Concert Connection: Blake Morgan

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Native New Yorker Blake Morgan is a recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and the founder and owner of ECR Music Group. His music advocacy has taken him to Capitol Hill numerous times where, as the founder of the #IRespectMusic movement, he continues to fight for music makers’ rights in the digital age. As a musician, his album Diamonds In The Dark is a prime example of his soulful inspired songwriting.

Blake Morgan continued his ongoing residency at Rockwood Music Hall’s Stage 3 in NYC. I saw the show with his special guest Tracy Bonham. Morgan will embark on a major tour of The United Kingdom, this time running through Brighton, Manchester, London, Birmingham, and Bristol. Blake will be joined by acclaimed singer-songwriter Julia Haltigan, who will be opening up for him on this run. He is expected to return to Rockwood on Jan. 17, 2018 with special guest Michael Leonhart.

Check him out on these dates:

12/3/17 – BRIGHTON – The Hope and Ruin (RSVP: HERE)
12/4/17 – MANCHESTER – Gulliver’s (RSVP: HERE)
12/5/17 – LONDON – The Macbeth (RSVP: HERE)
12/6/17 – BIRMINGHAM – Sunflower Lounge (RSVP: HERE)
12/8/17 – BRISTOL – The Louisiana (RSVP: HERE)

Blitzen Trapper and Dave Caruso

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Blitzen Trapper

Blitzen Trapper “Wild and Reckless”

Not content to stick to a genre, Blitzen Trapper has landed somewhere between alt. country and roots rock on its latest LP. Lead singer Eric Earley is part Dylan, part Neil Young with a touch of Springsteen and Tom Petty. Opening with “Rebel” it sets up a story of roadside Americana about a young couple, running from the law and other things. The title track sets the grand theme with a terrific guitar riff in the chorus and it has richly layered instrumentation.

With “Forever Pt. 1” it sets up an epic with lush piano,  strings, and beautiful harmonies – but it then settles into the dusty folk narrative “Joanna” and the bouncy “No Man’s Land.” It always seems to tease us into another genre only to tread similar ground. The music is here fairly predictable if you know the band, but you get occasional brilliance on the energetic “Dance With Me,” and the anthemic finale “Wind Don’t Always Blow.”

Amazon


Dave Caruso

Dave Caruso “Buddha Pesto Manifesto”

On the opener, “Listen to This,” it actually describes his music “getting stuck in your head.” Caruso then teases you on “Go Ahead (Don’t Listen)” an Elvis Costello-like rocker, and it then draws you into his world with his soft and inviting vocal. What follows is the brilliant pop narrative “Boomer, Jenna & Lennie” a nostalgic story that recalls Andrew Gold mixed with Brian Wilson styled vocals. The easy-going gems “The Girl Who Checks All The Boxes” and “Hanging With You” have enough Beatle-isms to keep it compelling along with its bright catchy melodies.

Each track is a wonderful surprise from the hymn-like harpsichord pop of  “God’s Green Acre” to the 80’s style power pop of “Getting Involved” and “Allendale.” There is plenty of humorous wordplay with the “Punctuating Shatner,” and the heartbreaking “I Get To Make Her Laugh” will make you think about all those class clowns who are crying on the inside. Not a wasted note here and Highly Recommended.

Amazon | Kool Kat Musik | CD Baby

Tommy Keene, Power Pop icon 1958 – 2017

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Tommy Keene, a veteran power pop singer-songwriter has passed away. His website made the announcement, gives no cause of death and simply states: “Tommy Keene 6/30/58 – 11/22/17. Tommy passed unexpectedly and peacefully in his sleep.  Thank you to all his friends and family who he loved very much.”

I had the pleasure of interviewing Tommy in 2011, prior to his release Behind The Parade and it was one of my most memorable experiences. Tommy knew his audience and the state of pop music well.

His musical history is long, and over the years he collaborated with a number of stylistically similar artists. As early as the mid-197o’s Tommy played alongside Nils Lofgren (opening for his band Grin) and then while attending the University of Maryland he joined up with Richard X. Heyman. Then he formed a new band, The Razz who opened for such notable acts as the Ramones, Devo, and Patti Smith. Tommy joined several bands before finally going on his own in 1982. Then in 1986, Keene tapped Beatles producer Geoff Emrick for Songs From The Film, a classic power pop masterwork.

From there Keene’s music career took off, but he never achieved the recognition or stardom many of his peers felt he deserved. He’s played with Velvet Crush, Paul Westerberg, Guided By Voices and many others.  But other than power pop devotees and fellow musicians the general public barely knows him. If there was ever an artist who deserves a bigger box set retrospective of his career, its Tommy Keene. I hope more people discover him, as he was a special talent that is now sadly gone — and he will never be forgotten.

Thanksgiving EP Feast: The Condors, Fuzzy-Vox, The Cleaners From Venus

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The Condors

The Condors “Joie De Vivre” EP

The Condors is the main duo of singer/guitarist Patrick DiPuccio and drummer (Sitcom Neighbor leader) John Murphy, with selected bass players filling in. The trio creates a full and energetic sound that ignites their live shows. This EP collects some singles, and will really appeal to fans of The Connection, Watts or Kurt Baker. Highlights include “Girl Trouble,” “Tell It To The Judge” and my favorite instrumental this year, “High Chaparral.”

Amazon | CD Baby

Fuzzy Vox

Fuzzy Vox “Ba-Da-Boom” EP

Fuzzy Vox is a hook-heavy trio who’d easily pass for The Hives’s younger French cousins. They’re pushing a kind of power pop that’s heartfelt, but endearingly immature. With Ba-Da-Boom the band harnesses that explosive energy on “I Fell In Love With The World” and “Eyes On You.” A bit of Elvis Costello snarl comes through on “Cold Justice.” A great little EP that gives you a sense of the band at a live concert.

Amazon

Cleaners From Venus

Cleaners From Venus “Martin Newell’s Jumble Sale”

While technically, not an EP, this is a collection of unheard/unearthed recordings dating from 1975 to present day from the great Martin Newell. Lots of stuff that I’m amazed didn’t get released elsewhere, lots more stuff that’s very much like demos. The jangling “Scarecrow Hair” is a wonderful Cleaners single. Other highlights include; “Red Guitars and Silver Tambourines,” and “The Lunatic Lantern.” Worth exploring for sure.

Bandcamp

The passing of David Cassidy and Malcolm Young

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In many ways with the passing of these icons, you have two sides of a musical coin. On one side, the squeaky clean image of David Cassidy’s Partridge Family persona. His biggest hit “I Think I Love You” written by Tony Romeo in 1970 was in many ways one of the last big hits that recalled the late ’60s sunshine pop era. On the other side of the coin was Young and AC/DC, a band that was part of a new wave of hard rock acts in the late ’70s that wiped away the progressive “art” rock that grew out of the psychedelic era. One style was weightlessly light pop. The other featured dark pounding riffs. Both styles were infectiously catchy. America loved them both.

David Cassidy was the ultimate teen idol of his era, both as an actor and a musician. His big hit sold over 5 million copies and his fan club at one point was larger than The Beatles. But once he left that carefully crafted teen persona, he never regained that level of popularity again. He passed away from liver and kidney failure, exacerbated by his long struggle with alcohol. He was 67.

Malcolm Young co-founded Australian rock legends AC/DC in 1973 with brother Angus Young died following a long battle with dementia. From the beginning Malcolm and Angus Young served as the band’s main songwriters, crafting the unmistakable riffs that would make AC/DC guitar rock legends. He was 64.