CD and DVD reviews
Have you wanted something so badly that you took a long journey and you vowed not to return until your desire was in your arms? Richard Schroder’s Drivin’ brings back the memories of things I wanted, how they slipped away, how I wanted to reach out but couldn’t. I wish I chased them as Richard…
From Manhattan, New York, parents divorced at the age of 5. Relocated with grandparents in Hong Kong from age 5 to 9. Went back to New York and lived in Brooklyn with Mom and Brother til 14, mom remarried and moved out to Vancouver, Canada and lived there for a year and then moved again…
Gregg Stewart delivers a downright tender ode to the artists who passed away in 2016 with the powerful “Twenty Sixteen”. Singing with great honesty, Gregg Stewart picks from a wide variety of musical styles, going from Prince to David Bowie. By choosing such wide swath, the album reveals a great deal of variation. Things are…
Seattle based four piece Ephrata first formed in 2012 and this self-titled effort is both their first full length release and follow up to their debut EP I Scare No One. The band is centered on guitarist Brady Hall and vocalist Skadi von Reis, but this is an unit of equals who each bring unique…
Co-founder of UK’s premiere Moody Blues tribute band, Blue Onyx back in 2006 Steve Hutchinson is well versed when it comes to music and performing. Ray Thomas, retired founder member of the Moody Blues even called Steve’s voice “great” after seeing him perform. However, when that came to an end several years later, he decided…
With a sound that sounds like a country boy who learned to rock it on the guitar, Steve Meier comes through with a unique sound every time an album is dropped. Whether it be 2016’s Meier or this April’s Sorrys and Goodbyes. He’s firing on all cylinders. Taking control of everything on Sorrys and Goodbyes,…
Free Willy embraces the best of folk and Americana on the impassioned “Remember the Alamo”. Over the course of the album Free Willy prove to be exceptional storytellers, as they sing songs of love, spirituality, and dealing with the daily grind. The sound shines with impressive fiddle work, expressive harmonica, and the gorgeous vocals that…
Ricky was born in Livingston, NJ and lives now in Irvington, NJ and he has had a flair for music for a very long time. He got his first instrument as a Christmas present when he was only 1-year-old. He continued to expand his musical skills from there. He went on to study music at…
Alfredo Dias Gomes first started playing instrumental music professionally when he was 18, playing at Hermeto Pascoal’s band. He recorded the album Cérebro Magnético and performed countless shows, with highlights at the II São Paulo Jazz Festival and Rio Monterrey Festival. Alfredo has played and recorded with several important instrumental musicians, such as Márcio Montarroyos,…
Aired its premier on Tuesday August 15 on Channel 29 in Portland, OR at 10:30PM and is followed by heavy national Television rotation on 66+ TV channels. Including Nashville Channel 9, Los Angeles Channel 36 and many others. Mandy Brooks sings with soul on “People Get Ready”. With a vocal style that draws heavily from…
At first indication of PYRM’s track “Flames and Games”, off their EP “First Light” released this summer, so many acts popped into my head. Ranging from Paramore, The Nearly Deads, Icon For Hire, Stars In Stereo, Stitched Up Heart, Courage My Love, Eyes Set To Kill, and New Years Day. If any of these seems…
Massachusetts-bred band The Sighs compose in an eclectic style borrowing from Power Pop music, combined with an Alt-Rock aesthetic. They write of the mundane and the complex things on life and relationships, and probably doesn’t understand everything but in some way question what they already know. On this his latest entitled “Wait Another Day” it…
Cyborg Asylum is a post-industrial alternative rock duo out of New York City. They’re out with their new single, “My Metallic Dream.” With dark electronic sounds, they take you to a post-apocalyptic world. There’s dreariness and a lingering sense of danger in their music that takes you there. The duo is made up of David…
XD Out is a Christian rock band featuring two brothers, Chris and Josh Haynes. The album art features a man walking away from the camera through an underpass. The viewer can only see the outline of him because the shadows in the photo are strong. This type of photo places the focus in this picture…
Paris Tompkins is the singer and songwriter in the musical trio, The Riot. Love Makes Me Crazy is one of the song on the band’s superb EP titled Tonight We’re Alive. Tompkins has a unique voice that fits perfectly in the rock genre in the old speaker-pounding type of rock way. His voice is mature…
You might be inclined, given the twang in his voice, to think Marc Daniels is a southerner, but the Spokane, Washington native is actually a superbly talented singer whose voice is apparently capable of inhabiting any musical landscape. His performance on the single “Summer Song” definitely has a retro quality, but the production and forceful…
Seventy six years young Bunny Sigler, a key piece of the “Philly” sound and renowned for his extensive work with producers Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble, isn’t yet done despite selling millions of records over his long career and garnering multiple Grammy nods. His latest single, “Angel Eyes”, is a song first popularized by Ol’…
This outside the box project conceived by the trio of renowned actor/musician Steven Bauer, producer/songwriter Jim Petersen, and multi-instrumentalist/producer John Burke highlighted by American singer Gabriella Kreuz and a revolving cast of additional female vocalists. The theory behind this design is keeping the project’s audience on their toes and never allowing things to grow stale.…
Multi-facet singer and songwriter Jacob Acosta and DJ Conrad Sasinski have teamed up for what can be easily considered one of the most intriguing and interesting acts of the last decade, HYTS. One comes from the fine desert in Tucson, AZ while the other have been making some waves in the Bay Area and beyond.…
Unlikely collaborations often bear the tastiest fruits. The self-titled debut release from Weatherboy brings the talents of Los Angeles based restaurateur and artist John Walquist with those of Iceland native and multi-instrumentalist Ragnar Rosinkranz in a ten song collection invoking recognizable sounds from the past while still firmly planting flags in the present. Their penchant…
