David Starr – The Head and Heart

David Starr – The Head and Heart 

URL: http://davidstarrmusic.com/ 

With Arkansas roots and Colorado wings, David Starr has been making music since the age of 10. He is an Americana singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer with hundreds of live shows and seven releases under his belt both as a solo artist, duo artist and member of the David Starr Band. “The Head and Heart” is the new EP.

 

If you know David Starr from the David Starr Band or not, and you like acoustic driven numbers with great vocals, The Head and Heart will win both over for you. There is no beating the likes of such a producer and Starr is no stranger to John Oates. And together they pull off some beautiful material on this EP with not one bad note on it, which includes a good cover of “California Dreaming” and some smoldering original cuts around it for a serious but also somewhat playful release. It opens with the dramatically inflected “Edge Of The World” by establishing a meaningful vibe, which is laced in the music, as well as the lyrics. But if you’re looking for up-tempo bombast, you won’t find it on this EP.

Having played with the likes of everyone from John Oates to Steve Cropper and others, this is a world class artist, so you get world class writing and playing. When you’ve been around the block, this much it to be expected but perhaps not in every music genre. But this is not an adventure outside the box, with, the exception of the efforts to make the Mamas and Papas proud by putting a twist on it. If that does make you stand up and listen, then the rest is even better but this is no novice attempt either. It has the luxury of succeeding on its own merits. But it takes nothing away from the rest of the set of otherwise wonderful songs.

Another one, aside from that and the lead off track, is “The Head and Heart” itself. With a soul stirring outcry for organization of the heart and minds decisions. It is a heartfelt but mindful song that gets the overall point across that he is ultimately trying to make. These decisions sometimes cannot be reconciled. If you stay on the level they can be balanced, but get off balance and be wrong with yourself. It deals with that and more, but so do all of the subjects on offer, including “Waiting In The Dark” with its slightly more musically energetic moments. It turns out to be one of the strongest tracks, as well as my favorite pick.

But also brought to the party is “I’ve Come For You” with it’s also more upbeat groove. This even starts to rock a bit here and there, to make it even more entertaining, but it keeps that to a minimum throughout. But you just can’t deny the easy listening ability behind this. When you hear it the second time you already feel like you’ve heard it a hundred times. It’s as good as anything else on the whole EP, which is a true mark of its consistency. It leaves you knowing the final track will be good, as long as you’re still listening to what has been described as nothing but good old fashioned music with contemporary passion.

“Dancing With My Pride” brings it back to a simmer as it takes the EP out. It’s a ballad but it cooks not unlike the other tracks, but let’s you know how serious it all is. Nothing heavy-handed, just another lighthearted but very meaningful song. But it even holds its own with anyone who likes good music, it just fits well at the end of some well-crafted enjoyable pieces, so it is yet another compliment to it all. And if David Starr isn’t where he wants to be thus far in his career, he never will be. So, you get the full treatment and that is not always easy without a longer track list to prove it, but it stacks this one up ten-fold. 

 

SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/david-48-1

10/10 

M. Marcinn

That One Eyed Kid - Crash and Burn

 

That One Eyed Kid - Crash and Burn 

PRIMARY URL: http://www.thatoneeyedkid.com/ 

The third EP from Boston headquartered one man band That One Eyed Kid, Crash and Burn, is a delectable five song outing from the “band” mastermind Josh Friedman. Friedman’s talent for using electronic music in close quarters, intimate manner sets him apart from many similar performers. The production stands up to anything from any major – Friedman clearly embarked on this project with a focused idea of what he wanted these songs to sound like and achieves it with shockingly minimal effort. There’s undoubtedly the necessary discipline present to make these songs work, but talent will out and the five cuts on Crash and Burn conclusively prove he is one of the more impressive songwriters working on the indie scene today. His vocals help get all of this already fine material over with even greater ease – there’s something vitally engaging and yet inviting about Friedman’s voice from the first and it’s a quality that never fades. 

