Every now and again I look around and see what new music is out there. Here’s some stuff I heard recently that I dug. It is, I think, a fairly eclectic mix with some jazz, some pop and some other shit.

*Her press stuff says that Skye Wallace, lately of Toronto, is what happens when a trained singer with east coast roots discovers punk rock in their youth and writes music that makes you feel excited. “Folk Rock Powerhouse with Shades of Punk. Her influences are Neil Young, The Weakerthans, Patti Smith, Neutral Milk Hotel,” which by total coincidence, are my influences. 🙂

She says that “Coal In Your Window” may be about a specific story, but it’s a truly universal concept of jittery, passionate love and doing whatever it takes to access that fire that another person ignites in you. I wanted to evoke an excited, dangerous, lustful energy that gets the heart pumping.

I’d say that this tune kicks some serious ass:

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*Reese Wynans probably needs no introduction to at least some of you but I’ll do it anyway. He is a keyboard player who was involved in the first Allman Brothers jam when they formed. There was room for only one keyboardist and that was Gregg so that was that.

In 1985, Stevie Ray Vaughan realized his band sound was a little thin minus a rhythm instrument. So Wynans joined from 1985 till SRV’s 1990 death. He has also worked with Joe Ely, a bunch of country folk like Trisha Yearwood and Brooks and Dunn and has been Joe Bonamassa’s touring keyboardist for the past couple of years.

Believe it or not, in his 50-year career, Reese has never released an album of his own. Till now. He recently dropped an album (produced by Bonamassa) called Reese Wynans And Friends: Sweet Release.  The friends include people like Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Warren Haynes, Vince Gill, Keb ‘Mo. Nice friends.

From that album, here’s a sweet slab of soul called, what else, “Soul Island.”

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*”Half Greek, half Persian and half English” as she described herself age 5, Manchester-born Lexy found her identity in music early on as a pianist and violinist. Her debut album Something Blue (out Summer 2019) crosses genres – flinging the dirt and danger of rock n roll against the bleeding heart and melody of Mozart – and is an alternative girl’s guide to love, loss and lust.” So says Lexy’s (calls herself Lexytron) press.

She cites her influences as “Everything I’ve ever listened to but to cite a few inspirations – John, Paul, George & the one with the big hooter. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Alfred Hitchcock. CBGBs. Gilman Street. Nin Huguen and the Huguenots. Tommy Wiseau.” (Wiseau was of course, the guy who made one of the lamest movies of all time, The Room, about which James Franco did an entertaining picture called The Disaster Artist – ME.)

Here’s a nice bit of “indie pop,” called “Brand New.”

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*Let’s veer off in a different direction here. From her website: “Deborah “La Cocodrila” De La Torre may be a Latin jazz pianist, but her latest album, ¡Coño! (But with a Swing) goes much deeper than the title implies.

De La Torre’s nickname translates to “Lady Crocodile,” but all that bite is reserved for taking chunks out of her piano, for which she shows raw aggression (where needed), deft touch, and a great sense of musical joy that translates easily to the listener.

The album’s title (which means “Damn!” in Cuban Spanish) is also quite appropriate, as this reaction is elicited on more than one occasion from La Cocodrila and her top-flight rhythm section. The Latin influence is all over this album, making traditional jazz sound a bit more exciting.”

Make of this what you will, it’s caliente!

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*Is Shane Dwight (pictured on top of post) a country guy or a blues guy or maybe even a rock guy? Maybe he straddles that border, don’t know. From his press kit: “Shane grew up on a ranch in Morgan Hill, CA a few hours from San Jose and Monterey, where the air was fresh, and the sun was hot. At the age of nine, he was diagnosed with Perthes bone disease in his hips that prohibited from him walking for about a year as a young boy.

Since then, the debilitating illness does go into temporary remission but when it returns it forces Shane to live with severe chronic pain. Shane began to learn how to play guitar back in high school, playing with friends and bands along the way, he started The Shane Dwight Blues Band at 28.

His musical roots were FM radio, Album Oriented Rock artists like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He dug deep into their influences and found a stack of others, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Albert King. Those gave him the nod to take it even further.”

I dig this tune, “No One Loves Me Better.” Oh, and that blues/country thing? “Country and blues music is about the same. You see, they are rooted from the same soil with a Bible and bottle in each hand.” Indeed:

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What would an ME post be without some straight-up blues? Wikipedia: “Caron Nimoy “Sugaray” Rayford (born February 13, 1969) is an American electric blues singer and songwriter.

He has released four albums to date and been nominated in two categories for a Blues Music Award. In 2010, Living Blues magazine noted that “Sugaray is a first-rate blues artist with a deep-running, church honed soulfulness.” (I think there is perhaps some Federal law that says if your name is Ray you must be referred to as Sugar Ray.)

I first heard this tune on Spotify and I thought it was a nice fat, slab of bluesy soul. Or soulful blues, take your pick.

From his album, Somebody Save Me, here’s “Dark Night of the Soul.” Yowsah!

Spotify link