Single Review: C. Wired “Baby Prime Became Baby Blue”

Chuck Whyard is a singer-songwriter is currently creating his own music. And to do so, he is using the stage name of C. Wired. For the most part, C. Wired’s music features Progressive Rock and/or Album Oriented Rock, straight-out Rock and Roll influences while he also incorporates musical styles such as Jazz, Blues, and Country. Under that name of C. Wired, the singer-songwriter has already released one album of original music. The first release from C. Wired is entitled Angel Circuit Engaged. Now, the singer-songwriter returns. This time, he has created a single track of original music. That new song from C. Wired is entitled “Baby Prime Became Baby Blue”. And to bring this new track to life, Chuck Whyard once again called upon Angel Circuit Engaged producer Addison Smith to help bring out the best of the song. Having already created songs that switched between many different genres of music, this new track of “Baby Prime Became Baby Blue” is a track with a rather laidback and low-key approach. The first fifty seconds of music on the track focuses on the pairing up of the acoustic guitar and the keyboards; the guitar containing a definite folk feel while the keyboards contain an ambient quality to them. The result is a Folk/New Age musical combination. Soon enough, Chuck Whyard himself adds his vocals to the song. His vocals continue the same low-key feel as the music of the song. The lyrics of the song “Baby Prime Became Baby Blue” also contain a somber feel as they describe a woman who lives in her own personal view of reality. But it’s all a lie as she believed everything she had been told. The new track from C. Wired ultimately comes across as a storyline set to music. With the track “Baby Prime Became Baby Blue,” C. Wired gives the listener just a taste of his music and proves that he could be the next singing storyteller, in much the same vein as songs from the likes of artists such as Tom Waits, Marty Robbins or even C. W. McCall.   

For more information, check out C. Wired’s PR firm, Whiplash Management by clicking on the logo below:

CD Review: Danny Everitt “Dream Big”

Houston-based singer-songwriter Danny Everitt has several decades of writing experience under his belt. In his time as a singer-songwriter, Everitt has developed a style of music that has since become known known as Americana. The music that he creates is heavy on the Country influence but also has plenty of other styles that help to influence the sound. The resulting music from Everitt has been released on a wide variety of releases, some of which were his own albums while others were released under Everitt’s own name. The latest solo album from Danny Everitt is 2017’s Dream Big.

On his newest release of Dream Big, Danny begins with the title track of the release. The track “Dream Big” contains a straight-out Rock and Roll approach while also containing upbeat vocals about going for the most you can get. The track features a strong electric guitar sound that helps add to the Rock and Roll sound. With the Rock and Roll approach it contains, the track sounds as if it would have been right at home on Rock and Roll radio formats back in the eighties.

The song “My Son” slows the pace of the music down. The song takes a Folk/Rock blend and adds a little Jazz to the music in the form of trumpet and strings. The Folk/Jazz sound creates a mellow and laidback to the track and that adds to the emotional feeling of the lyrics about a son who must carry on when his father passes on. The track adds a lot of feeling to the beginning of the Dream Big release.

The album continues with the song “Get the Hook,” a song about a man who wins the lottery and then finds out that money will change your life, but maybe not in the way you may want. The track’s Blues/Rock sound picks up the energy of the music on the release. “Get the Hook” is one track on the release that finds Everitt creating a song with a message.

One of the most beautiful moments on the new release from Danny Everitt belongs to the song “Rosalie”. The track features lyrics about a woman who lives her life as a lie. The slow pace of the song is matched up well with the laidback feel of the music and helps to add to the feeling of the words. The acoustic guitar and accordion help to add to the beauty of the music. While one of the most laidback songs on Dream Big, “Rosalie” ends up being one of shining moments of the album.

As the release continues, Danny Everitt and the rest of the musicians who helped to create the album once again turn out one of the strongest moments on the album with the track “The Tables Have Turned.” The song features a sound that would bring the listener back into the seventies. The music and lyrics for “The Tables Have Turned” both contain a quality that are reminiscent of the era when much of the music played on the radio during that time period was more than just a little laidback. Not only would “The Tables Have Turned” have fit well with other songs from that era, the track feels as if it would have climbed rather high up the music charts at that time.

As the Dream Big album continues, the listener gets to experience a track that seems a little out of place on today’s Country music formats. The song “One Good Chance” is the type of song that would surely have been a hit single in another time period. “One Good Chance” has an energetic quality in its music that would have been perfect for the late seventies, early eighties.