It begins with swinging energy on the song “Bright Big Red”. Friedman’s a smart enough writer and performer that he understands exaggerating this energy can take a song into parody or burlesque territory, so “Bright Big Red” deftly straddles the line between too little and too much, erring on the right side throughout. Friedman gives an awesome vocal performance during this song and it helps get the EP off to a fast start. Crash and Burn doesn’t disappoint with its second song “Burn Out Right”. There’s a hard-hitting quality with this song than the beginning number and it experiments much less with things like tempo and changes. Instead, Friedman wants to provoke you both mentally and physically. The effort is a resounding success. He ditches the comparatively laid back vibe of the first two songs in favor of something much wilder and chaotic with the song “Native Advertising”. There’s an influence of golden oldie rock and roll in the song, naturally quite transformed in this modern context, but Friedman is a good enough writer to make those qualities come through in a style all his own. The EP’s use of double tracked and harmony vocals isn’t constant, but Friedman invariably shows an instinct for knowing when and where they can make a meaningful contribution.  

He gets down and funky with the song “No Touching” and doesn’t sound at all out of place attempting to essay this R&B style. There’s some subtle changes in instrumentation that, naturally, accompany such a stab, but he keeps the song well within his electronic music skill set and it produces unusually memorable and faithful results. Crash and Burn closes with the song “Rewind” and it couldn’t be much different than the preceding cut. “Rewind” occupies a bigger stage and doesn’t aspire to the same sort of intimacy while nonetheless pushing the envelope in a more overt way that the previous track never had to. It’s the perfect flourish to end Crash and Burn on and That One Eyed Kid’s conclusion to this EP sets the stage for an undoubtedly brighter future to come.  

SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/thatoneeyedkid/burn-out-right 

Gilbert Mullis

Bradford Loomis - Bravery & the Bell

Bradford Loomis - Bravery & the Bell

 

URL: http://www.bradfordloomis.com/

 

Washington State has produced its share of first class songwriters spanning multiple genres and Bradford Loomis is ready to join their ranks. His new album Bravery & the Bell mines his own life for the material in a way that challenges listeners and audibly provides Loomis with the catharsis he obviously seeks. An artist’s work, however, should never be overt personal diary – it’s the transformative powers of imagination that make it truly resonant with listeners. Imagination manifests itself over the course of these seven songs in the creative arrangements Loomis crafts for his songwriting. His trademark talent is for taking traditional musical elements and refurbishing them with idiosyncratic twists and additions that reflect his individuality. Brandon Bee produced the album with the exception of the final track and first single, but Bravery & the Bell maintains a consistency of sound from the first to the last that shows Loomis’ attention to detail.

 

The album is neatly divided between commercially minded tracks, a couple of acoustic numbers, and a duo of genuine songwriting clinics. The first of this group, the album’s more mainstream oriented fare, includes the opener “Wind & Woe”, “The Swinging Bell”, and the final song “Across the Divide”. The first of these songs begins Bravery & the Bell on a resounding note without overdoing it. There are a number of critical choices Loomis makes during a song like this that puts it over the top for the album’s opening curtain – namely some tough-minded guitar and brief blasts of organ. “Across the Divide” has a lighter hand, perhaps a reflection of its subject matter, and has an appropriately rustic feel while still presenting a broad-based and accessible sound sure to garner much attention. There’s little difficulty in hearing why Loomis picked this for the album’s lead off single.

 

The acoustic tracks might sound a little too similar to some people, but there’s no question that songwriting of a superior stripe is responsible for these songs. They come at ideal points in the track listing, as well, and elicit some of Loomis’ best performances on the album. “Though the Days Are Fleeting” is the more successful of the two thanks to its stronger poetic veneer and the combination of Loomis’ voice and the words bring listeners closer to his personal experience. The songwriting clinics, for lack of a better term, on Bravery and the Bell will stick in your memory for a while. “Chasing Ghosts” is the more typical of the two, but it’s memorable for how it develops in a very artful and unexpected way thanks to the unusual melodic changes it makes while still sounding very much within the Americana style. The second of these two tracks, “Drive You Home”, finds Loomis indulging himself in some soul singing mixed with some of his traditionally minded touches and the effect is rather awesome. It’s especially impressive to hear how comfortably Loomis moves his voice to suit the song. Bravery & the Bell is a solid achievement from the first through the last and solidifies Loomis’ standing as one of the pre-eminent young songwriters working today, regardless of genre.

