The Confidence Trick by Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate

The Confidence Trick is Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate‘s  6^th album scheduled for release on July 15, 2022.  This is my second review for this band, my first was for the album Out Of Mind back in 2019.  This four member band features Malcolm Galloway on vocals, lead guitar, keyboards/synths, programming, Mark Gatland on bass guitar, additional and slide guitars, keyboards/synths, Chapman Stick on  backing vocals and Kathryn Thomas on flute, backing vocals. This thirteen track album is broadly within the genre of progressive rock, but includes elements of alt-rock, contemporary classical music, minimalism, and electronic music with such great tracks as World War Terminus. Another Plague, the title track The Confidence Trick, All Empires Fall, Refuge and so much more.  Listening to this album, I heard the amazing sound similar to Pink Floyd and other band of the era.  I was quite impressed with the performance on this album as well as brilliant songwriting and a superb recording.  One day I hope to get the chance to hear their much earlier work to see the growth of this band.  Soon you will be able to get your own copy of this album on CD and digital download from Bandcamp and other music retailers.   To learn more about this band and their music, go to their official website https://hatsoffgentlemen.com/

Isn’t Anyone Coming? by Peggy James

Isn’t Anybody Coming?  is the latest single by Milwaukee, Wisconsin based singer/songwriter Peggy James that was released on Good Friday, April 15, 2022 on the Happy Growl Records label.  This song deals with the conflict in Ukraine  and why is not more being done to help the Ukrainian people?  This is a very well done song with Peggy accompanying  herself on acoustic guitar. Most of the other instrumental tracks were performed by her producer and longtime musical partner, Jim Eannelli, who infuses the music with its genre-spanning scope.  This song was well written, performed and recorded.  Please take a listen to this great song.  “Isn’t Anybody Coming” was released digitally on Good Friday April 15, 2022 via Amazon, iTunes, Apple Music, Pandora, Deezer and other music retailers.  For information on Peggy James please visit: her Facebook page  www.facebook.com/PeggyJamesMusician/  I also want to thank my friend Gary Tanin for turning me on to this song.

Then And Now by The North Star Band

After the North Star Band, a Washington D.C. based country rock band, who formed in 1975 and ended in 1982, its players scattered. But the stars aligned for a new double-CD release, half old material and half new. Appropriately enough, it’s called “Then & Now”.  This band features Al Johnson on vocals and guitar,  Paul Goldstein on drums, Jay Jessup on pedal steel, plus singer and pianist Lou Hager and bassist David Watt Besley on the Then part of the album and guitarist Gantt Mann Kushner and bassist Jim Robeson on the Now part of the album.   This two CD, 20 track album showcases such tracks as Lonesome Losers, Still Believing, On Down The Road, Crow Don’t Crow on the older part of the album and tracks such as Brown Shoe Willy, Whistle Blow, Marianne, Goose Creek and much more on the newer part of the album.  This band still has an amazing sound with a brilliant performance, great songwriting skills and a superb recording.  This is a band that I would not mind hearing live if they ever performed this direction.  This CD is available from their official website https://www.thenorthstarband.com/ where you can learn more about this band and their music.

Cats N Strats by FS3

Cats ‘n’ Strats is the 2022 debut album by Jazz/Fusio Trio called FS3 which features Joe Doblhofer, a Linz/Austrian based guitar player who created this band along with Florian Kasper on drums and Gerald Kiesewetter on bass.  This ten track album  blends together Blues ,Rock, Jazz, and Contemporary Classical Music.  This ten track album features such tracks as Necessary Evil, Soldersnifferr Blues, (Ballad Of The) Blue Gemes. LN and much more.  This album showcases a great performance, creative songwriting and brilliant recording.  This album is available on CD and digital download from Amazon, Apple Music and other music retailers.

Mercy Me by Ronnie Earl And The Broadcasters

Ronnie Earl, a four-time Blues Music Award winner as “Guitar Player of the Year,” follows up the critical and commercial success of his last album, Rise Up, with Mercy Me, a new set of wondrous music with his long-time band, The Broadcasters, released April 15, 2022 via Stony Plain Records.  This amazing band consists of Ronnie Earl on guitar, Dave Limina on piano and hammond B3, Diane Blue on vocals, Forrest Padgett on drums  and  Paul Kochanski on bass.  Guest musicians include Anthony Geraci on piano; Mark Earley on baritone sax; Mario Perrett on tenor sax; Peter Ward on guitar; and Tess Ferraiolo on vocals.  This twelve track blues album features such amazing tracks as Alabama, Soul Searching, A Prayer For Tomorrow, Coal Train Blues, (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me ) Higher And Higher and much more.  This is my third review for this amazing band and still impressed with their performance, songwriting talent and a superb recording.  This is an album that you will want to add to your blues library which is available on CD and digital download from Stony Plain Records, Amazon, Spotify, and many other music retailers.   A vinyl version of this album will be available this summer.  To find out more about his artist, his previous work and much more, go to his official website http://www.ronnieearl.com/

My Satellite by Red Hot Shame

Red Hot Shame is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Xeff Scolari and his fluctuating lineup of Northern California based musical partners in crime. The band will release, My Satellite, on April 15, 2022 on the Shameful Records label.  For the new Red Hot Shame album, Xeff Scolari (lead vocals, acoustic guitar keys, bass and mandolin) recorded with frequent collaborators Steven Pitsenbarger (vocals and percussion), Ryan Wilson (guitar), Spencer Kennedy (bass), Rick Fugate (drums), James Terris (keyboards), and Mark Bennet (harmonica).  This eleven song album is written in four chapters with such tracks as Liftoff, the title track My Satellite, Solitude, Stranded, Little Moon and much more.  I enjoyed this progressive rock album from start to finish with a superb performance, excellent musicianship, amazing songwriting and a brilliant job of recording and production.  You can get your copy of this album soon on CD and digital download from many music retailers. To learn more about this band, their music and where they will be playing near you, go to their official website https://www.redhotshame.com/

Things Are Getting Stranger On The Shore by Mordecai Smyth

As I am getting closer to reaching my 4000^th music review, I am proud to present my latest music listening experience, the album Things Are Getting Stranger On The Shore by UK artist Mordecai Smyth, who was the first artist to sign to the independent record label Mega Dodo.  This amazing album scheduled for release on May 24, 2022.  This eight track album has that sound that I remember from back to the sixties, all well as the progressive rock sound that I love with such tracks as In Your Dark Space, Fear Of Flying, Out Of Thin Air, High Once More and many other great songs.  In addition to an impressive performance on this album, I was moved by the creative talents and a brilliant recording.  I am looking forward to hearing more from this artist, and this particular album will be available in May on Vinyl (my favorite), CD and digital download  from Bandcamp and many other music retailers.  To learn more about this artist and his music, go to his official Bandcamp page https://mordecaismyth.bandcamp.com/