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  • Tommy Shaw does bluegrass…

    Tommy Shaw does bluegrass…

    Shame on me for only just finding out about Tommy Shaw and his penchant for bluegrass…

    A couple of nights ago, while sipping on expensive imported beer, I got in the mood for some Styx. I went to YouTube and started watching videos. The more I watched, the more interested in Styx I became. I was particularly drawn in by the adorable Alabama born rock star Tommy Shaw, who is the lead guitarist of Styx and one of its lead singers. When Styx was really popular, I was just a little kid. So while I am very familiar with their songs, I didn’t have any crushes on anyone in the band… until now.


    It started with this video… Doesn’t Tommy Shaw have beautiful hair?

    This video kind of cracks me up. It’s so serious, even though Dennis DeYoung looks a little crazy with that accordion. Tommy and Dennis seem to flirt a little as they play this song, which could easily be a bluegrass song. Tommy’s playing the mandolin and singing beautifully. As I was listening to this song the other night, it actually occurred to me that Tommy Shaw could be a bluegrass player if he wanted to be… I didn’t know that in 2011, Shaw did release a bluegrass album.

    The first Styx song I actually remember hearing is their 1980 hit, “Babe”. On this song, Dennis DeYoung sings lead and his keyboard skills are featured prominently. And then out pops Tommy Shaw, dressed in what looks like a sailor suit.


    I have to wonder what prompted Tommy to dress like a sailor. It’s a little bizarre.


    I really like “Babe”, even if convicted killer Daniel Colwell sang it (poorly) after he was sentenced to death in a Georgia courtroom.

    I kept watching more and more videos featuring Styx, marveling at how much I like their music. I guess I had never really considered it over the years. And I really like Tommy Shaw and not just because he has great hair, can sing, and plays guitar like a god. Look at how he works the crowd…


    I love a good showman! And now that my husband’s is about to retire from the Army, this song seems even more fitting than it might otherwise be.

    The Styx obsession continued last night as I found myself watching a VH1 Behind the Music special about the band. That’s when I found out that Tommy Shaw had ventured into bluegrass. I happen to love bluegrass, so I was definitely interested. For most of his career, he’s been a true arena rock star with Styx and Damn Yankees, but he easily proves he can branch out.


    He’s doing fine with this song, “I’ll Be Coming Home At The Opry”.


    This video was done in a hotel room. Hope no one was disturbed! I do like the song, though.

    Actually, while I wasn’t too surprised that Shaw would try bluegrass, I do recall that he wasn’t thrilled with Dennis DeYoung’s desire to do softer songs like “Babe” and “First Time”, which Shaw described as “Barry Manilow style” music. I think I like Tommy Shaw more as a rock star, but he’s done okay with bluegrass. Maybe he should team up with Alison Krauss, who has seemed more interested in rock lately. I bet they’d make an interesting pair. Tommy Shaw rock star turned bluegrass artist versus Alison Krauss, bluegrass star turned rock artist… Hmmm… Edited to add, I just did a little more research and it seems Alison Krauss did join Tommy Shaw on a couple of songs on this album. That means I’ll definitely be buying it.

    I haven’t yet downloaded Shaw’s 2011 bluegrass foray, The Great Divide. It’s interesting to read the Amazon comments about this album. Quite a few people were not expecting it and were disappointed. Otherwise, it was pretty well-received. I probably will buy it, though, because I have a habit of random downloading, especially when I’m enjoying imported beers with high booze content. I have discovered some great stuff that way.

    Hope everyone has a great weekend!

  • #43 album of 2013 – Starlight by Joan Armatrading

    Artist: Joan Armatrading

    Album: Starlight

    Joan Armatrading, who released her debut album in 1972, has had an impressively varied career. Starting with generic folk-pop elevated only by her soulful voice, she grew to experiment with Elton John-style rockers, disco, reggae, JoanArmatradingcollaborations with Springsteen’s E Street Band, perky New Wave synth-pop, and — as her voice got deeper and richer — into roots-rock and blues. Starlight shows her still venturing, now into jazz-pop that sounds like the work of an extremely impressive late night combo … except that apparently she played every instrument herself. (Presumably using lots of overdubs, although it’s an even better story if she played the whole thing live using six extra robot arms. I think I’ll leap the album up about thirty ranks if I discover that’s the case.)

