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Originally from Bennington, VT rocker J. D. Malone (John Dennis Maloney, Jr.) moved to Philadelphia in 1989 after a stint in the navy and became heavily involved in the area's music scene. He's become quite a name in the Delaware Valley by performing everywhere from small bars to large, outdoor, music festivals. Malone's four man backing group, The Experts, have made several albums with him and all of them feature the rocking singer-songwriter on lead vocals and as the primary composer. I don't know where their name came from but the outfit plays like what their name says they are - experts. They're a group of seasoned professionals whose musicianship rivals many bands that have acquired far more commercial success. Malone's songwriting is the main reason to listen to  Even Sunbeams , a brief seven song set that is currently available on all of the music streaming sites and download services. (To obtain a copy on CD you'll have to ...

It may not be as worn out as many other Christmas classics heard on the radio every holiday season, but Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" has still become a much loved standard.  Wonder's first Christmas song is not a party record. Motown released the single in November 1966, probably in response to the tumultuous times America was living through that winter just a few months before the Summer of Love. Racial tensions were at a high point while the war in Vietnam was raging and becoming the biggest issue of division between hawks and doves, young and old. Despite the factional tensions, the record takes a positive tone that all poverty, war and hate will be overcome in the future, even if it doesn't happen in our lifetime. Both subjects are addressed in the opening stanza. " Someday at Christmas, men won't be boys,  Playing with bombs like kids play with toys,  One warm December our hearts will see,  A world where men are free." "Someday at...

I've always liked Daryl Hall and John Oates from afar but in the 21st Century I've come to appreciate them a lot more than I have in the past. Home For Christmas was their third really strong CD in a row following 2003's Do It For Love and 2004's Our Kind Of Soul . All three CDs rival their best albums from the 70s and 80s suggesting that the 21st century edition of H & O is arguably just as good as their earlier incarnations. Even considering that hot streak I still wasn't expecting anything as stunningly and consistently great as Home For Christmas , one of my all-time favorite holiday albums. While Home For Christmas never loses sight of what Hall & Oates do best - making blue-eyed soul colored with lots of mainstream pop-rock - their choice of material for this album indicates the duo has far more eclectic tastes than they ever showed us during their glory years of the early 80s. Recording carols and religious songs for pop Christmas albums are cons...

Brinsley Schwarz Today - Courtesy of Fretsore Records You're about to become better acquainted with Brinsley Schwarz, a guitarist who was an important part of the English pub-rock scene of the 1970s. Schwarz played in a band that became a cult favorite, but sadly they achieved little commercial success. That band - named after him - is mostly famous for jump-starting the career of Nick Lowe, his friend from before they were bandmates. Brinsley Schwarz (the band) originally introduced Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding," later a hit for Elvis Costello; "Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)," from  Rockpile's classic Seconds of Pleasure LP; and Lowe's own big hit, "Cruel to Be Kind."    After the demise of his cool little outfit Schwarz had a long career working with rocker Graham Parker, and now he's a critically acclaimed solo artist. All of these subjects and more will be touched upon in the intervie...

Brinsley Schwarz was the guitarist of a very fine, English pub-rock band from the early 70s that was named after him and included both future star Nick Lowe  and the group's rhythm guitarist  Ian Gomm . After the quintet broke up Schwarz worked with both Graham Parker and his band, The Rumour, as lead axeman for twenty-five years. The British rocker is still working today and he released a new song for the season shortly before Christmas 2021, but I didn't discover it until early this year while working on a review of his most recent solo album,  Tangled . Let's start the discussion of this song with a quick clarification. Schwarz's "This Christmas," is his own, recent composition. It is not the often covered, perennially overplayed, holiday classic first released by Donny Hathaway way back in 1970. Schwarz's inspiration for the song came from experiencing a cold but beautiful winter's evening sky brightly lit by a multitude of stars. It was shortly be...