Shoebox Letters - Treasure Map (click on image to watch video)

 24 November 2020

 Their latest musical missive opens with the tick-tock twang of “Drinking More Without You.” Over brash guitar riffs, walking bass lines, supple keys and a rattle-trap beat, Dennis admits he’s “drinking more, but I’m empty just the same.” Every song’s a winner here, from the  meandering shuffle of the title track, the sad-sack lament of “First Step” and the cautious optimism of “Wait And See.” 

  On “Second Guessing,” Dennis plays  a reluctant Romeo insisting, “I don’t want to fall  in love, I don’t want to fall to pieces, I don’t want to be tied down, I don’t want to be spoken for.” The EP wraps up with the yearning “I’m No Good At Walking Away.” Intertwined acoustic and electric guitars are matched by searing pedal steel, tensile bass, feathery keys and a kick-drum beat. Despite some equivocation, the song begins and ends with  the same resolute verse; “I got a ticket in my pocket for a nowhere train, I reserved a seat in one name  and it isn’t yours.”

  This band manages the neat trick of sounding  fresh and familiar at the same time. “Treasure Map” takes the listener to some  uncharted territory, but it feels like going home.

Eleni P. Austin - I was born into a large, loud Greek family and spent my formative years in the Los Angeles enclaves of Laurel Canyon and Los Feliz. My mother moved us to the Palm Springs area just in time for puberty and Disco.  I have spent over 40 years working in record stores, starting back in High School.

I wrote music reviews for the Desert Sun from 1983 to 1988. I began doing the same for the Coachella Valley Weekly in 2012.

I live in Palm Springs with my wife and our amazing dog, Denver. 

To Read All of Eleni P.'s Reviews, Click Here

Rodney Rice - Same Shirt, Different Day  (click on image to watch video)

 24 October 2019

Somewhere between Steve Earle and Todd Snider, stands Rodney Rice. The West Virginia native has just released his second effort, “SAME SHIrT, DIFFERENT DAY” and it’s a barn-burner from start to finish.

The album kicks into gear with the ramshackle ramble of  “Ain’t Got A Dollar. Rippling guitars,  a walking bass line, Hammond B3 colors and a rough and tumble beat coalesce around his rough-hewn vocals. The lyrics offer a stinging indictment of the current taint-stain ensconced in the Oval Office; “The bible belt thinks he’s heaven sent and because he’s made lots of money, he’s going to take our troubles away, by the sound of that, my troubles are here to stay.”

As the album unfolds, Rodney pivots between the political and the personal and every track is a winner. From the twangy “Free At Last,” the Soulful “Company Town” and the jaunty two-step of “Rivers Run Backwards.” 

         Songs like “Middle Managed Blues” and “Pillage And Plunder” resonate in these uncertain times. Still, he’s equally at home bearing his soul on the heartsick lament “Can’t Get Over Her,” sharing a slice of life on “Memoirs Of Our Life,” or indulging his smartass side on “Walk Across Texas.” 

       The album closes on a tender note with “Don’t Look Back.”  This low-key charmer assesses a longtime relationship, before offering up some hard-won advice; “Baby don’t look back, put one foot in front of the other, take this day like any other, do what you’re gonna do,  but don’t look back.” Simple wisdom from a complicated guy.

Eleni P. Austin - I was born into a large, loud Greek family and spent my formative years in the Los Angeles enclaves of Laurel Canyon and Los Feliz. My mother moved us to the Palm Springs area just in time for puberty and Disco.  I have spent over 40 years working in record stores, starting back in High School.

I wrote music reviews for the Desert Sun from 1983 to 1988. I began doing the same for the Coachella Valley Weekly in 2012.

I live in Palm Springs with my wife and our amazing dog, Denver. 

To Read All of Eleni P.'s Reviews, Click Here

Kelly's Lot - Another Sky  (click on image to watch video)

 21 November 2020

Based out of Los Angeles, Kelly’s Lot was  founded by singer-songwriter Kelly Zirbes in 1994. Over the last 26 years the band has had a fluid membership that has allowed it to expand and contract from a two-piece to an eight-piece and back again. Served up a potent combo-platter of Blues, Folk, Americana, Roots Rock and Country. Over the last 15 albums they have nurtured a passionate fan base. Now they’ve returned with “Another Sky.”

The first three tracks off this new effort, deftly leapfrogs from one genre to the next. “Butterfly” echoes the embroidered Country comfort of Dolly Parton’s earliest music. “I Will Find You Again” is a buoyant  Celtic Rocker. Meanwhile, “Foolish Try” is the kind of courtly  corrido that Linda Ronstadt would be proud to call  her own. And on it goes, over the next nine tracks. Highlights include the  haunting dirge of “Freedom,” the mid-century Cha-Cha-Cha of “Lock Me Up” and  the Tango-fied “Simple Man.” 

It gets both deep and real on a pair of  duets, “Tangled” and “Sleep On It Tonight.” On the former, Kelly shares the spotlight with legendary musician Doug Pettibone and the pair explore the  knotty emotions that accompany love. The latter features Nashville cat, Rick Monroe. Their voices intertwine like honey and woodsmoke as they offer differing views of a rekindled romance. The record wraps up with the full-force gale of “Hurricane.”

Over 12 tracks, Kelly’s voice shapeshifts from raw to intimate, over sharp melodies and nuanced instrumentation. “Another Sky” offers a respite from these fractious times.

Eleni P. Austin - I was born into a large, loud Greek family and spent my formative years in the Los Angeles enclaves of Laurel Canyon and Los Feliz. My mother moved us to the Palm Springs area just in time for puberty and Disco.  I have spent over 40 years working in record stores, starting back in High School.

I wrote music reviews for the Desert Sun from 1983 to 1988. I began doing the same for the Coachella Valley Weekly in 2012.

I live in Palm Springs with my wife and our amazing dog, Denver. 

To Read All of Eleni P.'s Reviews, Click Here

Scott Holstein - Hillbilly Love  (click on image to watch video)

 16 July 2020

Scott Holstein’s twangy new single “Hillbilly Love” harkens back to the Outlaw Country movement spearheaded back in the ‘70s by Willie, Waylon and the boys. His grumbly baritone offers a wry shout-out to  those forgotten folks whose “cultural evolution was written in the mountains and the stars.” Gritty electric guitars and keening lap steel, the song locks into a four-on-the-floor groove. Equal parts sincere and sardonic, it’s the perfect antidote to the Summertime blahs.

Eleni P. Austin - I was born into a large, loud Greek family and spent my formative years in the Los Angeles enclaves of Laurel Canyon and Los Feliz. My mother moved us to the Palm Springs area just in time for puberty and Disco.  I have spent over 40 years working in record stores, starting back in High School.

I wrote music reviews for the Desert Sun from 1983 to 1988. I began doing the same for the Coachella Valley Weekly in 2012.

I live in Palm Springs with my wife and our amazing dog, Denver. 

To Read All of Eleni P.'s Reviews, Click Here