Friday, January 24, 2020

Manda Mosher - California


"Nobody Gives A Damn About Songs Anymore" For Your Consideration ~ 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards First-Round ballot for Best Music Video, Best American Roots Performance, Record Of The Year.


Manda Mosher's latest video for Nobody Gives A Damn About Songs Anymore.



From her first solo album on, Manda Mosher’s songs have always shimmered with pure rock & roll soul as channeled through a singularly grounded American Girl, inspiring one writer to dub her the “female Tom Petty.” That’s high praise, but she carries it well. 

An award-winning songwriter, recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, touring musician and entrepreneur, she was baptized in the river of real-time rock & roll, and has never abandoned that spirit. Like Tom Petty, her idol, she’s radiated a reverence for the purity and artistry of great songwriting and record-making since the start. 

A full-fledged California girl, she’s a sixth generation Angeleno raised on music. With her father on flamenco guitar and her mom singing, she swiftly mastered ukulele, guitar, and harmonica. Songwriting came early, and never stopped. Following high school, she attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she studied music theory and composition. 

Back in L.A. and armed with her ever-expanding songbook of originals, she began recording what became her critically acclaimed debut, Everything You Need and its follow-up City of Clowns. Both garnered a bounty of rave reviews and established Manda as a seriously gifted songwriter and charismatic live performer. She won many L.A. Music Awards, including Female Singer-Songwriter of the Year, and National Touring Artist of the Year. She was a 2009 official SXSW showcase artist, a 2010 official AMERICANAFEST showcase artist and her songs have appeared in many films and television shows, including the feature film Please Stand By, and CBS’s “NCIS: Los Angeles;” she also performed on CBS’s “The Late Late Show.” 

In 2012 she took a break from solo work to launch California Country Records and to form the female-fronted California Country/Americana group CALICO the band. With heartfelt songs, beautifully close harmony singing and rich musicianship, they made two landmark albums, Rancho California and Under Blue Skies. The group toured extensively through the United States and the UK, including the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in 2014 and 2018, and as an official AMERICANAFEST Showcase Artist in 2015 and 2017. They won several awards, including Americana Album of the Year at the L.A. Music Awards, and Best Country Band at the L.A. Music Critic Awards. Their songs were heard in the feature film Walk of Shame, as well as in NBC’s “The Nightshift,” and the Netflix original series “The Ranch” with Ashton Kutcher. 

In 2016 Manda co-founded the annual California Country Social at AMERICANAFEST in partnership with The Alternate Root Magazine in order to provide a platform for West Coast artists on her own California Country Records. Over three consecutive years, it hosted over 45 artists, including Sam Morrow, Rod Melancon, Ted Russell Kamp (Shooter Jennings), CALICO the band, Alice Wallace and many more. 

2019 will see Manda launching The California Country Show at AMERICANAFEST with the aim of “spotlighting California-centric country and roots artists alongside our artist friends in Nashville.” 

Now back on her solo journey, she seems positively liberated, rocking some of her strongest material yet. With long-time partner, A&R executive and music supervisor Eric Craig in tow, she’s established a new record company, Blackbird Record Label, an apparel company, California Country Apparel, and built a new recording facility, San Fernando Valley Recording. It’s there she’s been busy writing and recording some of her most powerful and poignant music to date, as well as cutting tracks for her next album. These include the delightfully visceral alt-Americana track “Fast As I Can,” which resounds like a timeless rock classic, as does her passionate reworking of John Moreland’s classic “Nobody Give A Damn About Songs Anymore.” Originally intended as a song to record with CALICO the band, it’s been reborn with impassioned harmonies by Craig and resounds as fervent proof why songs still matter and always will. 

Wedding her tuneful, heartfelt grace with a raw and timeless urgency, Manda’s making new music ideal for these dissonant times. She’s calling it alt-Americana. Invigorated by the unbound promise of this new sound, she’s been beaming that electric Manda smile. 

“We made a promise to ourselves,” she said, “that we’re not going to polish off the sharper edges.” Wherever her music leads her next, Manda is a musician of multitudes, and remains one of L.A.’s most luminous musical artists. Long may she shine. 

