Bloggerhythms

Brinsley Schwarz has been discussed here several times before in two ways: as part of his namesake, pub-rock band and as a solo artist . You can't go wrong with either one. Schwarz spent a handful of years playing lead guitar as the nominal leader of his early '70s quintet followed by decades as a sideman in the same role for Graham Parker and the Rumour. In recent years, the English rock veteran has become a singer-songwriter making music his own way.  Shouting at the Moon is his third solo album. Schwarz easily creates a groove, sets a mood, and proves his worthiness as an axman, all without pretentiousness or excessive volume. He doesn't possess a strong set of pipes, but as always, his vocals are pleasingly straightforward and quite easy on your ears. Schwarz's lyrics aren't cryptic, but they aren't trite or obvious either, so you need to pay attention. It's always the best way to enjoy intelligent songwriting. On ...

I wrote about Samara Joy McLendon's jazz and gospel inflected Christmas EP  almost two years ago, but I shouldn't have waited so long to discuss the first of her three full length albums. So, let's do it now. This eponymous debut was released when she was only twenty-one years old, even before she graduated from college with a magna cum laude designation. The young singer - who doesn't use her last name professionally - comes from a very musical family. Her father and paternal grandparents are renowned gospel singers, so music is in her blood. She was introduced to jazz in college at SUNY Purchase where she was the valedictorian of her graduating class. The still young singer has already won five Grammys, including the sometimes cursed Best New Artist award in 2023. The good news is unlike Milli Vanilli or The Starland Vocal Band she's not going to disappear any time soon. This twelve song set is all about Joy's vocals. Like Ella Fitzge...

This is going to be an unusual post. It's a review of a very good, country music CD with a sociological perspective, and I believe it's worth reading even if you're not interested in Patsy Cline or country music. What's under discussion here is one of the seemingly endless, posthumous releases of Cline's recorded work, but this disc,  Birth of a Country Legend , is unique. It's a rare, live CD featuring seventeen songs Cline sang on her visits to Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts . For those of you who are too young to have grown up with him, Godfrey was one of early television's legendary pioneers, and his importance cannot be overstated. In the 1950s, along with Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle, Sid Caeser, Steve Allen, and others, he helped make the young, popular medium the primary source of home entertainment. Godfrey's talk and variety series was a ratings juggernaut due to his downho...

The British Invasion exploded onto our shores on February 9, 1964 when The Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and it continued pretty much unabated through 1966. It only lasted about three years, but its influence was both vast and intense. The only big movement that rivaled them for chart dominance came from Motown. The Invasion's first wave gave birth to a second one with the newer groups often featuring stars from the bands that preceded them. Some of the earlier artists survived that initial assault into 1967 and beyond even though pop music trends began changing again, but others - like Herman's Hermits and The Dave Clark Five - stopped having hits in America while maintaining successful careers back home. The list of artists from the United Kingdom that found success in the United States from 1964 through 1966 was extensive, and many of them were quite prolific. Perhaps that's why there are so many forgotten gems. Here are five British Invasio...

The kind of country music Kristen P. (KP) Hawthorn creates abandoned the mainstream a long time ago. Not all country songs have twang, and the artists who create them don't all wear cowboy hats, flannel shirts and denim, and hail from Texas or the deep South, meaning California native Hawthorn isn't Miranda Lambert. She offers a distinctly feminine perspective to a heavily male dominated genre without projecting any kind of tough girl image in her music, and that is refreshing. Hawthorn's debut solo set, Til The Glitter End , is being marketed as country music - its nine tracks were recorded in Nashville where she's now based - but it's easy to believe she sounds more like a 70s, Laurel Canyon, singer-songwriter. The SoCal influence is apparent in her sometimes oblique and introspective lyrics, traits most conventional country songs aren't known for. You'll also find the canyon's impact in her musically astute arrangements and high-class...