Contrary to popular belief, the Declaration of Independence does not guarantee happiness, merely the pursuit of happiness. Our founding fathers knew that happiness was too ephemeral to guarantee, so they took aim at the chance to be happy rather than happiness itself. Thomas Jefferson understood this, and so does Joe Virga. On his CD titled […]

If Edith Piaf (1915-1963), Lotte Lenya (1898-1981) and Leon Redbone (timeless) were Mormons (think polygamist, not evangelist), their first and foremost child would be Sol Ruiz (www.solishere.com). I can say this because she is both a vocal seductress and ingenue thrashing songwriter. Dressed in a Little Tramp, Charlie Chaplinesque outfit – summer-grass green trousers, a […]

The thing that makes duos like Simon and Garfunkel, or the Indigo Girls so great is synergy: a one-plus-one-equals-three effect where the whole is even more beautiful than the individuals. It’s this synergy that makes CARNIVAL RAIN AND OTHER SLICES OF LIFE (2008) by the duo CRUSH VELVET (Carrie Lynn Kaplan and Diane Bostick) such […]

When Jimi Hendrix asked ARE YOU EXPERIENCED (Polydor, 1967), a toddler-young Annie Wenz must have looked up from her toy piano and shouted back Hell Yeah! In her latest CD titled RIDE THE SKY, Annie rides right out at you with HALLELUJAH ROSE, projecting all the bravado of Jill Sobule’s groundbreaking 1995 hit I KISSED […]

Alan Bradford (www.reverbnation.com/alanbradford) is one man, one guitar, and on his 2010 CD titled FROM THE HEART, he has one hell of a message: open your eyes. Alan is a singer/songwriter who refuses to look the other way, and in refusing, he opens our eyes and ears to the entirety of the world around us. […]

In his classic title track HEART ATTACK AND VINE (1980), Tom Waits famously states there ain’t no devil, just god when he’s drunk.  Going one better, in his latest CD titled THE DEVIL IN ME, Brother Lou (www.brotherlou.com) tells us there ain’t no devil, there’s just you and me.  Whereas Tom (my hero) has a […]

If Mick Jagger and Greg Allman were related, that relative would be Jimmy Durkin (www.reverbnation.com/jamesdurkin). King of the uniquely toned Yamaha guitars, Jimmy’s latest CD titled ANDY’S CASTLE (2011) – performed, mixed and master by Jimmy – is a trip through the tales of someone who spent their life on the inside looking out. Jimmy’s […]

If heaven were The Everglades, then Valerie C. Wisecracker (www.wisecracker.net) would be heaven’s leader of the band. And it’s always a party when Valerie’s playing, cause whether she’s zippin-it with Zip Robertson or rakin-it with Raiford Starke (www.raifordstarke.com), or just plain setting down a beat with long time collaborator bassist Mitch Mestel (www.iko-iko.com) you’ll always […]