Room 105: The Highs and Lows of Janis Joplin

Last week was an interesting one music wise for me. I was able to attend two live shows and you know how that makes me smile. The first show was Blues at the Crossroads 2, which I have already reviewed, and the second show was Room 105: The Highs and Lows of Janis Joplin.

The show features the great singer Sophie B. Hawkins as Janis, and takes you back in time through the memories of the spirit of Janis. Her hard and unhappy life is depicted through on ongoing monologue and of course through the kickass music of Joplin. Janis used to say that onstage she made love to thousands of people... but went home home. This show brings to life exactly what she meant.

The full review is now featured on ourvinyl.com as Room 105: The Highs and Lows of Janis Joplin. Click on the link and check it out.

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Blues at the Crossroads: Muddy and the Wolf

There are legends in all categories of music. If you are lucky, sometime in your lifetime you may actually get to see a few. The blues genre has a long lists of legends, each with a distinct style and sound. While the soul of the blues is universal, there are variations in rhythm, the addition or types of horns, and attitude. Chicago, Memphis,  Kansas City, New Orleans, every city has their own sound. Last week I was able to see a show which spotlighted the Chicago blues sound of two of its legends: Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.

The show featured The Fabulous Thunderbirds and more specifically, vocalist/harmonica master Kim Wilson. Special guests were quite a who's who in the blues business. Guitarists Tinsley Ellis, Jody Williams and Bob Margolin, along with the one and only James Cotton on harmonica.

It was one hell of a show. My full review can be found on ourvinyl.com at this link: Blues at the Crossroads Check it out, I hope you can get a bit of the feeling I did that night.

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Dee Rock: "The Road Ain't Long" Album Review

Out of Nashville comes country-rock artist Dee Rock.

Now I'm not known to be the biggest country fan around so in reviewing his album, I wasn't sure what to expect or how I would feel about it. Well, from the opening track "Ripples on the Moon," I was pleasantly surprised. Dee plays one hell of a hot guitar, rocks the melodies pretty hard and has some tasty lyrics. Oh yeah, his voice is pretty fine too.

It also seems Dee Rock has quite a love for Country and the Military. The album has one song "The Uniform," about the sacrifices of our servicemen, servicewomen and their families, along with a couple of other which you can hear on his website: "The Colors I Fly" and "Patriot Girl"

For the full review, as well as his bio and links to his website, where you can listen to all the album tracks, click here; Dee Rock album review at musicstaruniverse.com

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