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Beach Wedding – Michael Ledwidge

So for whatever reason I have never read a book written by Janes Patterson. As a result, I never discovered author Michael Ledwidge until I checked out Stop at Nothing book #1 in his Michael Gannon series from my library in July of 2021. It was great! I quickly quickly followed it up in August with book #2 in the series Run for Cover. Then I had to wait until January 2023 until book 3 Hard to Break was released. During that time Ledwidge had released a standalone novel Beach Wedding, which I put off reading until last month, when it became the seventh book I’ve read in 2024. Anyway, here is what I’ve missed out on by not reading Ledwidge’s work until now! read more

Albert Cummings’ – Strong – Starts March Strong!

Ok so since September of last year my wife and I have spent most of our days babysitting our 4th grandchild, Emma. We’re at my daughter’s house from 7 am until roughly 5 pm. The result is I don;t have a lot of time to blog and/or listen to music. But I’ve been trying to listen when I am out and about on the weekends and at night. Lately, the two blues albums that have been in my music rotation are the latest releases from two of my favorites. First came Albert Cummings latest releases Strong. Then came Mike Zito’s Life is Hard . read more

Political and Musical : Two Things Learned!

As I write and read about political and musical matters I am always learning something new. Here are two things I just learned about at 72!

What counting slaves as 3/5 of a person in the Constitution really meant!

The first political thing I learned came via the book Tyranny of the Minority by Steven Livitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.. I just finished the book.a few days ago. It’s really a terrific read. It’s a book anyone who’s concerned about the future of our country should read. I’ll write more about it later,

However, now I just want to discuss what counting slaves as 3/5 of a person really accomplished for the southern states. It’s the first time anyone really explained the effect of that action to me!

The counting of slaves as 3/5 of a person meant that for every 5 slaves a plantain owner had they counted as three people for representation in the House of Representatives. As a result even though New York had a larger white population than Virginia, when you added the slave population in Virginia to their total they received a larger number of representatives! Overall the net effect is that the southern states representation was 25% greater than the more populated Northern states.

So once again Southern states benefited from owning slaves, while the slaves suffered! And yes Southerners should feel guilt about that!

The Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar) by the Doors Came From Where?

The musical thing I learned was the origin of The Doors song “Alabama Song”.

I wasn’t a big Doors fan back in the day. However, I have heard “Alabama Song” countless times on the radio.Additionally, the song is on their Absolutely Live album . I didn’t know it was on their debut album The Doors, until I bought the album at Goodwill last year. It’s side.1 track 5, if you care.

Anyway last night, when I was writing The Folk Revival post,I discovered that Dave Van Ronk and the Chad Mitchell Trio had covered the song. And did so well before The Doors debut album!

Later I found out more about the “Alabama Song” at Wikipedia….

The “Alabama Song”—also known as “Moon of Alabama”, “Moon over Alabama”, and “Whisky Bar”—is an English version of a song written by Bertolt Brecht and translated from German by his close collaborator Elisabeth Hauptmann in 1925 and set to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 play Little Mahagonny. It was reused for the 1930 opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny……More at Wikipedia

Who knew! Not me! You can find out more about The Doors Version of “Alabama Song” at Wikipedia

“Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)” landedo The Doors a Contract

I also learned that it was their cover of “The Alabama Song that landed them a contract here’s how that came about read more

Starter Villain – John Scalzi – AnotherWinner for Scalzi

So on Friday January 12 I finished reading my second book for 2024, John Scalzi’s Starter Villain. It is the ninth book by Scalzi on my Goodreads shelves. I began reading Scalzi’s books in 2008. The first book I read was Old Man’s War. that book among the others in the Old Man’s War series may still be my favorites written by Scalzi.

The hero of the book, well maybe not a hero, let’s just say main character of the book is Charlie Fister. Charlie is a divorced ex-newspaper journalist. Who is now a substitute teacher living with his cat. A house his siblings want to sell. All Charlie wants is to buy and run a pub downtown. But the cost is astronomical and his only collateral for a bank loan is the house he lives in, which his estranged siblings want to sell!