    Starlight has, for me, a bit of a 1980s feel. By this I mean (1) her synthesizers, when she uses them, feel like that era of Hall and Oates or Donald Fagen; (2) the fact that her drum programming, while imaginative and excellent, still sounds a bit artificial; (3) that Back on Track and I Want That Love sound like perfectly plausible hits from MTV’s early years; and (4) that sometimes her playing reminds me of Sting’s ’80s jazz-pop band, and just as often of Rowlf the Dog sitting in with Dr. Teeth’s Electric Mayhem for one of their subdued, moody performances. Unlike any of those comparison points, though, she’s every bit as comfortable with 5/4 time as Dave Brubeck’s quintet, not to mention 6/8 and some rhythms that I *think* add up to a nominal 8/8 but in very strange ways. This lends songs like Tell Me, Always on My Mind, and I Want That Love a delightful off-center swing.

    Her voice, a rich smoky contralto that can rise into an assertive yelp that’s still utterly graceful, would work in any era. Her songs are relationship songs, and would read as a series of cliches (which is a loss, as much earlier albums like the Shouting Stage often worked quite nicely on paper). But as delivered, they come off as honest and reflective songs about loneliness, lust, giddy new crushes, and romantic expectations. Tell Me is a platonic love song to a lifelong best friend, and is my favorite song here, in part because it’s a much rarer topic. But felt emotions hardly ever break new ground, so it’s silly to demand that all songs do. Joan Armatrading‘s take on small-combo jazz is a new adventure for her, a new adventure in music made by octopi, and has a distinctive enough sense of rhythm to be at least a little bit new in the world. As well as being a very fine heaping of old.

    – Brian Block

    To see the rest of our favorites, visit our Favorite Albums of 2013 page!

  • Music survey…

    Music survey…

    This morning, I had an interesting experience while taking a music survey…

    And I didn’t take the survey because I write about music. I actually took the survey because I am a member of MySurvey.com, which is a site where members take surveys and earn points that can be traded in for cash or gift cards. I’ve been on MySurvey.com for about ten years and it’s been an interesting experience. Sometimes I test products. Sometimes I watch videos or commercials, then answer questions. Sometimes the surveys are really boring and tedious and sometimes they’re pretty interesting. This morning’s survey was one of the cooler ones.

    The first thing I liked about the music survey was that it was visually very appealing. It used bright colors and graphics, which I found engaging and exciting. I was asked about a variety of popular music artists, everyone from Andrea Boccelli to Lady Gaga. The questions on the survey asked if I had ever heard of them, liked their music, or owned their music. I was asked if I bought CDs, downloaded albums, or listened to “free” music sources like Spotify. I was even asked if I used a peer to peer music service like the old Napster. Next, I listened to fifteen music samples from a variety of different artists– everything from reggae to modern country. I heard a few folks for the first time that I actually really enjoyed. In fact, I found that I liked a lot of the music that was sampled, even though I’ve fallen out of touch with really mainstream pop music. Another part of the survey was about how much of certain types of music I own and whether or not I ripped CDs owned by other people.

    I noticed that the people who made the survey were probably British, based on the language they used and the way they spelled some words. And I noticed that they seemed to be pitching U2 and Lady Gaga…


    As this classic U2 song played during the survey, I realized how awesome and iconic U2 is… But maybe that’s just because I’m old.

    Those two artists got several clips dedicated to them.

    I’m sure the music survey I took this morning is about finding out what people like and what people are willing to buy. For me, it was kind of an interesting discovery process. I kind of wish I had written down the names of a couple of the singers I was introduced to on the music survey, even though they seem like they might be a bit trendy for what I usually like. But then, I don’t pay attention to what’s hot as much as I do to what I like. If I’m somewhere out and about and hear a song I like, I use Shazam to find out what the title is and who’s singing it.

    I don’t often enjoy the surveys I take on MySurvey.com, though I have made some money and scored some freebies doing them, which makes it worthwhile for me. I hope they send me more music surveys, though. This morning’s experience was very intriguing. It makes me realize that I probably ought to turn on the radio more often.