The expression about cream rising to the top holds true here and doesn’t smack of cliché. Trevor Drury’s “I Know You From the 70’s” deserves every bit of the mainstream attention it has so far garnered as a supreme example of the stylistic prowess modern music can still manifest in the right hands. Drury’s surprising…
“Warfare”, was just released and is the second single out of the series of new singles coming from Dublin’s own Anton Cullen. A multi-instrumentalist and producer of sorts, who has this single as well as a previous single titled “Breaking Through”. Both that single and this single ” Warfare”, expose the ability of what one…
Following a European tour behind his new album, Land Of Doubt, Sam Baker is turning his attention to creative projects in 2017: Opening his first-ever exhibition as a visual artist, staging an original play and filming a documentary. As you may know, Sam has limited hearing after being on a bus that exploded during a…
Through The Dog’s Eyes by bd. Gottfried is an eclectic album with a lot of influences drawn from those he has worked around over the years which reads pretty impressive. This is an album he’s obviously proud of, and the moods it swings through tell all about that. As a veteran musician, he’s seasoned beyond…
After keeping everyone waiting for the past three years, finally Seconds Before Landing makes a compelling comeback with their third album, “Now That I Have Your Attention”. Pittsburgh based John Crispino, the talented composer and vocalist have recreated the magic similar to what their first critically acclaimed album, “The Great Deception”, has retained all these…
Sweden based singer/songwriter Deborah Henriksson is coming out with her new album, Near and Far, on the 25th of August. Henriksson’s music is a mix of Celtic, folk, and country. You can even hear some pop influences if you pay attention. With a rich and distinct sound, Henriksson stays true to her roots in her…
It’s been a little over seven years since I last worked with Steven Bryan and reviewed his album ‘One Way’ back in 2009, – https://skopemag.com/2010/06/22/steven-bryan-one-way. I said then that “You haven’t seen nothing yet from the man they call Steven Bryan; just get ready and prepare yourself because it’s gonna be HUGE!” And man does…
Californian Nicc Angeles is a musician like many other artists within the music scene, making something of themselves in the ways of the art that is music. But of course Nicc’s music is an accessible language of its very own. It is comprised of the elements that go of bring out the true and unapologetic…
Have you come to notice that whatever your age, class, the profession is, there is always a song that appeals to you? No matter how stressed you are or how busy you are or occupied you might be; whenever that tone of music comes to your hearing you enjoy every line of the song. For…
“Stolen Moments” is the eighth solo album for Rick Shaffer, as it would have it, he was inspired by the concept that there is no guarantee’s or promise’s in life, and every minute he has spent writing and recording is his precious time. That said, this album takes 10-tracks of pure rock n’ roll mixed…
Crossing the lines between adult contemporary and indie, all while adding a comedic twist. That’s what Charles Boyd has been doing for over two decades now. A finalist in CBC Radio Canada’s “Young Composer of the Year” in 1992, he showed major promise early on in his career. Due to a mental health condition, he’s…
Sung with heart and passion, Rev Peter Unger creates a true classic with the delicate “Sounds of Christmas”. The way the song builds up feels warm and familiar, akin to spending time with loved ones during that blessed time of year. Rev Peter Unger crafts a fascinating story, one of faith and togetherness that drives…
Music is powerful, everyone knows that. It can make you feel more than you thought capable, it can take you to faraway lands or to distant memories. It can put you in the shoes of a stranger, and it can make you understand parts of yourself you never really considered before. When musicians put their…
During law school, the music of Skipper M. Drost became more than a hobby playing in various drinking establishments in and around New Orleans, La. earning enough to pay for law books. After graduating from Loyola Law School, his passion for music continued, playing once again with his family band in and around his hometown,…
To start with, Elyza is a solo female artist from the Charleston SC area who began her songwriting and singing career in 2013. Her songs, about love and relationships, have a flavoring which she feels is unique to her personality. Currently, her songs are being played in over 131 countries and in all US states,…
Nashville-based indie artist Josh Birdsong is coming out with a new EP on August 28th called Where The Light Bends, and one of the songs on it is called “Complex Context.” Birdsong has a unique sound and it reminds me heavily of atmospheric rock, with all of the elements. It feels more like it’s an…
In the inaugurations of Carter, Jamie Gazelle opened on the eclipse that day in Washington DC as he was then living in Maryland with new wife Roxi. About 50,000 people were on the lawns that day and the song “Open Window” shook the whole place, and a few girls were coming up afterwards who that…
A Registered nurse, passionate poetic and lyric writer. Writes to give voice to those impacted by social issues. A parent of both chosen and birth children, Ruth Garnes is an advocate of children affected by abandonment and abuse. Born in Belize, she migrated to New York at age eighteen. After studying nursing, worked as an…
ZupaNova are a trio consisting of Kimala, who expresses true beauty naturally with her loving character, but ultimately, through her passion for singing, songwriting, fashion modeling and consistently evolving swagger. Davy Brown, who is a multi-genre music producer, recording artist, songwriter, composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, graphic designer, film editor, and…
R.G.F. is an Alternative rock band they have been writing songs and playing music all over the Midwest for over twenty years and it really shows through in their talent. They have several talented guitarists. Scott on bass, Adam metal string acoustic guitar, and Barry on Metal guitar. Definitely a stellar drummer named Mark and…
