URL: https://projectgrandslam.com/ 

The fourth album from Project Grand Slam, The Queen’s Carnival, follows 2015’s roaring success Made in New York. The band has once again set their sights on finding another unusual cover to showcase their imaginative vision and their selection this time, a stunning reinvention of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me”, is by far their most revelatory effort yet. It is breathtaking, over the course of the release’s eleven song, to hear the sheer diversity at the band’s command, but the cover featuring vocalist Lucy Woodward is the burning heart of this record. It highlights the daring that fuels their musical explorations while conclusively demonstrating there isn’t an arrangement of any complexity that their skills can’t fully exploit. The production values are top shelf across the board and does an immaculate job of capturing Project Grand Slam’s varied, almost dense, musical attack.  

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

Longtime Philadelphia native and R&B/soul music legend Bunny Sigler remains every bit as strong of a musical force late in his career as he stood at its peak. He might lack the commercial clout he once enjoyed, but Sigler now enjoys the twin results of two very different rewards. The respect accorded to him as one of the more important progenitors of a particular musical style makes him an in-demand figure for younger musicians to seek out for the reflected glory that working with him brings to their own careers. The second reward is just pure experience. Sigler is no longer beholden to chart positions and sales receipts in the same way that propelled his career as a young man. Instead, the confidence gained from experience allows him to follow his own muse with greater certainty than ever before. 

URL - https://kayleekeller.com/

Have you listed to the Radio lately? Is it me or is something horribly wrong with today’s music. Do you remember when music actually had really instruments in them with real people playing them? No kidding. How about good songwriting performed by artists that not only wrote the music but poured their heart and soul into performing them. Now when one listens to the radio what do you hear: a pretty face, cookie cutter songwriting, crafted via a microphone, some fancy sampling and a mix that sounds more like a commercial than a piece of music. Not to mention the subject matter is a bit off kilter and somewhat dark and melancholy. Yes the magic is all but gone from modern-day music, and people are wondering why. Actually there are a few select artists out there that still believe in the power of music.

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

Different. Unique. Unconventional. Random. Funny.  

These were the initial thoughts I had while listening to Luis Mojica’s debut album Wholesome which released late in July. The album details Luis’ journey from city living to mountain living. Utilizing many instruments like piano, cello, saxophone, flute–to name a few, combined with Luis’ vocal styling creates a unique modern twist on a Baroque sound. Accompanied by Melora Creager of Rasputina, and drummer Brian Viglione, Luis harmonizes his voice with their experienced playing skills. Each song on the album is very different and not like the rest. The instrumentals on each track are strong and memorable. Unfortunately I can not say the same for Luis and his lyrics. Luis has a beautiful voice that harmonizes well and fits the Baroque style perfectly however the album as a whole was definitely lacking.  

URL: https://www.lostinroguevalley.com/

Hailing from Minnesota, Rogue Valley has ventured far from home since their 2009 formation. Their talents have pushed them onto stages with nationally recognized acts like Lucinda Williams and Andrew Bird while they’ve also capitalized on opportunities for appearances on television and movie soundtracks. The five piece presents themselves unusually for the genre they’ve chosen to ply their trade in. Rather than one singer, the band has male and female lead singers. Guitarist and songwriter Chris Koza has a pleasing, middle of the road voice capable of surprising emotive range, but the real vocal star of the show is second vocalist and keyboard player Linnea Mohn. She has a supernaturally fluid ability to move between different vocal registers without producing any apparent strain and inhabits her parts on radiate dissolve with a singular beauty. The twelve songs on this album resist quick labeling – they are never indulgent and often incorporate a number of stylistic traits.

URL: https://www.theannwilsonthing.com/ 

The latest solo release from longtime Heart lead singer and Hall of Famer Ann Wilson, Focus #2, is a laser-focused EP featuring two covers and two original compositions. Wilson’s guitarist Craig Bartok assisted her with writing the new pieces and his guitar work helps distinguish them, along with the cover choices. The cover songs are live recordings and the production does an outstanding job of capturing the band’s performance and enthusiastic audience alike with vivid clarity. The studio recordings are similarly distinguished by the production’s obvious attention to detail and the balanced presentation of two radically different arrangements and styles. One isn’t accustomed to encountering EP releases with such artistic weight, but there’s little question after hearing this release that Wilson is as invigorated as ever both in her capacity as a performer and a writer. 

Primary URL: https://codywebbcountry.com/music/

The self-titled first release from Nashville based songwriter Cody Webb is the sort of initial effort great careers begin on. We live in a fast-paced world. New talents rise and fall with increasing frequency and the durability required for long careers is at a premium. An artist like Cody Webb, however, is ideally poised for sustaining one of those increasingly rarefied careers thanks to his extraordinary mix of performing charisma and songwriting skill. His instrumental talents are another key component in his presentation and underscore everything he does with his voice. It is unlikely that Webb will receive the credit he deserves as a singer, but his performance over this half dozen songs is, by turns, confident and comforting. He is a consummate interpreter and entertainer alike. The production makes him the star of the show, so to speak, but he’s surrounded himself with an assortment of top flight musicians capable of fleshing his songs out to their fullest potential.

Primary URL: https://www.angieandthedeserters.com/ 

Born in upstate New York and raised in Southern California, Angie Bruyere embodies the old cliché about marching to the beat of your own drummer. After deciding to forego a potentially lucrative modeling career, Angie turned her attentions back to a long deferred first love – music. Her love for bands like The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Fleetwood Mac reached a new level with her introduction to artists like Gram Parsons and it had long since inspired her to start playing guitar and writing songs of her own in that tradition. While her vocal talents are considered, her lyrical talents are just as real, if not as obvious. Bruyere is surrounded by a bevy of top notch players on Blood Like Wine and it’s difficult to not be distracted by the pyrotechnics they conjure. The songs, as a whole, are given the best possible presentation by the production and come leaping out of the speakers with a clear ear for balance and definition.  

URL: https://claymeltonband.com/

Clicking the play button, as I was still half asleep after a long night of post production and without a drop of coffee in my system yet, I receive a high octane blast of high octane killer rock out mixed with blues and heavy overtures amalgamated all at the right places that instantaneously swing me back into the reminiscent days of Stevie Ray Vaughn. The opening track to Clay Melton’s EP, the number called, “Tonight,” knocked me on my back side and pop my eyes to wide awake! This is heart pumping raw, Texas killer blues/rock that brings the levels of heavy on the guitar riffs shining as only a Texan rock n roll night could. Clay Melton’s new EP is the caffeinated album needed to wake up a sleepless rock n roll girl.

URL: https://www.kloschinsky.com/

Award winning Canadian songwriter Paul Kloschinsky has established a much deserved reputation as a formidable talent, but his latest full length release Nobody Knows likely pushes him onto a much brighter stage than before. Rarely are albums so unified and, yet, so difficult to pin down stylistically. Kloschinsky maintains a strong uniformity of mood and atmosphere while displaying all the characteristics of a musical chameleon, seamlessly alternating between various strains of genre without the seams ever showing. This fleet-footed facility places his work in a rare class. Kloschinsky’s recording has a distinctly low-fi ambiance, but it enhances the intimacy of the release. The ten song collection sounds like songs written in the wee hours when bleariness skews our perceptions in attention-catching, imaginative ways.