​Joyann Parker (from the album Out of the Dark available on Hopelessly Romantic Records) (by Bryant Liggett)
Hers is a voice that’s both booming and soulful. Joyann Parker has a croon that comes in loud and clear, confident in its calling and silky smooth in its delivery, one of many vital parts to the vehicle that delivers a big package of Americana. With Joyann Parker behind the wheel, her sophomore effort in Out of the Dark digs into old school R&B… that’s heavy on the B, using the Blues to dance around with Country, Funk, and Gospel. The Blues is Joyann Parker’s homebase, and she isn’t afraid to let others into the neighborhood. 
Album opener “Gone So Long” is Country Soul, while funky keys and wah-wah guitar help deliver the gospel heavy “Carry On”. Joyann Parker is her own in “Bad Version of Myself” but quickly turns away from the self-deprecating to deliver the upbeat, bouncy “What Did You Expect”. “Predator” has a big Latin groove, and Parker brings in a NOLA French Quarter vibe for a song about Bourbon Street behavior as Big Easy piano and horns introduce “Dirty Rotten Guy”, Joyann Parker pursuing a one-night stand with a ‘fast car, loud guitar and the devil in his eye’. “Come on Baby (Take Me Dancing)” is ripe for a sock-hop while “Fool For You” and “Hit Me Like a Train” are Rock’n’Roll heavy as Joyann Parker slows the whole thing down with a knock it out of the park with the Out of the Dark title tracks as the closing ballad. (by Bryant Liggett)
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For more info, check out the Joyann Parker website

​Aaron Lee Tasjan (from the album Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! available on New West Records) (by Joe Burcaw) 
What 34-year-old musician gets to brag about being a member of The New York Dolls, and having the great Tony Visconti and Jack White as your record producers? The answer is Aaron Lee Tasjan, that’s who. These are just a few accomplishments this buckeye boy from New Albany, Ohio can add to his ever-extending CV. Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!” is his latest release from New West records, and his fourth solo album in just four years. This chap is quite the prolific songwriter, creating a helluva lot of output in a short span of time. Aaron Lee Tasjan has been quoted saying ‘this is not anxious music for anxious times but rather music as an antidote for anxious times. It is the sound of the future arriving’. The single “Computer of Love” (from a visual standpoint) summarizes that quote perfectly integrating humanistic interaction and dialogue with technology, think Michael Knight’s relationship with his computer Kit from the 80’s hit show “Knight Rider”. I was really drawn to the lyrical wit that went into crafting the words, ‘hey ladies from the late 80’s staring back at me, such beauties on my screen’. To some this may be a bland statement gaining no reactive response. For someone such as myself, it automatically put me back to my childhood days trying to figure out whether or not I should play Donkey Kong Jr. or Ms. Pac-Man on my Atari 2600 gaming console, way before GTA and Mindcraft dominated the market. I digress, this tune had a very uplifting ‘look up to the stars’ feel to it, allowing the listener to float away in interstellar ecstasy. This could have been a leftover track from The Traveling Wilbury’s debut record, super hooky and a fun interdimensional experience overall! 
Switching gears completely, we examine the super spacey acoustic driven “Another Lonely Day”. I loved the atmospheric guitars and Beatles-influenced backing vocals, they added so much depth and richness to the song’s layering. I wonder if either Robert Fripp or Josh Klinghoffer were secretly hired to play the eight-bar pitched whammy pedal solo? Very tasty and subtle with effective use of space between the bars, a knock-out performance in my honest opinion. The opening track, “Sunday Women”, starts off with the chorus as opposed to the traditional verse then chorus, a clever intro that just proves how a solid chorus needs to be repeated and dropped in multiple times to get the point across. The bouncing bass line counters the vocal melody beautifully without ever interfering with each other. Kudos to Tasjan’s bassist, he or she provided a foundation that moves the song along fluidly within its late 1960’s Mod vibe. The treated snare drum was a nice affect that could have fit into Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I, for some reason, kept thinking of Matthew Sweet for the treated guitar solo, it grabs you and won’t let go until the last bar, awesome use of textures indeed! Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! is a hit with us and we hope to hear more live performances from Mr. Aaron Lee Tasjan in 2021, a mighty fine job mate!  (by Joe Burcaw)
 
