Craft Roast Soul

I can't say enough good things about The Alarm's latest album "Sigma" . The Welsh band has been very busy lately, and is smack in the middle of one of the most prolific periods of their career. For the last few years it has seemed like every couple of months I read about a new project or tour they're embarking on. Their latest album "Sigma" comes hot on the heels of last year's (2018) "Equals" . From top to bottom the album is loaded with standout tracks. Both lyrically and musically these songs shine bright. Everything is polished to perfection. The raw emotion and passion singer Mike Peters and co. bring to each song is inspiring. The music is uplifting and joyous in the way that the best of U2, Bruce Springsteen, or Coldplay are. And like those artists there is an edge and rawness to the songs. They don't shy away from the dark, but there is always hope and light at the end of the tunnel. I've been following their 2019 to...

Michael McDermott is a relatively recent discovery for me, but he's been making music for nearly 30 years. His debut album, 620 W. Surf came out in 1991.  It's always a great feeling when you discover an incredible artist and find that there are many years worth of albums to explore.  Author Stephen King was an early fan, and even wrote the liner notes for McDermott's 1996 self-titled album. (See links below)  More recently, King said of him, "Michael McDermott is one of the best songwriters in the world and possibly the greatest undiscovered rock n roll talent of the last 20 years." I couldn't agree more. McDermott's 2016 album "Willow Springs" was my introduction to him, and it is incredible. Some critics say it's one of the best albums of his career. The entire album is incredible. I quickly realized that this was one of the most gifted singer-songwriters I'd come across in quite some time.  If you like Bob Dylan, Bruce Sprin...