Then his estranged Uncle Jake dies and leaves Charlie his business. Charlie realizes he may be in trouble, when he’s asked to represent the family at his uncle’s memorial service. At the service, first it was the message sent on a vase of flowers. The message See You in Hell” During the visitation, one guest checks Jake’s pulse another tries to stab him! It seems his uncle was not too popular. “

When Charlie is whisked away to his uncle’s island (I won’t tell you why) he learns Uncle is a “villain”. Additionally, the people who were out to get Jake are out to get his heir, i.e. Charlie. Can Charlie survive??

Thoughts on Starter Villain

Starter Villain is the ninth book written by John Scalzi I have read. While I enjoy his hard science a little more I also enjoy his other books.I thought The Kaiju Preservation Society was a great read. The book was nominated for a Goodreads Award as Best Science Fiction book of the year so others liked it, too. It finished as the 8th most popular book.

Starter Villain reminds me a lot of The Kaiju Preservation, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps until she becomes involved with the Society. Cuarlie on the other hand is an ex-journalist stuck working as a substitute teacher. Both are characters that you can root for as they both face formidable opponents.

John Scalzi’s sense of humor always comes out in his characters and it certainly does in Charlie Fister. It certainly is one of the aspects of Scalzi’s books I love.

Even though I keep waiting for something big to happen in Starter Villain, overall i was satisfied with the surprising final twist at the end. Actually, the more I think about the book the more I realize that I really liked the book.

In 2023 Starter Villain was also nominated for the best science fiction book at Goodreads. This time Scalzi’s book finished fourth in the voting. So check it out.

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of John Scalzi

Author’s Website:
Whatever::John Sclazi’s Blog
Goodreads
Amazon
X
Facebook

Mystery – Redemption – a Best of 2023

So yesterday I decided to continue listening to new (2023) prog rock albums. I again visited the Prog Archives to review their best of 2023 album list. Rather than just work my way down the list I decided to filter the list and search for bands that are included in the Neo-Prog sub-genre. When I first started listening to current Prog I discovered that most of the albums I liked were Neo-Prog bands. A brief review of the list revealed that many of the bands I like released new albums on 2023. I didn’t need to look far down the list to see the name of a band that I like. Redemption from the band Mystery checks in at number to on the list and number 23 on the list unfiltered! Two spots below Karnatanka’s Requiem for a Dream. Anyway, I listened to the album and I liked it. So let’s find out more about Mystery…..

From Prog Archives….

A project of French Canadian guitarist/lyricist/producer Michel St-Père, MYSTERY took form in 1986 as a six-member outfit. They released a self-titled album in 1992 that generated quite some interest across Canada…..

…..Over the years, MYSTERY’s style has evolved from AOR (STYX, ASIA) to more adventurous art rock like that of RUSH and SAGA, but featuring delicate acoustic passages not normally heard from these two. Their music is based on St-Père’s guitar play, which is well executed yet appropriately restrained, while the keyboards remain in the background. MYSTERY won’t dazzle you with technical prowess but you will appreciate their strong melodies, outstanding vocals (Gary Savoie is often compared to JOURNEY’s Steve Perry), elegant arrangements and attention to detail. Their compilation CD “At the Dawn of a New Millenium” is made up of remastered tracks of their three albums and is a fairly good sampler of their répertoire for those wanting to get acquainted with the band. Read More read more

A 10K Run with New Music from Prog Folkies Mostly Autumn

The Run – The First 10K In a Long Time

Sunday my goal was to make up for not running twice last week because it was windy. I ran last Tuesday and then skipped Thursday and Friday because of the wind. So to make up for that I decided to run at least s six miles yesterday. And overall I was able to meet my goal.

The first three miles went really well. I kept up a steady pace of 9:59 minutes per mile for each of the first three miles. After that my pace was slower for each mile. It dropped to 10:29 for mile 4, 10:33 for mile 5 and 10:48 for the 6th mile.

One of the reasons I slowed down was that my heartbeat went up to 155 during the early part of the fourth mile. So I slowed down. To get it to drop done to 140 bpm.

As I approached the 6th mile I thought I might as well gut out an additional 0.20 miles and make it a 10K run. I did just that and my pace over that last .2 miles was 11:03.

i really though I was quite pleased with the run. It’s my first six mile run in a long time! Although by 9:30 or so last night I was ready for bed! I ended up in bed about an hour earlier than normal and without doing any yoga!

But I felt pretty good this morning, even though I woke up at 2:45 am and probably was awake worrying about nonsense for an 1:30 or more! I hate when that happens!