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For more info, check out the Aaron Lee Tasjan website
 

​Selwyn Birchwood (from the album Living in a Burning House available on Alligator Records) (by Joe Burcaw) 
What pile of rubble have I been sleeping under is the only question I seriously need to ask myself? I just finished listening to young axe slinger Selwyn Birchwood’s Living in a Burning Housealbum and all I can say is WTF! Why is this cat not mainstreamed and on the front cover of Rolling Stone magazine? And how has he flown somewhat under the radar? I am floored and smitten simultaneously, if that’s at all possible? This dude lays down the law and takes no prisoners while packing sonic punches of Blues infused grit and grime. This is Selwyn Birchwood’s third release on Alligator Records. The label is celebrating 50 years in the biz in 2021, and Selwyn is the first release to kick off festivities. The album was recorded in Selwyn’s home state of Florida with 3-time Grammy winning producer Tom Hambridge, so the formula for success is inevitable. The title track has a tight syncopated groove that takes me back to the early days of Chicago Transit Authority with the catchy horn stabs and up front lead guitar playing. If I was to close my eyes, I could almost feel the spirit of Terry Kath and Dr. John channeling through Mr. Birchwood’s finger tips and vocal cords. I am a huge sucker for production, and this record is as crisp and clear as an early winter morning in Rutland, Vermont. 
“You Can’t Steal My Sunshine” is another up-tempo jam showcasing the electric swamp funkiness of Selwyn Birchwood’s right-handed rhythm playing. At the 2:18 minute marker the band drops out leaving us with a quarter note kick/hi-hat feel, which showcases the ultra-hip panning of the funky rhythm guitars . The 32-bar wah-wah guitar solo definitely tapped into Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” vibe, and The Purple One would be so very proud of the final outcome. I noticed the baritone saxophone spreading its wings all over this recording and rightfully so, this instrument enhances any genre of music it accompanies. “One More Time” is one of those powerfully executed 1950’s inspired ballad that lends itself to a sixteen-bar guitar and sax solo, with a few crafty pick up notes leading us in gracefully. I hear so much of Jimi Hendrix’s influence on Birchwood’s rhythm guitar voicings, it just oozes all over this one, and that makes this Hendrix fan smile from the inside out. I have to hand it to you Selwyn Birchwood, you’ve sold this album over from bar one of listening to your music. It’s not often we get to hear someone rise from the ashes of this current state of musical mediocrity with a penchant for world dominance. Here’s to you kid as I tip my hat in your direction......... (by Joe Burcaw)
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For more info, check out the Selwyn Birchwood website
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​Mac Leaphart (from the album Music City Joke available as a self-release) (by Brian Rock)
 
Mac Leaphart explores the humor and heartache of life’s misadventures on his fourth album, Music City Joke. Although a native South Carolinian now living in Nashville, Mac Leaphart sounds for all the world like a Texas troubadour. Part Guy Clark and part Jerry Jeff Walker, he wrestles with life’s absurdities on a combination of grace, wit, and a poet’s insight. “El Paso Kid” sets the tone with the opening line, ‘she got knocked up and kept on drinking...’. Clearly, the expectant child is facing uphill odds before he even takes his first breath. With sepia fiddle and acoustic guitar tones, Mac Leaphart paints the picture of Buddy, the bastard kid from El Paso. But, like Guy Clark, Leaphart insinuates more than he tells. In fact, he leaves off the story when Buddy turns eighteen, just as the past seems poised to collide with the present. You’re left to decide for yourself what decisions Buddy is likely to make and what kind of life he will experience. The only hint Leaphart gives us is that ‘there’s a special place in Heaven for those who scrap for a fighting chance’. Like a psychological Rorschach test or a great work of art, the reaction of the viewer becomes more important than the object being viewed.
 