-Paul Zollo







Manda Mosher's debut album Everything You Need received national critical acclaim, and airplay on over 70 radio stations across the US, including XM - The Loft and Acoustic Café. Since then she has been an ASCAP Featured Artist and performed on national television as a musical guest on The Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Paul Zollo of American Songwriter Magazine wrote, 'Beautiful, compelling melodies with poignant lyrics sung with a sensual, sultry authority...This is good, this is now.';
Mosher's new EP, City of Clowns shows her rougher, rock-roots with three new kick-ass songs including the provocative hit-single 'City of Clowns' and a stunningly edgy cover of Bruce Springsteen's 'State Trooper', plus an all-new gritty mix of the critically acclaimed 'Lay Me Down'. This enhanced EP also includes a special, three-minute behind the scenes look at these recording sessions.

Manda is poised to become
a leading light of modern singer-songwriters, someone able to encapsulate the emotional terrain of life and romance with a soul much wiser than her young years. --Bill Bentley, Sonic Boomers





Manda Mosher's debut album Everything You Need received national critical acclaim, and airplay on over 70 radio stations across the US, including XM - The Loft and Acoustic Café. Since then she has been an ASCAP Featured Artist and performed on national television as a musical guest on The Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

The middle ground between spoken and sung that Mosher occupies gives the tales on the album (City of Clowns) the feel of secrets. She is letting us in on something that no one else knows. The songs on the EP are amped up, the kind of instrumental punch that makes you reach for the volume now because the existing sound waves are not coming through loud enough. --The Alternate Root

Beautiful, compelling melodies with poignant lyrics sung with a sensual, sultry authority... This is good, this is now. --Paul Zollo of American Songwriter Magazine


Manda is a great artist. She's the real deal and one of the only new female artists doing rock these days who can really sing. --Anita West of 97- Rock, Buffalo WBFO & NPR

Broken Things - Stephen Piotrowski





Stephen Piotrowski - Broken Things

Stephen Piotrowski Broken Things is an impressive and outstanding release of solid, truly melodic, piano based music topped with strong vocals. In the vein of Ben Folds Five. 
From Stephen's music page "Not athletic enough to play sports and not pretty enough to model, Stephen Piotrowski turned to music at a young age. A self-taught piano player, he underscores his expressive vocals with subtle, yet haunting piano melodies that accentuate the honesty and rawness of his lyrics. A true story teller at heart, Stephen has a way of capturing the essence of the human condition, expressing his musical ideas in a tasteful and relatable fashion. He draws both melodic and lyrical inspiration from artists such as Jason Mraz, Ben Folds and John Mayer. Stephen recently released his first full length independent album, “Broken Things” which is available for streaming and download." https://www.facebook.com/stephenpiotrowskimusic/ 
https://twitter.com/musicbystove


Thursday, January 23, 2020

Batman Graphic Novel reviews for Queen City Bookstore and Artvoice newspaper


My latest venture in creative writing is a further expression of my love for the classic art form that is the comic book. 
Emil from Queen City Bookstore https://www.facebook.com/queencitybookstore was gracious and thoughtful enough to ask me to write for the weekly Graphic Traffic column http://artvoice.com/issues/v13n50/graphic_traffic published by the Artvoice newspaper. 
The Graphic Traffic column reviews the latest and greatest graphic novels in conjunction with Queen City Bookstore. All the graphic novels published in the column are available @ Queen City Bookstore at a deep discount. A BIG thank you is in order to Emil from Q.C.B. and Artvoice! THANK YOU!
Review for The Joker: The Clown Prince of Crime is currently in print.
http://artvoice.com/issues/v13n52/graphic_traffic/the_joker




Here is the first review Emil from Queen City accepted and Artvoice published in the 12/11 - 17/2014 issue http://artvoice.com/issues/v13n50/graphic_traffic/batman







Top 100 Music Blogs and Websites For Rock Music Fans in 2020


Joe Tell's Music Blog would like to thank the website: Top 100 Rock Music Blogs And Websites For Rock Music Fans in 2020 for recognizing this music blog and ranking it the Top 100 for 2020.
Thank You!
Here's a link to check out the website https://blog.feedspot.com/rock_music_blogs/

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Lenny Revell "Lessons" CD Review



I was first exposed to Lenny Revell through the Spy Guys TV Show free newspaper and when I first seen his picture I thought to myself "Cool, T-Shirt Lenny". Lenny was wearing a black Spider-Man T-shirt. Being a Comic Book Fan I noticed it right away, and being internet savvy I went to the Spy Guys website and seen a video of Lenny singing and playing and I must say I was impressed by his talents. Lenny is a talented singer/songwriter who accompanies his singing with his own skillful piano playing. Lenny is a 1-man show who writes his own music and covers other artists' music as well.

