Single Review: Matt Zaddy “Busy”

Canadian singer-songwriter Matt Zaddy is an artist that creates his music blending together Blues, Soul, and some light Rock and Roll. With that musical blend, he also calls upon several of today’s hottest artists for inspiration. Artists like John Mayer, Neil Young, Jason Mraz, Passenger, Ed Sheeran, and plenty of others help shape the music of Zaddy. With these and other influences, Zaddy’s music is just as fresh and inviting as anything currently found on the radio. Within the last few years, Matt Zaddy has been focusing on refining his style and sound, a style he refers to as “Canadiana”. During the time he has been performing, Zaddy has released a single here or there as well as the 2015 five-track EP called Perfect Moments. Since the time of that release, Zaddy has been writing new music and will shortly be releasing his first album.  That album is entitled Be. To help promote the new album, Matt Zaddy is releasing a new single ahead of the album. That single is called “Busy”. For the single of “Busy”, the song was created by Matt Zaddy with the help of four other musicians. Along with Matt Zaddy on vocals and guitar, the rest of the band consists of: Heather Christine on vocals, Jeremy Tozer on vocals and bass, Joash Paul on drums and percussion, and Thomas Francis on keys. Together, the band takes Zaddy’s various musical influences, blends them together and creates a track that draws largely upon the Blues style of Johnny Lang while also adding some influence of someone like the afore-mentioned John Mayer. “Busy” features a strong, powerful guitar base perfect for the Blues while also containing some light Rock and Roll flavor. It’s a perfect Mayer/Lang mashup. Zaddy’s guitar on the track is, of course, the focal point of the music. However, the keys from Thomas Francis add a definite Soul influence to the song and maybe a little Jazz feel, as well. Altogether, the Soul, Blues, Jazz and Rock and Roll influences combine to create a track that feels as if it could be included on any of several radio formats such as Smooth Jazz, Hot A/C and/or Top 40.

For more information, check out Matt Zaddy’s PR firm of Whiplash PR & Management by clicking on the logo for the company.

The entire Be album from Matt Zaddy is due to be in only a matter of days. However, the single of “Busy” is currently available. You can find the “Busy” single HERE.

CD Review: The Jason Gisser Band “The River”

Upstate New York-based rockers the Jason Gisser Band are a group that formed in 2015.The four-piece band consists of: Jason Gisser (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Tom “The Suit” Forst (lead guitar), Big Thurrsty (drums) and Andrew Fennell (bass).  Together, the Jason Gisser Band released a full-length album of Soul-influenced music entitled In The Garden of Crows.

Having already received positive feedback from that debut album, the band has gone back into the studio to work on their follow-up album. But in the meantime, two tracks (“The River” and “Monster”) have started creating good feedback for the band. So much so, that the Jason Gisser Band has taken those two tracks and created a standalone EP featuring only those two tracks. The two-song release featuring those two tracks has been released by the band in order to give the upcoming full-length album called Monster some strong exposure.

The two-song EP from the Jason Gisser Band called The River begins with the title track. “The River” begins with a rather slow pace to the music. The song features a strong Soul flavor to the music and that flavor helps to form the direction that the band takes with the track. The easy feel to the music comes courtesy of the acoustic guitar from Gisser and the laidback performance from Tom Forst on the electric guitar. The acoustic guitar leads the way in the music while the electric guitar adds just a little texture as well as a little energy to the track. The soulful feel of the track is added to by the background singers who add a little hint of Gospel Choir feel to the track. “The River” is a quiet track that still has plenty of energy in its laidback delivery.

The second of two songs on the new EP called The River from the Jason Gisser Band is called “Monster”. Of the two tracks, “Monster” is by far the heavier of the two. The track begins with an easy moment as the band creates a quiet moment with a subtle hint of a monster in the background. As the music starts to build, the band adds more and more energy to the track. Eventually, the track contains a strong Soul feel to the music and eventually, the four musicians blend their instruments together to create a Soul-based jam. The track of “Monster” throws the idea of something harsh and frightening together with rather soothing music to create a track that has already become a favorite among fans of the Jason Gisser Band.

The new EP called The River from the Jason Gisser Band only contains two tracks. However, the two tracks that are included show off just a little of the band’s musical versatility. Going from a rather laidback song to one that contains a bit more of a groove gives you two sides of the same band gives you a hint at what else the band cane do. The two-song EP also gives you a hint at what else the band cane do. Check out The River from the Jason Gisser Band and stay tuned to see just what else the band has planned for the upcoming release that will be titled Monster.

For more information, check out the Jason Gisser Band’s promo for their upcoming release. The promo features the title track from the album Monster.

 

CD Review: The Get Ahead “Volcano”

Portland, Oregon seems to have no shortage of good bands that are producing some really good stuff to listen to. One of those bands that are currently creating some joyful noise in that city’s music scene is The Get Ahead. A five-piece outfit made up of Juliet Howard – Vocals, Nathan Earle – Vocals + Lead/Rhythm Guitar, Danny Johnson – Drums, Sean Farrell – Bass and Steve Johnson – Sax, The Get Ahead creates music that combine the best of artists like Sam & Dave and James Brown & The Famous Flames with a few other styles of rock and roll to create a fresh take on the music.

The Get Ahead is still a relatively young outfit and until recently had only released one six-song self-titled EP. However, that will change in a few weeks when the band releases their new full-length album entitled Volcano.