 

BANDCAMP: http://bradfordloomis.bandcamp.com/

 

Joshua Stryde

 

Threefifty - Gently Among the Coals

Threefifty - Gently Among the Coals 

URL: http://www.threefiftymusic.com/about 

Threefifty’s latest album Gently Among the Coals represents a quantum artistic breakthrough for this New York based band. Each of the eight musicians comprising the band’s lineup are integral to Threefifty’s ability to stretch and redefine the boundaries of their sound – this vast command over their sonic palate affords them a degree of flexibility few bands and artists are fortunate enough to ever enjoy. Even with the luxuries of studios, like multiple takes and mixing, Threefifty’s uncluttered blend of many disparate elements is admirable. These compositions never impose themselves on the listener without offering equal parts physical and mental provocation in return. The songwriting and performances depend much on the guitar, but Threefifty show themselves quite willing to dispense with the instrument when occasion calls. Gently Among the Coals comes off as a career defining effort thus far and sets the bar high for anything the band does from this point forward. 

“Crossing State Lines” is, arguably, the closest thing to a straight rock track on Gently Among the Coals and it does nothing entirely by the book. It does follow the template of orchestrating things for dynamic effect, but that is a move far from the providence of rock music alone. The swirling, massing guitars have an alternating soothing and hypnotic effect. It doesn’t prepare listeners for the turn the band takes on the second song “Allegiance”. This track is an aching, almost baroquely staged number that nevertheless rings with utter sincerity. The elegance of the arrangement and band’s performance may obscure the fine words, but vocalist Leon Guerrero imbues the lyrics with enormous sensitivity. “Unanchored” definitely has a pained air, but the melodic sway it achieves redeems any of its dark atmosphere. There’s a deliberateness to the performance that’s notable – such an approach, typically, bleeds much of the life out of an outing, but this number gives off great warmth despite its mood. 

Electric guitar and electronic music come together for great effect on “Until Our Hearts Give Out”. It’s one of the album’s most effervescent instrumental numbers and bubbles over with a number of tasty melodies. The band’s folky inclinations come to the fore in a very lyrical fashion on the song “You Are Going the Right Way”. It has a lush beauty capable of immediately entrancing listeners. “Fields” is another of the album’s more vividly rendered tunes. It starts off in a muted, atmospheric fashion and the intensity slowly climbs. It is largely instrumental and ends in a particularly memorable way musically, but there are some key vocals heard in the song’s second half. The direct and eloquent piano playing opening “Their Place at the Table” is soon joined by keyboard and bass guitar contributions. Violin comes in and takes over the top line melody with great results. It ends with a hard hitting conclusion. The finale “Freedman” takes a final gamble on a fearless album. Threefifty puts this track together around an evocative electronic setting and takes some surprising turns building Gently Among the Coals to an impactful climax.  

8/10 

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/threefiftymusic 

Montey Wright

Cause for Paws – Rescue Me

Cause for Paws – Rescue Me 

SPOTIFY: https://play.spotify.com/album/531uH5wpvNJQq4KdXTWlDy?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open 

All of the tracks on Rescue Me! were donated to the project by the songwriters and performers: Mary Ann Kennedy, Kathy Chiavola, Cindy Mangsen, Robin Flower, Libby McLaren, Annie Lalley, Heidi Muller, Mark Weems, Ashley Jo Farmer, Friction Farm (Aidan Quinn & Christine Stay), Effron White, Jamie Anderson, Amy White, and Joel Mabus. And with great joy, Blue Night Records has pledged to donate all of its profits from Rescue Me! sales and full CD downloads to animal welfare organizations.

Get your paws out and start scratching for dogs and cats, as Rescue Me ! packs a little of both playfully funny and deadly seriously songs culled from original releases by this great assortment of artists. It’s hard to mention them all with each track, or else this would be a much longer read. But it has everything the Americana, bluegrass and country music lover would want to hear in songs about pets. Starting with a cool story about a cat with a job, entitled “Barn Cat.” And if you can get into all to be heard, then there is no better way to start. The hardest part is relating to these stories about other people’s pets, but if you can block it, you’ll come around.