OK, on with the review...
First of all Lenny is backed up by an excellent back-up band on "Lessons", the full band fills out Lenny's impressive arrangements and enhances Lenny's overall sound. The few times I have seen Lenny perform he has been by himself so I was pleasantly surprised to hear Lenny backed up by a full band.
Song 1 "All In Your Head" is very positive and upbeat, a good choice for kicking off the CD.
Lenny's overall sound on this track reminded me of Billy Joel.
"Expectations" sounds like it could be a cool 70's TV show theme-song turned Top-40 hit, the verses are very catchy and melodic and they are filled out with some nice, reggae guitar rhythm playing and a melodic piano solo rounds out this track. The arrangement and singing on this song are reminiscent of a song you may hear on a Broadway, New York sound stage.
The title of track 5, Ghost, interested me as anyone who knows me knows I'm into the paranormal...I can envision some hot dancers clicking their fingers to the intro...click, click,...
anyway, the initial progression has a familiar sound but Lenny quickly makes the familiar sounding melody into a unique song all his own, the subject matter is scary good!
"Who Am I?" is my fave song on this CD, the subject matter (Spider Man) is right up my alley and the guitar playing on this track is amazing, being a guitarist/bassist myself I was waiting to hear some nice guitar on the "Lessons" CD and this track provided it.
Track 7 "My Passion Of Life" has a Broadway Show Tune feel to it.
"Serenity" moved me with it's melancholy feel and melody.
"Love Is Just Her Fix" is one of my fave tracks on "Lessons", the guitar solo is fantastic and the groove and melodic lyrics are top notch.
Track 10 'Til Death To Us Part" has a 70's era Disco groove to it.
"Prelude/Revenge Of Little Red Riding Hood" is a tour de force in piano playing, impressive and melodic, the classical piano playing on this track highlights Lenny's talented and masterful piano playing. The intro sounds like a horror film soundtrack, the track continues into a classical/rock E.L.O type of song, I very much enjoyed this song.

Lenny sounds and plays like a true recording artist should, in my humble opinion Lenny should take a musical trip to New York City and/or Hollywood where his piano playing and melodic singing will probably take him very far in the music business, Buffalo doesnt have a whole lot of opportunities for talented singer/songwriters like Lenny, which is a shame because Lenny is such an amazing talent.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The Vincent James Explosion


The Vincent James Explosion
VJX IV


JERRY VINCE JIM 

Here's Vincent James filling in with Yvonne Schmidt's band at Burgerfest 2012.


The Vincent James Explosion is an original Art-Rock-Fusion trio based out of Buffalo, New York and formed in 2006 by composer, guitarist, and instructor Vincent James Mastrantonio. The band also consists of locally renowned drummer and author Jim Linsner and "superman" bass player Jerry Sampson. Our particular brand of high energy groove based progressive music is winning over crowds all over the north east. We have opened for several national acts including The Alex Skolnick Trio, Brian Augers Oblivion Express, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. In this age of complete artistic freedom our goal is to continue to record, promote, and self produce original music.
We currently have four CD's: "Jammin' with J.T.", "Revelation", "Blown", and our latest "VJX-IV". CD's are available at every gig and can also be purchase on itunes. 
***We appreciate all of our fans and friends who have supported us all these years. Thank you*** 


Click on http://www.thevincentjamesexplosion.com/ to find out how you can get The Vincent James Explosion's latest CD "VJX-IV"
Here's Vince's drummer Jim Linser's website link http://www.jimlinsner.com/


Vincent James Explosion's "BLOWN" CD Cover

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

55 Main - Buffalo, NY




Update 7/22/16: The wife and I made it out to see 55 Main last night on our anniversary. 
Dave was friendly enough to let me sit in on bass along with Tom Leach who also sat in on guitar, for a rockin' ZZ Top medley. Thank You Dave! Party Time USA!



The 34th Annual Canal Fest of the Tonawandas is being held on July 17 - 24, 2016.
Included in the Canal Fest Event lineup is a special musical performance by the popular band 55 Main. The 55 Main band will be performing on Friday, July 22nd @ the Elk's Lodge #860 from 8pm - 12am. The Elk's Lodge is located on 55 Main St. in Tonawanda.


























