Soaring Multi-Octave Vocals & My Return

Okay, I have been VERY neglectful of this blog. It really is unforgivable. I set out to keep this blog as uninterrupted as possible, but failed recently as work overwhelmed me. Usually, I'm able to build up a few posts on nights and weekends, but I have had relatives visiting since last week and so have neglected this posting.

I was inspired today by Mr. Tibbs (see recent comment) to jump back into this. Frankly, I had no idea anyone was even reading this blog (except a few of my family), so it was invigorating to get that message. Hey, Mr. Tibbs, you aren't some relative of mine using a pseudonym, are you? So, let this be a lesson to you. If you find me slacking off, just add a comment and it will drive me back to action immediately!

Anyway, I will have a few local treats for you this week. There are a couple of local (Duluth, Minnesota) musician friends of mine who I think have some fantastic offerings.

Today, I'll focus on Billy Q. Effinger who I met through my very young kids. Two of my kids (aged 6 and 5) were cast in a local playhouse production of Carousel as the "Snow Kids." Mr. Snow in the play was played by Billy Effinger and I met him at a cast party and he told me of his CD as I was praising his singing in the play. He has written, composed, and performed several songs and this first self-produced CD of his is a combination of original songs and covers. I am going to focus on the originals here, frankly because I think they are really standouts. Oddly, I would recommend the album for the originals and not the covers! Billy Effinger has an incredible vocal range and most of his original songs are written to take advantage of his soaring, multi-octave singing range.

The first song featured here highlights his incredible range. Willie The Warlock is an original song that conjures up incredible images of jesters and unicorns and magical fantasies, all with a very positive tone. The tune is incredibly catchy and almost everyone I've played it for has liked it on the first listen and got seriously hooked on it after the second listen. The second song, Blue Boy (Judy's Song), written by Billy in honor of Judy Garland (she's from this area, if you didn't know) also is a beautiful song with great lyrics and a catchy hook. I loved both these songs and am quite sure you will too.

You should consider buying the CD here. For only $8.88, you can't go wrong. If you drop Billy an email at bestqualityenter@aol.com, tell him you heard his songs here. You'll enjoy the covers too, but the originals are worth the price of this CD alone. This is my kind of music in the sense you don't need to be in any abstruse, elevated state of mind to "get it." Just great music and great singing.

1. Billy Q. Effinger - Willie The Warlock (4.1 MB; 128kbps MP3)
2. Billy Q. Effinger - Blue Boy (Judy's Song) (5.41 MB; 128kbps MP3)

Give! And Anything Is Possible

Oh no! I missed my first post. And it's only been a few weeks since I started this blog! I was out of town yesterday and never got around to doing my blog post for Monday.

Today, I returned to town and had a meeting with my friend Marty Weintraub who now runs a search engine marketing (SEM) firm AimClear.com. As usual, I remembered my initial introduction to Marty was through his work in the music industry. A long time ago, I served on the local United Way advisory Board and Marty was instrumental in creating a fund raising effort that involved producing an original CD by a Minnesota artist Pamela McNeill. Being on the Committee at that time, I was marginally involved in the process.

The end result was a CD of original songs written by Pamela McNeill and other local artists, with a lot of the music composed by Marty Weintraub. When I heard the CD for the first time, I was floored. Here was one of those rare CDs where I felt every song was a classic. This truly was one of those complete CDs with no filler material. A perfect example of the incredible talent that isd often hidden in the heartland of this country. I bought several autographed copies of this CD to give to friends convinced it was going to be a huge hit. In a way, it was. One of the songs on this CD (The Gift) was picked up and used for the national United Way campaign. The song, The Gift was written in a short time by a local songwriter, Dick Wilson around our local United Way of Greater Duluth theme of "Give, and Anything Is Possible." Beautiful words, with music composed by Marty. If this song doesn't make you want to go out and donate to the great local causes of the United Way, nothing will!

To make up for my missed post on Monday and to highlight the fact that this CD is spectacularly strong, I am including FOUR songs from the CD here. Pamela McNeill has an exquisite and unusual raw voice that will tug at your heartstrings. She donated 100% of the profits from this CD to charity. Unfortunately, you can only get used copies of this CD from Amazon for as little as a penny here. I promise you that this is an album you won't regret buying. Great pop produced in tiny Duluth with catchy melodies and great lyrics. There isn't a weak song on this album. However, she has another album out, American Breakup. Although you can buy these albums on Amazon, I beg you to support such talented artists by buying these CDs from her own site http://www.pamelamcneill.com/. Please consider getting Pamela's CDs. Start with 2 Sides to Every Sky which is featured here and then move on to American Breakup. This is really good stuff that you wouldn't have heard of if it wasn't for this blog! :-)

Here's a deal. To encourage you to support the artists highlighted here, I am willing to mail one of my autographed copies of 2 Sides To Every Sky to the first person who posts a comment on this blog in response to this post AND buys a copy of another Pamela McNeill CD online through her site. First post a message on this blog and then email me (rvblogs@gmail.com) with a copy of your purchase receipt and I'll mail you (at my expense) an autographed copy of her debut CD.