The song “Is There Anymore Gold” once again seems rather retro in its sound. As the track begins, the song contains a Country-Rock sound that seems almost familiar. That’s because the music and the lyrics of the tune incorporate a style that brings to mind the spirit of Rick Nelson; more specifically, Nelson while he was performing with the Shadow Canyon Band. “Is There Anymore Gold” is yet another moment on the Dream Big album from Danny Everitt that the listener will enjoy a radio-friendly track that seems almost destined to become a “hit” single.

The Dream Big album from Danny Everitt showcases the musician’s abilities as both a singer and a songwriter. Throughout the eleven songs that make up the release, the listener will discover many songs that will please their taste in music. And with songs that are strong enough to be singles, Dream Big is one album that not only deserves to be in your album collection, it deserves multiple plays on your favorite music device.

To check out the music of Danny Everitt, click HERE for the song “Dream Big”.

CD Review: Kai Altair “Dreamwalker”

Kai Altair is a classically-trained singer-songwriter who has spent time performing with and belonging to several groups who have helped to shape Altair’s writing style. In addition to those years spent with other people, other elements also helped to shape Altair’s way of composing music. Elements like dance culture, myth, storytelling and dreams all add to the way Altair’s music sounds. The resulting music from Kai Altair is equal parts New Age and Folk music with just a little bit of Electronica thrown in. Altair’s music can be compared to groups like Secret Garden who also create New Age music with a dreamlike quality to their songs.

Kai Altair is currently celebrating the release of her first full-length release entitled Dreamwalker. The songs included on the release feature words and music from Altair and features production from Dave Sharma & Dhruva Ganesan that brings Altair’s music to life.The new album from Kai Altair begins with the track “Draw Down the Moon”. The track begins with a slow pace with a spiritual feeling that surrounds the listener’s senses. The gentle feeling of the song soon builds to include some electronic elements that help add a strong, yet easy beat to the song. The vocals from Altair on the track will remind people of someone like Sarah McLachlan. The gentle feel of that delivery goes well with the visual feeling of the track.

Dreamwalker continues with the track “Shadow Dance”. The track takes the feeling of the first track and adds a lot more power to it. The track still features an underlying New Age spirit to the lyrics of the track but finds Altair adding a dance beat to the song. The energetic feel of the song helps to separate the two tracks from each other.

The track “Change” is one of the most infectious of the tracks on the Dreamwalker release from Kai Altair. The gentle feeling of the song, mixed with the electronic sounds from the keyboards, creates a track that features a New Age-meets-Folk feel. The addition of the effects in the background of the track adds a lot of body to the track, as well. “Change” could easily be one of the strongest tracks on the album.

With the track “Ancient Future,” Kai Altair creates another track that combines several different elements together which end up making a song that is as much about the fun feel of the music as it is about the lyrics. The dance element of the track’s music is combined with a strong cosmically spiritual feeling. The track’s lyrics about how time changes a person mix well with an easy dance beat that seem to transport the listener to some strange time period that is yet to come. “Ancient Future” is probably the track with the deepest meaning in its lyrics.

At the opposite extreme is the track “Inside a Dream”. The song features a minimal amount of lyrics as the track is more about the visuals created by the slightly psychedelic music. When listening to the track, the listener could easily get caught up in a dreamstate because of the music.

With the track of “She Holds Me,” Kai Altair adds a slightly Celtic feel to her release. The reason for the Celtic feeling is because of the inclusion of the musician named HÄANA, a musician who plays the fiddle and takes the same approach to life as Kai Altair. The Celtic feeling added to the New Age-meets- Folk feel from Altair creates a track that brings to mind the music of the New Age band Secret Garden.

Kai Altair’s music feels very relaxing and the listener will be drawn in as soon as they put the Dreamwalker album from Altair on. While this is the type of release that could be played as background music, the songs contained within the release are strong enough to keep the listener’s attention from the first track until the last note. Put on a pair of headphones and find yourself becoming one with the music of Kai Altair.

Reviewer: Matheson Kamin

Rating: ***** (five stars)

To check out Kai Altair’s video “Change,” click on the link.