55 Main covers Classic Rock, Southern Rock, and much more!! The 55 Main band is comprised of (L to R) Randy Barnard (lead guitar, vocals), Tony Chimera (percussion), Danny Manzella (vocals), Dan Gore (drums) and Dave Neumann (bass). 55 Main is a great rock band of very talented musicians who have been entertaining the WNY area for the last 5 years. They formed after meeting at Open Mic night at the old Club 55. That's why they decided on the name 55 Main.
Check out 55 Main when they return to where their rockin' journey began @ the Elk's Lodge on July 22nd starting at 8pm.  I promise you will enjoy yourself. Hope to see everyone out!! 
55 Main logo and picture courtesy of their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/55Main/
Here is a link to the 55 Main Facebook event page for the July 22nd Canal Fest performance -
https://www.facebook.com/events/1035725119855197/
Canal Fest website - www.canalfest.org


I was lucky enough to take a couple of pictures of this special, one time line-up at a recent 55 Main band rehearsal. Pictured from left to right, Bill Mason - Drums, Danny Manzella - Vocals, Randy Barnard - Guitar and Dave Neumann - Bass. (Eminence Front)
Thanks guys!


Very special thanks goes out to Dave Neumann. Thank You Dave!

Sunday, January 5, 2020

The Vincent James Explosion - Buffalo NY



THE VINCENT JAMES EXPLOSION 


The Vincent James Explosion - VJXIV CD Review 


Left to right Vince, Jim and Jerry

The Vincent James Explosion is comprised of three of the most talented and versatile musicians currently performing on the Buffalo, NY music scene. The current members of VJX are Vincent James Mastrantonio: (Guitar) guitar teacher, producer, composer and entrepreneur, Jim Linsner: (Drums) published author and drum teacher and Jerry Sampson: (Bass), Jerry has won several Buffalo Music Awards for his outstanding bass playing. All three members of VJX are in several other high profile bands and they all are in demand as fill-in players. 

VJXIV is the fourth release from The Vincent James Explosion and it is the best to date from the band. The Vincent James Explosion plays jazz/fusion, instrumental music. 
The music also contains elements of funk, rock and avant-garde jazz. All of the performances on VJXIV are outstanding. The guitar playing is innovative and highlights Vince's versatility on his instrument of choice. VJXIV also contains Vincent James singing debut on "Madness".

VJXIV starts off with "Fanfare for a New Man". This track sounds like a celebration of music and sound.  The solo guitar and keyboards sound huge and powerful. I can hear this song opening or closing out a movie. This song would also work well opening a major sporting event. I can also hear it playing when a team first arrives at the big game. Great opening track. 

"Trial Exhibits" is a prime example of VJX doing what they do best. Rocking out on a jazz/fusion, guitar based groove. The unique sound of the opening rhythm guitar chords immediately caught my ear. The song breaks down into a bass groove which brings in the sharp and blazing guitar solo. The sound of the solo guitar is reminiscent of Joe Satriani/Steve Vai at times and Vince throws in some sweeping guitar techniques for good measure. 

"Kinky B" features a couple of effects-driven and passionately played guitar tracks. The song starts with a jazzy sounding, chord riff but then a dissonant, distorted guitar chimes in and adds a completely different element to the song. The chords continue the dissonant sound of the track. Vince plays an absolutely blazing solo which leads into an off meter turn for the band. This song could be called a avant-garde, jazz/rock fusion all out jam. Vince at his best! One of my faves on VJXIV.  

Next up is Vince's lead vocal debut on "Madness". I've heard this song develop over the years and this is the best version I've heard to date. "Madness" lyrics describe city violence and the end result which is pain and death. This song is a balls out rocker and once again Vince rips his way through an outstanding rock guitar solo. "Madness" is one of the best songs on VJXIV.

In stark contrast to "Madness",  "Jimmy Mack" is a brief jazz/fusion track, with more emphasis on jazz than fusion. Clean jazz guitar accompanies a a single note melody which sounds like it could be a sonically effected, bended guitar or keyboard note. Cool soundz!

"The Truth" features jazzy guitar and blazing rock guitar solos but bassist Jerry Sampson gets a turn showing some solid and melodic chops on a 70 second solo during this track.

"Deep Blue" features Vince playing some great, bluesy acoustic guitar. Unaccompanied except for a rather spacy sounding backing track Vince displays his exceptional technique on the acoustic guitar.

 The 7th song, "Carina" is "dedicated to my Carina" as Vince so eloquently says in the liner notes. Jim Runfola blows some killer soprano sax on this great instrumental.

The last song is VJX's take on the classic "Mission Impossible". The entire band tears it up and once again, Vince blazes through a melodic and polished guitar solo.

CD Review by Joey Tell (Joseph Militello)



Here's a recent picture of Vincent James from the Buffalo News performing with Caitlin Koch and the Jamie Moses band.

Thank you Vince and Carina!!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Vincent-James-Explosion/159795070752016