
Filled with stunning songwriting and considerable musicianship, the CD is a sonic adventure. Rob's expressive voice travels through symphonic flourishes, amazing acoustic guitar, jazzy saxes, funky beats, and beyond.
The group have taken the amazing sound from their debut disc and journeyed beyond. The bedrock is still classic, melodic folk rock though. Lena Montecalvo's powerful vocals and Jeffrey Martin's character-filled voice are on full display, as always.
In this cool collection, you get the funkiness of Just Like California, the pop-flavoured Flowers for Peace, the countrifiedLeft a Friend Behind, the catchy I'm the Happiest Man (featuring some cool Ukele work) and much more. Lyrically, they cover many social issues (especially on songs such as On Becoming Noam Chomsky and In Humanity We Trust).
One thing you won't find a lot of on Edgar Breau's latest CD, patches of blue is repetition. The local singer/songwriter covers a whole lot of ground in just 12 songs.
While mainly known as a member of the proto-punk/psych band, Simply Saucer, his solo endeavors are more on the rootsier side. Edgar explores all aspects of the genre: folk, country, blues, celtic, and much more. Every single song has a unique spirit.
Highlights include the trippy title track, the funky One Kind of Love, the wonderfully folky Dreams of Jack Kerouac, and the island sounds of Maria the Sea and the Sun.Joining Edgar in his musical explorations are Mike Trebilcock, Kyle Pacey, Bill Dillon, members of Trickbag (Michael Hickey, Paul Panchezak), Joe Clark, Brian Griffith, Ed Roth, Simply Saucer bassist Kevin Christoff, and Michael Birthelmer (who also produced).
The CD is available at his live shows as well as cdbaby and as downloads on eMusic, iTunes, and cdbaby.
With a core of three distinctive vocalists and a talented team of musicians to back them up, the Caretakers have created an incredibly diverse new CD, Unfinished Thoughts (and Other Stories from the Songwriter's Den)
The Caretakers are Jeffrey C. Martin (guitar, vocals, main songwriter), Lena Montecalvo (vocals), and Norm Van Bergen (vocals, guitar). Though they each have a distinctive voice, the trio also work really well together when the song calls for harmonies.
The band takes the CSNY/Buffalo Springfield/Byrds style folk rock sound and updates it. Elements of southern rock, pop, country, and more can be heard throughout the disc. Lyrically, the songs also explore a number of political themes.
Standout tracks include the epic sounding Seven Monkeys On My Back, the sweet, soulful Daddy Laughed, and the incredibly catchy opening number, It's Thinking Time.
Former Munday Nuns members, Dave Pomfret's new CD: No Rush, is an amazing collection of songs that's hard to pin down stylistically.
Dave (aka Salsa Dave) goes from catchy, rockin' riffs to mellow melodies. On the way, he touches on folk, rock, and even bits of pop and country thrown in.
Joining Dave in making this great music is former Nuns bandmate (and former Killjoy) Mike Trebilcock on guitar and many other instruments. Mike also produced the disc.
The album was also a family affair as his wife, Karen Sturrock and his stepchildren joined on backing vocals. His son, Brier Pomfret, plays the piano on it as well.
