Gina Clowes - True Colors

DISCOGS: https://www.discogs.com/Gina-Clowes-True-Colors/release/10797967

True Colors, the first album release from Gina Clowes, is an auspicious opening to the solo career of the banjo player for Chris Jones and the Night Drivers who formerly played with Bud’s Collective. The dozen songs included on this studio offering bristle with life and energy while demonstrating a sharp intelligence and ear for making the form sound completely modern. The Virginia native, and member of the wildly talented Furtado family, astutely mixes traditional numbers among her more current interpretation of bluegrass music and strands of swing and jazz even work their way into the performances. The album contains an assortment of instrumentals accompanying her lyrically driven numbers and those instrumentals are every bit as memorable thanks to Clowes’ gifts as a melodic songwriter. Unlike many working in this style, Clowes’ album features only one cover and the remaining eleven originals touch on familiar genre touches while still showing unquestionable individuality. True Colors will mesmerize both the casual fan and purist alike; the latter will certainly recognize, early on, that Clowes is a true student of the form.

Romeo Dance Cheetah - Magnificent Man

URL: https://romeodancecheetah.com/

The nine songs on Romeo Dance Cheetah’s Magnificent Man certainly promote an unusual sense of humor and a willingness to subvert listener’s expectations to a significant degree. It’s the product of an unique songwriting point of view that mixes a little raunchiness in with straight satire without ever embracing the nastiness that personifies a cruder approach. Despite the obvious simplicity of the songwriting and the plain-spoken lyrical content, there’s an intelligence guiding even the strangest musical and lyrical moments on the album. Cheetah received a great deal of worldwide notice thanks to his appearance on the hit television show America’s Got Talent and the notoriety illustrates that there’s clearly a place at the table for this talented performer. He has his own take on things while still balancing the unique and familiar in an entertaining package. Romeo Dance Cheetah’s Magnificent Man delivers something good to listeners of all ages and sophistication levels.

The Commotions - Volume II

URL: https://thecommotionsband.com/

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/album/2W4kEOlJbHhi0Da5wFIHyc

The Commotions are a rare act in the music world 2017. They certainly aren’t a retro band despite embracing a arch traditional popular music genre like R&B/soul/blues/funk as promoted by legendary imprints like Stax and Motown, but they demonstrates a clear breadth of musical knowledge while still offering listeners original material and a thoroughly modern presentation. The eleven member band calls the Ottawa, Canada area home and boast a lineup with a horn section, guitars, keyboard and, of course, powerhouse vocals. The singing comes from two different members, Jeff Rogers and Rebecca Noelle, and they bring very different but sympathetic artistic approaches to their respective songs that set the band even further apart from the pack. The band’s songwriting brain trust revolves around three figures, Noelle, guitarist David Gaw, and tenor saxophonist Brian Asselin, but there’s a seamlessness existing from song to song that comes together to make a deep impact on anyone listening.

Dynamos - Shake, Rattle, and Roll

URL: https://www.dynamosmusic.com/

The new single from the artful, hard rockin’ five piece Dynamos “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” poises them to make a big splash as one of the best young rock acts rising through the ranks. Their debut EP Cold Comfort served notice of an important new voice in a style and genre often decried as either dying or dead and this single makes clear the band is ready to pick up where they left off and then some. Each of the band’s five individual components play with powerful chemistry and conviction while Elliot Lawrence’s production brings the instruments close to listeners and highlights Nadia Elmistikawy’s fiery vocals. “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” does a lot of all three of the words in its title and Dynamos come across as a band set to take the rock world by storm. They live up to their hype, stylish presentation, and all that much more.

Mark Newman - When I Aim My Gun

URL: https://www.marknewman.us/

Mark Newman comes across with the sort of easy swagger and broad confidence you might expect from a native New Yorker. It’s also a hallmark of a master musician who has amassed quite a résumé over the years as one of the top sidemen working in popular music today. His ability to skillfully play a number of instruments certainly sets him apart from many players working today and reflects his deep musical vocabulary, but his comparable talents as a vocalist and songwriter make him a total package for audiences in a way that few musical performers ever are. You can hear the many years and life lessons that have gone into making Mark Newman’s “When I Aim My Gun” the powerful experience it proves to be early on, but this is a fundamentally strong song that, even divorced from his performing presence, would make great material for any talented musician and/or performer.

Stranger Friends release EP

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/strangerfriendsband/

Two people could not be Stranger Friends, but that is an easy play on words about a country outfit that isn’t so easy to otherwise take in without a few words about them first. Jamie Floyd comes from West Palm Beach, Florida, and John Martin is from Oklahoma.

They’ve been together for seven years combining their talents and recently recorded a movie soundtrack. A Burt Reynolds movie at that. Together they make an all-out fantastic duo with a self-titled five-track EP. It’s full of world class songs that will help push the movie soundtrack once it’s out in 2018. It’s worth hearing beforehand to get used to them.

Shauna Burns - Scarborough Fair

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

Shauna Burns has been producing outstanding music since her first album in 2005, releasing further well received releases, and making numerous successful live appearances. Her dozen years in the world of popular music have seen her artistic and musical gifts grow exponentially and the songwriting skills she brings to her work on a regular basis rank among the best active on the scene today. Her latest single “Scarborough Fair”, demonstrates her growing confidence as a singer and musician. It is, of course, a cover of a longtime folk standard dating well back over a hundred years and popularized, most notably, by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Simon & Garfunkel. Burns, to her credit, takes on the song like she’s oblivious to its long history. There’s no sign of treating it with kid gloves, too respectfully, like some butterfly pinned under glass. Instead, her cover of this classic resonates with life and beauty.

Johnny Mac Band - 'Ace'

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

Ace – the new CD is chock full of all Blues elements and more, with thirteen colossal tracks. The Johnny Mac Band features Johnny Mac, a veteran of the New York circuit. Singing guitars and fiery solos bookend soulful voices supported by the rock-solid rhythm section of Joe Roberts on keyboards, Dave Ice on bass, and Raymond Hauck on drums.

The band also features the vocal styles and guitar work of Mohair Sam Wylie, a 79, year old blues-man from Badin, North Carolina. The subtle influence of BB King, Ray Charles and others inform the band’s original music which is distinctly their own. “Makin’ Changes” is the first track, and it’s the least of all to feature in this review. It’s not that it’s a bad opener, but maybe just a bad way to open, is it seems to sit better somewhere in the middle. It harks back to the 70s with songs like “I Got The Music In Me” which if it isn’t influenced by, I’d be very surprised.