“Possum And Pearl” contains much more than it appears as a story, but told so well it wins you over with ease, if you let it. Finding abandoned dogs is part of it, but the relationships they go onto have and the bond they form is really the fruit of the bluegrass oriented piece. And even though softly told, it comes out one of the more interesting tracks. This goes into “Our Cats” by Cindy Mangsen, and it’s yet completely different from the previous two. Just to put something in the path early on, there aren’t many tracks that fall very similar, even though the titles can deceive that factor. But this track stands out because there is no music, it’s full acappella with three voices, two of which back Cindy Mangsen. This is most definitely a highlight point.

“Get A Dog” is the next story to delve into, and it is one of the top shelf additions. The soft vocal refrain leads into a funky, groovy reggae dominated backing that is almost too distracting from the story because it offers so much good music which is a departure from everything else on it. You get carried away with the music and a chance to hear it over again to absorb the story is practically forced. But care not, as this track goes the distance with any of its surrounding action. If they were putting these out as singles for the same cause, this one would get my money over and over. It’s a keeper for sure, and the lyrics suffer nowhere on it, they just don’t jump out like the music does.

Jumping ahead a couple of tracks to the mentions of “My Best Friend” “Kitty Kitty” and “Why, Why, Why” as a few stand outs as well. Especially considering the storyline of the third one, as it probably goes above and beyond most here in the lyrics. But it’s also musically valuable with strong country roots, and a slower paced flow to sink into. This is another one of the pleasers on this platter. As well as “Catitude” with its broken family story that leaves this cat with a-tude, so to express.  It’s all in good fun, even when it’s sad, and pets live in the moment anyway, so they make for good song subject matter. It doesn’t matter if they’re cats or dogs.

“I Miss The Dog” and “The Best Dog” go together hand in hand, and I find Amy White to be one of the more pleasing artists on this compilation. Her song The Best Dog involves three dogs in the story, and it should be heard and appreciated for all its worth, just as the others. They all equally add to each-others stories by being compiled onto one disc in a seamless running order. And it all closes with a track from Joel Mabus, entitled “The Kitty Ditty.” It jumps around just like a cat, as it helps finish a worthy release by a lot of talent on one single CD. Don’t walk, run to donate and listen, as these treats don’t go around that often.  

9/10  

Related Article: http://isisasheville.com/event/rescue-cause-paws-cd-release-benefit-concert/ 

Randy Jones

Pat Simmons Jr. - This Mountain

Pat Simmons Jr. - This Mountain 

URL: https://patsimmonsjr.com/ 

This Mountain is a stunning first effort from Patrick Simmons Jr and the six songs sound like the product of a performer much older and more seasoned. There’s not a single note of dross on these cuts. Simmons Jr has a finely tuned ear for writing concise songs with important things to say and a perfect facility for saying them. This Mountain betrays a strong blues, folk, and jazz influence, but Simmons Jr’s upbringing in Hawaii has an enormous effect on the EP’s songwriting. Much of the EP’s lyrical contributions, all exceptionally well written, touch on aspects of his life on the big island of Maui, but he relates the landscape and culture in such a way that anyone with a sense of place in their own lives can surely relate. The production, courtesy of his father Pat Simmons Sr, puts this music out there in the best imaginable way and achieves a perfect balance between the instruments and singing.  

He’s got a lively spirit and way of tackling these songs. It’s patient, however, and “Up and Out By Five” shows that off. Simmons has the vocal chops to match the music, but he has the restraint to make sure his singing lines up well with the arrangement. The result is music that has a real bounce, but it isn’t shallow rudimentary stuff. It all comes down to presentation. The first song gets over a mood that’s important to understanding the release as well. “Rust” shows another face of Simmons’ musical character and the lower-key approach he pursues with this arrangement and vocal makes for an effective tandem with the opener. Bringing slide guitar into the stew gives it a potent spike and raises the soul factor some, but Simmons is the real soul behind these songs. He has an easy going elegance that few debut performers are able to bring to bear and it never fails to sound convincing. 