1. Pamela McNeill - You Will Love Again (4.22 MB; 128 kbps)
2. Pamela McNeill - Let The River Come To You (3.99 MB; 128 kbps)
3. Pamela McNeill - 2 Sides To Every Sky (4.78 MB; 128 kbps)
3. Pamela McNeill - The Gift (3.94 MB; 128 kbps)

Jangling Guitars for Years Around The Sun

When I started this blog a few weeks ago, my goal was simply to learn a little about blogging as a form of word-of-mouth communication as well as share my love of more "unusual" music (that is, stuff you don't hear every day when you turn on the radio). I never expected that this blog would (so quickly) help me discover new music and artists -- something I love to do (as I mentioned in my post about bar hopping).

I was surprised recently with an email from the marketing coordinator of an artist management company that represents a band called Years Around The Sun with an attached MP3 file from the band as well as an offer to send me their debut CD Introstay. The moment I heard it, I decided that this was my kind of music. Catchy melody and toe-tapping rhythm. While it's possible the lyrics may be profound (as I've mentioned before, I am not really a "lyrics man"), I couldn't tell. I listen to music for entertainment and not some intellectual stimulation. This was a song with lush and layered sounds surrounding a nice hook. As I said, my kind of music.

I would like to assure blog readers that I am NOT paid for the review. They sent me the song, I liked it and decided it is worth sharing with all of you. I don't know if any of you know me well enough to trust that I won't feature anything I am sent by any band or company that I don't genuinely like myself. But, given my eclectic taste in music, the featured music here will span many genres.

The first song is a single Heart Delay which, as I said, will get your toe tapping. This is the first song I heard from this group. The second song linked below is a selection from their debut CD called Sinclair. I had a hard time picking a song off their Introstay CD to feature here. I didn't like the opening track (Align), but found Dead Man's Sea to be very catchy. But then, when I put my headphones on, I seemed to prefer Dry Lake Bed. Probably the easiest to like on the first listen is Sinclair. Sounds like a single should sound. Soft Soul has a funky groove to it that would work great in the evening with a glass of wine in your hand. Both Northfork and Warm Jets are great songs. For some reason Warm Jets sounds a little Beatlesque to me. The sound on most of the songs is quite similar with jangly guitars and synths leading to a nice melody and a steady beat. Overall, the vocals are somehow reminiscent of a British group, but their site seems to suggest they're all Americans. Let me know if you get the same sense of a "British accent" when you hear these songs. In fact, all these songs remind me a lot of Evermore who I featured recently on this blog. Maybe it's my imagination.

You can find the band web site here (including tour info). And their CD cover looks suspiciously like the Jantar Mantar ancient astronomical lab I used to pass by frequently when I lived in New Delhi! Like many independent bands today, you can hook up with their MySpace page. Of course, I urge those of you who like these songs to buy their CD here. After having heard the songs, how wrong can you go for ten bucks?

1. Years Around The Sun - Heart Delay (Deleted on artist's request)
2. Years Around The Sun - Sinclair (Deleted on artist's request)

Free Steadman NOW!

Several years ago (honestly, it was at the turn of this century!), when the idea of bands releasing their own music on the Internet was a completely new phenomenon, I ran across a band completely by accident on MP3.Com. In those days, bands could create an account and upload their music and then create a "space" on their site to sell their stuff.

One of the many songs I downloaded in those days was by this group called Steadman and this song called Life of Leisure was absolutely one of the catchiest songs I had ever heard. I was just convinced that this band was on the verge of really hitting it big. The song sounded exactly like the hits that was getting a lot of airplay in those days (Blues Traveler, Semisonic, Everclear, etc.) and I couldn't imagine how it could be long before some savvy marketer picked up this single and got it a ton of airplay. I remember being excited and telling friends about this band I had "discovered" so I could tell them all "I told you so" once the band became a household name.

Well, as far as I know, it never happened. I still love this song and think it has a catchy melody and great clear vocals. For anyone out there wondering what kind of music turns me on, here's a model! When I was creating this post, I did some searching online to find out what happened to Steadman. Of course, at Amazon, not only can you find the album with this song, Loser Friendly but also their newest album, Revive (released in 2003). Apparently they're an English band who has gained some fame after being featured on Smallville. Wikipedia provides more details about their current whereabouts and also clarifies that their sound is influenced by Oasis and Radiohead (shows what I know in my musical comparisons!) Most interestingly, I discovered from Wikipedia that Steadman got disgruntled with the "big label" business and have released all their albums and off-cuts online as free digital downloads with a creative commons license (feel free to download and distribute). Now if that isn't a reason to love this band, I don't know what gets you going. Please visit their site here and download anything you want! As they say, they want you to.

1. Steadman - Life of Leisure (5.376 MB; 160 kbps MP3)