The Soundtrack – White Rainbow – Mostly Autumn

The soundtrack for yesterday’s run was White Rainbow from the progressive rock band Mostly Autumn. The album was released March 1st of 2019. I first discovered Mostly Autumn back in 2014 when I first started exploring prog rock. Here is a portion of a post I wrote about the band at that time….

About Mostly Autumn

Mostly Autumn is Prog Folk band, ProgArchive describes their music as:

… powerful atmospheric rock with a Celtic edge, influenced by PINK FLOYD, DEEP PURPLE and GENESIS, and reminiscent of 70’s FLEETWOOD MAC and FAIRPORT CONVENTION. Their sound incorporates the uses of flute, low and penny whistles, violins and vocal harmonies – over a powerful band, existing of keyboards, two guitarists, bass and drums.

Mostly Autumn was formed in 1995. Several of the band’s original members had been part of the Pink Floyd/1970s tribute band One Stoned Snowman. In 1999, after several years of touring, Mostly Autumn’s debut album For All We Shared was released. The original line-up of musicians included:

Bryan Josh / electric guitar, vocals, 6 string + 12 string acoustic, e-bow
Heather Findlay / vocals, 6 string acoustic guitar, tamborine
Iain Jennings / keyboards, vocals Liam Davison / additional electric guitar, vocals, 6 string + 12 string acoustic guitar
Bob Faulds / violins
Stuart Carver / bass guitar
Kev Gibbons / low whistle, high whistle
Allan Scott / drums

Since then Mostly Autumn has released 10 studio albums. along with 14 live albums and numerous DVDs! They have never signed a contract with a major record label and have made their name with their constant touring! Read the Complete Post

About White Rainbow

Since Mostly Autumn released Dressed in Voices they have released two album. The first was Sight of Day and the second of course their current release White Rainbow. While the majority of the band is the as the line-up for Dressed in Voices there are some new faces. The new members include: Chris Johnson / guitars, Iain Jennings / keyboards, Angela Gordon / flute, keyboards. Here is the complete musician line-up for White Rainbow.

Olivia Sparnenn / vocals
Bryan Josh / guitars, vocals
Chris Johnson / guitars\
Iain Jennings / keyboards
Angela Gordon / flute, keyboards
Andy Smith / bass guitar
Alex Cromarty / drums

Once again I will say that during difficult run (which it was over the last three miles I wasn’t concentrating fully on the music. But each time I did try to return to the music I liked what I heard. Great vocals from Olivia Sparnenn and swirling soaring guitars from Bryan Josh and Chris Johnsoon. Overall it;s a great album and will be in my music rotation for a long time!

So Check Them Out!!

Links for Further Exploration of Mostly Autumn’s Music read more

Karnataka – Requiem for a Dream a Best of 2023!

So it doesn’t look like I’ve posted anything new on this site since 2020! Wow! And while I’ve listened to lots of Jazz and New Age since then, I have listened to very little Progressive Rock.In order to rectify that situation I went to Progstreaming extended to review albums that were released in 2023. The album that caught my attention was Requiem for for a Dream from Karnataka. Since ekreader’s real name is Edward Karn, you can see why the name stood out! Anyway, let’s see what I found out about Karnataka!

From Wikipedia….
=&0=& are a Welsh progressive rock band formed in 1997 by Ian Jones (bass/acoustic guitar), Jonathan Edwards (keyboards) and Rachel Jones (vocals). The band started as a project to record songs in Ian’s home studio, that had been written and performed by Jonathan, Rachel and Ian in earlier bands. The project was augmented by additional musicians, Paul Davies (electric guitars) and Gavin Griffiths (drums), who had played with other members of Karnataka in earlier bands. At the end of the recording the decision was made to continue the project as a band. The name Karnataka was chosen by the band, from a suggestion by Ian, following his trips to that state of India.
Frm Their biography at ProgArchives….

Their eponymous debut demonstrated the bands capability in creating romantic, melodic, Camelesque and Floydian soundscapes, laced throughout with strong folk and Celtic influences (enhanced through the use of flute). These often atmospheric ambiences provide a backdrop for the beautiful, haunting voice of Rachel Jones; again reminiscent of Mostly Autumn’s Heather Findlay, both in terms of her range, and in the harmonies she is able to create. The consequence is that Karnataka may be compared favorably with bands such as Enya, Clannad & Iona, and would be recommended for fans of those bands.