The mid tempo stride “Mauna Mele” has the same uncluttered approach defining the EP as a whole and the same spirit coloring his singing on the release’s best moments. As the title easily indicates, Simmons has culled the subject from his every day Hawaiian life, but it’s no impediment to understanding the song’s sentiments. “How Many Years” begins life as a straight blues with a practically solo performance setting – it’s just Simmons’ singing, acoustic guitar, and incidental streaks of harmonica. It turns into something quite different early on when drums and new guitars come in, but it never seems to fully capitalize on its obvious potential and some may find themselves longing for a bigger payoff at the end. “Touch the Ground” is another memorable moment, particularly for the inclusion of electric guitar fills, but Simmons gives his best vocal on the album with this performance. He brings it to a perfect ending with the last track “All the Way”. The same generosity of spirit filling many of the song’s performances comes through quite strongly on this closing number. He dovetails his voice quite nicely into the arrangement and the bluesy feel has a positive mood pervading throughout. It brings this release to the sort of closing it deserves and will linger in listener’s memory for quite a while.  

9 out of 10 stars

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/patsimmonsjr 

David Shouse

Tow’rs - Grey Fidelity

Tow’rs - Grey Fidelity 

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/towrsmusic/

This is delicate music for indelicate times. Grey Fidelity presents an unified consciousness distilled from the experiences of five musicians. Two of the five, Ryan and Gretta Miller, are the band’s primary vocal and songwriting force – one can assume that their marriage is an explanation for their shared musical chemistry, but they have talents dovetailing so neatly into each other that it suggests they are artistic kindred spirits despite any legal bonds. Their band mates are important to bringing off the album’s eleven tracks. Tow’rs’ songs are thoughtful and often quite reflective, immersed with elegance and an even ethereal slant, but they are never so blurrily defined they fail to make an impact. They are accessible and easy to engage with from the outset. Much of this is attributable to the powerful interplay between the Miller’s vocals, but there isn’t a single unfinished part of the band’s presentation.  

The fade-in beginning the album is our first clue that we are in for something special. It’s a relatively audacious move and the remainder of the opener, “Girl in Calico”, follows the same trajectory. This isn’t a song with a clear shape. Instead, its existence seems based on the ability it has to maintain its swirl – the confluence of keyboard color, plaintive guitar, and hazy percussion comes out of a dream-like state or one of intense personal reflection. The vocals aim for the same effects and match up nicely with the musical thrust. The loving surfaces of “Revere” betrays a dollop of melancholy lingering just below the surface, but it’s difficult to feel the pain in this song thanks to the crystalline beauty the Millers’ achieve with their vocal. The slow jangle of acoustic guitars and punctuating drums of “Alright” maintain a leaden tempo, but there’s so many layers in the band’s aural presentation no one will be tempted to sleep. “Liminal” has a deceptively simple approach, but there’s much more to this delicate weave of instruments than the song might first project and the quasi-shuffle tone taken by the tempo has a light folk/country music influence that makes it immediately likeable.  

“When I’m Silent” has the same light folk music quality and the traditional instruments featured on the song take turns that are elegantly arranged and never overwrought. Kyle Miller delivers an affecting vocal whose phrasing really makes the words come alive. The indirectness of the band’s musical approach means that their songs make the most impact over the course of the whole track rather than relying on a handful of climatic pay off moments. Some songs cut against this approach. “Consolations” is a noteworthy example that finds the band branching out into comparatively new territory on the album. This track relies on a strong groove between the drums and guitar that never fails, but Kyle Miller acquits himself rather nicely with a jewel of soul singing. “Revelator Man” explores a much wider range, musically, than many of the earlier tracks thanks to its increased theatrical air. The band never strains for this posture, however; instead, they deepen their musical weave without losing any of the deceptive focus going into their earlier performances. Grey Fidelity is one of the year’s most resonant efforts.  

9 out of 10 stars 

I-TUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/grey-fidelity/id1205375057 

Bradley Johnson