Volcano begins with the track “Could Be Better”. The guitar from Nathan Earle begins the track with a little soulful feel to the music and then Earle begins to sing lyrics about his life in a way that feels like a blues number until he sings “could be better but it could be worse,” the theme of the song. The vocals from Earle are joined by those from singer Juliet Howard to create a duet-like feel to the lyrics. The music blends Soul with a little R&B to create a strong track.

The quick-paced feel of “Could Be Better” gives way to a slower approach on the track “No One Even Knows,” a track that takes more from the Blues than anything else. The track features vocalist Juliet Howard who sings about leaving home. The sad lyrics tell of a woman who wants something more from her life even if she has to find that life on the streets. The track features some power guitar playing from Nathan Earle and a very soulful and sorrow-filled saxophone solo from Steve Johnson.

Stepping away from the sadness found on “No One Even Knows,” the band turns up the energy on the track “Little Devil”. The track about knowing your inner demons but continuing to look for the light has a great energetic feel and will get the listener moving. The energetic feel of the song is created with the help of bassist Sean Farrell and drummer Danny Johnson who seem to step out from the back of the band to create a much more powerful musical approach than the first two tracks on the release. Along with the energetic feel of the music, the back-and-forth vocal play between Juliet Howard and Nathan Earle help make for a fun listening experience.

Volcano from The Get Ahead continues with the track “Too Hot”. The track features vocalist Juliet Howard who sings about a man who is all looks but no substance: “You may have a fine body, but baby that’s all you got.” Lyrics like that and the simple yet addictive refrain to the song along with the smokin’ music to the song make for a track that could easily be a single.

After plenty of songs that feature very strong and energetic music, the band slows things down with the track “Moonstricken,” a track that features a soft, soulful feel to the music. The soulful playing of the guitar from Nathan Earle begins the track only to be joined by the soft playing from Steve Johnson. After a few moments, Earle’s vocals join the musical mix. Earle and Howard create a duet on the track that has plenty of beauty and magic to it. The slower song is a good change of pace from the earlier, heavier tracks as the listener gets to enjoy the playing ability of all of the band members as they add their “voices” to the track.

There are other artists out there today that create R&B music, but very few can create songs that feel like the stuff that was created by artists like Sam & Dave or even James Brown. The Get Ahead is one group that seems to have figured out the right way to create the music while giving it their own spin. If you are a fan of R&B and/or Soul music, give The Get Ahead and their album of Volcano a listen.

(The Get Ahead are currently in the middle of getting ready to release the newest album of Volcano. The album will be released on February 10th, 2015. Stay tuned to the band’s website for all the details.)
(For this and other releases, check out the band’s PR Firm, Palomine Media.)

CD Review: Myloe “Empty out Your Mind”

Myloe is a four-piece rock band out of the city of Boston that is made up of Alan Hokom on guitar and vocals, Fred Mubang on guitar, Tom Shani on bass and Zach Mullings on drums. They incorporate many different styles of rock into their sound. Some of their sound comes from classic rock and some of it comes from more modern rock sounds. It is this combining of influences that helps to shape the band’s music. Recently, Myloe created an EP with the title of Empty out Your Mind that features the band’s unique combination of music.

The newly-expanded six-song EP Empty out Your Mind from Myloe begins with the title track. “Empty out Your Mind” is a track that features a jam band-like quality to it. The quick pace to the track gives it a lot of energy. The song’s lyrics feature a very upbeat quality to them as they tell you to let go of all negativity. The four members of the group work well together to create the song and each member takes a turn as lead on the track. The play between guitarists Mubang and Hokom gives the track a fun, loose feel to the music. And when bassist Shani takes a solo, it is just as strong as any guitar solo.

The song “Paradox” is one of the hardest rocking songs on the Empty out Your Mind EP from Myloe. The track begins with a very strong bass riff from Tom Shani. The riff leads into a song that features an alternative rock feel. The song’s lyrics are sung by vocalist Alan Hokom with such energy that you can feel the emotion in his delivery. The track really shows off the talent of the band as a whole and gives the listener perhaps the best song on the release.

With the next track of “In Your Eyes,” the band slows the pace down just a little while not losing any of the energy from the track of “Empty out Your Mind”. The track begins with a very strong guitar riff that is quickly joined by another guitar part to help create a song that has a very commercial feel to it. The track builds to the full band feel and proceeds to create a very commercial track. Like “Empty out Your Mind” before it, “In Your Eyes” contains lyrics that have to do with perception. However, in the case of “In Your Eyes,” the song takes the opposite approach to the lyrics as they describe a person who has a very pessimistic view of the world.

Myloe slows the pace down quite a bit with the track “Sidetracked”. While the rest of the release features a rock feel to the music, “Sidetracked” has a feel that is a lot closer to soul music. The combination of soul and rock on the track makes for a very interesting sound and really sets the song apart from the rest of the CD. The song also gives the band the chance to jam and show off their talents as individual musicians. The drum solo from Zach Mullings is rather impressive. The energy level comes back up just a bit with the song “Standstill City”. On this track, you get to experience some of the blending of styles that Myloe does in their songs. The rock and Latin influences on the track will instantly make the listener think they are listening to something from Santana. The jam band quality in the music feels like something from Santana’s musical history.

The Empty out Your Mind CD from Myloe comes to a close with the track “What is Paradise”. The final track of the EP is another track that has a jam band feel to it with some alternative rock influence mixed in. The song is a great way to bring the EP to an end.

To see the video to the song “Empty out Your Mind,” click HERE.