About Requiem for a Dream

Between the release of their debut album and Requiem for a Dream the band disbanded and reformed several times. During those years they released six albums In 2023 when Requiem for a Dream was released the only original member of the band is the founder Ian Jones

Here is the musician line-up for

Requiem for a Dream…. read more

Those Empty Eyes – Charlie Donlea and Thoughts About Authors

So I know us avid readers all have favorite authors. Those authors who you go right out and find and read their latest novel as soon as it is released, For me those authors include; James Lee Burke, C.J.Box and Karin Slaughter. You can see a complete list on this post – . You also have a set of authors whose books you really, really like but you may not get around to reading their books until after you’ve finished the new books from that top list. I myself have many authors that fall into that group. One of those authors is Charlie Donlea. read more

Proposed December Reads from Favorite Authors- Go!

UPDATE:December has come and gone and I read only two and a half books of the ones pictured above. The two I finished were Tides of Fire by James Rollins and Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane. The half was Starter Villain by John Scalzi!

So yesterday I wrote that I would like to read four to five more books before the end of 2023. The above picture shows the five books I currently have check out of the library. These are my proposed reads for December. The order in which I am going to read them is bottom to top. I have read books written by all of the authors. So let’s take and look at the books and authors for these Dcember Reads!

Tides of Fire – James Rollins

Tides of Fire is the 17th book in the Sigma Force series from James Rollins. In total I have read 21 books by Rollins and I am ashamed to say the only Sigma Force book from Rollins I haven’t read is the first book in the series Sandstorm. Oh, and I haven’t read the two short stories he’s written.

If you like action adventure novels with science truth blended with science fiction from Rollins you’ll love his books!

From Goodreads about Tides of Fire
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Coco Montoya at his Best on Writing on the Wall

It always amazes me that at one point in John Mayall’s storied career, both Walter Trout and Coco Montoya were Bluesbreakers ! (Watch Them Here) Throughout the years, I listened to more music from Walter than Coco. However, Coco is closing the gap based on his last three albums. And while I admit to not having heard all of Coco’s albums, his recent release Writing on the Wall may be my favorite.

About Writing on the Wall

Throughout Writing on the Wall Montoya’s vocals are as strong as his impeccable guitar playing. Additionally, the album is the first to feature Coco’s touring band.

Writing on the Wall is the second Coco Montoya album Grammy Award-winner Tony Braunagel (Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal) has.produced. In addition, Tony provides drums on four tracks. The band’s keyboardist Jeff Paris (Keb’ Mo’, Bill Withers).co-produced and recorded at Jeff’s Garage. Other members of the band include bassist Nathan Brown and drummer Rena Beavers.

Musicians joining Coco and the band on the album include: guitarists Ronnie Baker Brooks, country star Lee Roy Parnell, and Dave Steen.

Of the 13 tunes that comprise the album five were composed or co-written by Montoya. Steen wrote four and Paris one. All three together they co-wrote the title track .

The Bottom Line

The following quote found at the top of Coco’s biography on his website pretty much sums up Coco’s music:

“Blistering contemporary blues…piercing attack, funky, shivery guitar tones and aggressive, soulful vocals” -Blues Revue

While the following advice from Albert Collins seems to be taken to heart on Writing on the Wall...

’Just play what you feel, be real about it, and enjoy yourself.’ That’s what Albert Collins taught me,”

It seems that bringing in his touring band to create this album has been a real success and produced one of Coco’s best if not the best albums. From the start of his solo career Montoya has incorporated the lessons he learned from his mentors, both the iconic Collins (for whom he originally drummed), and UK legend John Mayall,

His first solo album in 1995 won him the Blues Music Award for Best New Artist. And from that point forward Montoya has been one of the top blues artists in the world. But he hasn’t rested on his laurals, but continues to find new ways to improve his music! And sharing the songwriting with his band along with the top-notch producing of Tony Braunage in the creation of Writing On The Wall have done just that!

The bottom line is Writing on the Wall is an A+, so Check It Out! AllMusic writes the following about Coco and I totally agree!

“One of the most prodigious and gifted electric bluesmen on the planet…a deeply soulful singer and incendiary guitarist [with] a seemingly endless penchant for invention.” – read more