Steve Markoff and Patricia Lazzara’s cover of Boz Scaggs’ “Look What You’ve Done to Me” is far more personal than any of the duo’s prior material. Markoff’s wife of 39 years chose the song for their wedding dance and the alto flutist picked this track as the duo’s latest pop song with potential for renovation.
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It’s a crowded underground in 2022, to say the least, but with her harmony-powered debut EP Tonight There Might Be Stars, singer/songwriter Karen Turner is making herself quite the standout, to put it mildly. In songs like the urgent “Jacaranda,” a sense of melodic wanderlust permeates even the simplest of verses, bringing us closer to a
The sheer breadth of diversity Holt Vaughn draws from writing, recording, and performing his songs separates him from many peers working today. It’s just the beginning, however. Vaughn began his professional musical journey as a long-haired budding guitar hero with his amplifier cranked to 11, but he’s followed another path for many years. The fruits
Just Breathe is a rock-n-roll romp that seeks to inspire and empower you! The new album from Singer/songwriter Pidgie is a tour-de-force of creative perseverance and personal triumph. Pidgie is a disability rights activist who was born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Pidgie was mentored by her older sister (who also had SMA) on how
The Brian Shapiro Band will soon carve out a place for themselves as one of the brightest and most idiosyncratic musical units working today. Shapiro is an university instructor in his life away from music, but there’s nothing stuffed-shirt or stolidly academic about how he treats his songwriting. The ten tracks included on his sophomore
Steve Markoff and Patricia Lazzara continue building a reputation as one of the pre-eminent instrumental interpreters of popular songs emerging in recent years. Their new single “Layla” doesn’t look back to the original Derek and the Dominos version full of soaring lead guitar and a full rock band performance. Instead, the alto and concert flutist
“I know I’m impatient, you think I got somethin’ to hide / But all I want is for you to be on my side,” pleads a heartfelt David Sparrow in his song “On My Side,” much of his vocal tone reflecting the eminent warmth of its parent album as a whole. In Beggars & Choosers, Sparrow’s
Project Grand Slam has a lot of clout in the American underground, and it isn’t solely because of the weight that leader Robert Miller’s name carries in indie circles. On the contrary, it might be the chemistry, so brilliantly exhibited in the new live single “I’m Falling off of the World,” that brings so many
One of the challenges in writing a review about an album stacked with songs about being a mom is not having the benefit of actually being a parent. No matter – Annette Adler makes it easy to feel the love and walk a mile (or two) in her shoes in her latest open-diary album, Mama Proud.
Wreckless Strangers’ “You Just Hurt” is the third single from their impending album release When the Sun and a Blue Star Collide and arguably the best yet. The six piece band’s memorable foray into outright electric blues jettisons anything country in favor of a gritty yet joyful expression of well-loved style. It is unquestionably retro in the sense
Lamenting in one verse, optimistic in the next, Morten Nygaard comes across as a man as conflicted as he is certain of his own mortality in the new single “Trespassing,” and though a lot of his longtime listeners are already aware of his multidimensionality as a songwriter, this is by far the most accessible of
There’s no denying the stranglehold that the Covid-19 pandemic had on the world for the last two and a half years, but the way it bodied the souls and minds of those with high-functioning anxiety (and similar quirks) is indescribable. Introverts already dreaded leaving their homes and now there was a literal killer on the
The Americana element has been everywhere in pop music over the past year, to the point where a lot of critics have deemed its use a bit too predictable for the artists who have been adopting its key aesthetics. That said, when a player like Brooke Josephson decides to take her music in a different
Equal parts blues swing and old-fashioned country melodicism, the hook-powered “Chillin’ with Me” keeps one foot on either side of the artistic borderline but ultimately feels like a bright piece of Americana. It’s not the only such hybrid you’re going to hear in the new album A Señorita, A Sweet Tea and A Few Good Songs by
The minimalist movement has its hook in everything from pop music to jazz, country, and even hip-hop at the moment, and while you might assume that it’s having a big influence over the singer/songwriters emerging from the underground at the moment, you could also argue that cut and dry concepts have always been a part
Relaxed as a lazy afternoon spent under the summer sun, a whisper of an instrumental melody introduces us to the warmth of “There Will Be Light,” the closing track in Alex Krawczyk’s new album Le Olam. As the song begins to unfold, it quickly becomes obvious that this relatively simple ballad is bound to unleash a
Evolving from a gentle harmony that only gets stronger as we listen on, Larry Jay’s “Saving Lives” doesn’t immediately feel like a larger-than-life piece, but after its stirring intro, it quickly becomes obvious we’re not listening to a stock country song here. The ascending melodies pick up steam as the beat engages with Jay’s lead
“Owe It All” from New York City’s Ella Blicker is the song we all need now. It’s calm, cool and collected. Blicker caresses the listener’s ears with a finely-woven melody. Her wistful and reflective tones are the perfect balance to the murkier and grayscale music bed. “Owe It All” has a catchy chorus, and Blicker
Slow-churning emotional unrest in “How Did You Get in My Heart.” A bucolic sunset imagined in sonic terms for “What a Lovely Day.” Purist romance of the most virginal variety in the single-worthy “When We’re Together.” These three original songs would have been enough to get some positive feedback out of this critic for Bettman
Sacrifice and honor might be the first things you think of when you think of someone who has served or currently serving in the military. Those words might not be at the top of your list if someone is describing an artist or a musician. Still, an indie artist might vehemently disagree. Sacrifice seems to