Mark Dwane “2012”

This is an updated version of an article I wrote back in 2007. This is the version of the review I would have written had I had the opportunity to go deeper into the review. However, with only about 500 words, I was restricted to the amount of words I could write to describe Mark and the album. The album of 2012 from Mark Dwane is very apropos for this year. The album has not lost any of its appeal since the time of its release and it needs to be heard. Check it out.

Much like Jim Brickman, who is known for his New Age instrumental music, Clevelander Mark Dwane is also an instrumental musician. However, Mark Dwane falls into the category of Electronic Music; a form that gives the listener a feeling of floating through the clouds while listening to the music.

To help describe Mark Dwane’s sound, I will let him describe his sound in his own words. This is an excerpt from the interview Mark had in May, 1996 with Margen Magazine, a publication from Spain:

“As a child, I was always interested in music, which was mostly classical. I began lessons on the guitar at age 10 and progressed through a formal education on the instrument. I began composing my own songs very early on, and made my first recording at age 12…..

“Classical music always remained a heavy influence, as well as film scores and experimentalists such as Stockhausen, Reich and the emerging electronic composers.”

Aside from being interviewed in Margen Magazine from Spain, Mark Dwane has also been interviewed in the U.K. magazine Sequences in August of 1996. You can read both interviews in full by clicking on the “interviews” icon on the homepage of Dwane’s website.

With the classical and film score influences running throughout Mark Dwane’s music, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that Mark also makes a salary writing music for the entertainment industry. On his website, you can find a section devoted to the production music that he has written over the years. Production Music is that type of music that is used in the back of commercials and on television shows to add atmosphere. Some of the clients that use Mark’s Production Music include: Fox Sports, Univision, Comcast Sports, the Playboy Channel, and many others.

Mark’s Production Music is for “commercial use only” and is not available to the public. However, Mark has also been writing and recording his own albums for more than 15 years. His library includes 9 albums and an album of alternate mixes and unreleased tracks. The newest album in the library is 2007’s 2012.

2012 was recorded by Mark Dwane in his own Trondant Studios, in Westlake. Each song was composed by Dwane using his MIDI guitar (a guitar that transforms vibrations into electronic sounds by way of a computer) and many other guitars to create the finished product. While some of Dwane’s other albums could be described as “background music for epic sci-fi movies”, and other as “concept albums”, 2012 has some of both styles in its sound.

The album begins with the title track of “2012”. Like the song title suggests, the music of the track begins with Mark Dwane creating a song that has a very ethereal feel, which is helped along by the inclusion of the harp and the sound of the gong that adds to the orchestral feel of the music. The title track of the release is the best way of sliding into an album full of ethereal concepts.

2012 continues with the track “Skywatchers”. “Skywatchers” features some of Mark Dwane’s best guitar work as he creates a song that has multiple layers and seamlessly blends New Age and Jazz together. To go along with the New Age and Jazz flavors that are courtesy of the keyboard programming from Dwane, the track also includes some electric guitar. The inclusion of the electric guitar to the track adds a bit of Rock and Roll flavor to the track. That electric guitar and the drums that appear on the track give the song a slight feeling of music that came from the eighties. This blending of all of the different genres of music in one track makes for one of the best moments on the 2012 album.

With the track “The End of Time,” Dwane uses the music created by his midi guitars to add a lot of atmosphere to the back ground of the track. That atmospheric feeling helps to create a song that features music that seems to suggest a very ominous occurrence. It contains some of the eeriest and most intense music on the entire album. It also comes across as music that could have been in the background of some type of Sci-fi adventure movie as the audience waits for something big to take place.

The 2012 album concludes with perhaps the most beautiful of all of the tracks, the song entitled “Ascension”. “Ascension” contains the feeling of being taken up into the clouds. This track will definitely leave you with two feelings at one time: one feeling that suggests some sadness and one feeling that suggests beauty. All of that comes from the guitar work of Mark Dwane whose music on this song is a combination of New Age and Instrumental Rock. While all of Mark Dwane’s songs are created one musical part at a time being assembled as he records, “Ascension” is one track that actually feels as if the track had been created by an entire band and not simply one man and a midi guitar. The final track of the release makes for a great way to wrap up this album that features a lot of beauty and complexity.

With the album 2012, Mark Dwane created a release that is full of imagery that will capture your imagination. If you like New Age or Soft Jazz, or if you are a fan of background music from movies, give Mark Dwane and his release 2012 a listen and find out what the rest of the world already knows: Mark Dwane is a very talented musician and composer. Visit Mark at his website.