Mac Leaphart again challenges our ingrained worldviews on “Window from the Sky”. An extended metaphor about a bird accidentally trapped in a house; the bird is unable to find the open door as it continues to fly into the closed windows. He speaks for many of us who find ourselves trapped in glass prisons of our own making when he sings, ‘it’s never easy as it seems to find your wings and fly’.
With deft turns of phrase and poignant touches of steel guitar, Leaphart turns his poet’s perspective on many of the passing moments that make up a life. On, “Every Day” he bemoans the daily grind of making a living. “Division Street” shows how the relentless pursuit of pleasure ironically leads to pain; as ‘the road to rock bottom is paved by new lows’. He finds the humor in being a lonely guitar yearning for a talented hand to strum him in “The Ballad of Bob Yamaha or a Simple Plea in C Major”. He contemplates self-abuse and self-righteousness in “Blame on the Bottle”. And with heartbreaking insight, he ponders how his ex’s new lover can’t see “The Same Thing” in her that he once did. But Mac Leaphart shows he can be as much Ronnie Van Zandt as he can Townes Van Zandt when he plugs in and pumps up the pace on “That Train”, “Honey, Shake!” and “Music City Joke.” This uptempo trio straddles the line between Outlaw Country and Southern Rock as he pays homage to hoping for a better life, enjoying the moment, and chasing a dream. The latter of which is a semi-biographical, tongue-in-cheek look at the music business. Mocking the common belief that songwriting is easy (or perhaps his own naiveite,) he sings about his early attempts at writing hits, where ‘every song I got done, they’d say, ‘son, you better try again’. Apparently, his persistence has paid off, as Music City Joke is no joke. It’s real deal Americana with heart and humor. In the end, the joke may be on Music City as Mac Leaphart outshines most of Nashville’s current crop of ‘stars’. (by Brian Rock)
 
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For more info, check out the Mac Leaphart website
 

​Beth Lee (from the album Waiting on You Tonight available as a self-release) (by Bryant Liggett)
 
If Beth Lee’s latest record reflects her record collection then she proves she’s got taste worthy of envy and influences a plenty. Waiting on You Tonight dips into Rootsy R&B while drifting around the paisley underground, then plucks a toe into some psychedelia and Pop as it dances around the Cow Punk. Waiting on You Tonight is a record with Green on Red or even The Runaways as influences that show a hint of New Wave and a bunch of Singer/Songwriter bravado.  The title track album opener is a rough around the edges Roots Rocker that kicks off with a dark riff, followed by “Yale St and 45” that tosses around a subtle jangle. 
 
“Playin’ Along” is wandering and lazy with Lee’s vocals ambient and dreamy while “I Won’t Give In” is slow and sultry, a vocal heavy ballad where Beth Lee sadly sings of skipping records and slipping memories.  “Birthday Song” has an R&B groove before Waiting on You Tonight punches things up with “Pens and Needles”, a Garage Rocker with a Punky bounce pulled from 1978.  “Four Letter Name” lives between the Blues and Folk, Beth Lee adding a pinch of twang to the soulful “Understand Me” before closing with a touch of jangle and a load of psychedelic pop on the faraway “All the Way”. Beth Lee’s an ace backed by a band that could bang out a waltz as easy as they can blast through a revved-up Roots Rocker, places they all go on Waiting on You Tonight. (by Bryant Liggett)
 
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For more info, check out the Beth Lee website

​Pony Bradshaw (from the album Calico Jim available on Black Mountain Music) (by Bryant Liggett)
 
Heavy on the storytelling and heavier on the imagery, Pony Bradshaw’s latest, Calico Jim, is a dose of dark Folk tied into the woods of Northwest Georgia. It’s a Folk record for the Folk lovers seeking a bit of grit over fluff.  Pony Bradshaw sings of characters that aren’t afraid to thump their chest and be vocally proud. The lead in the title track opener is a tough buzzard boasting ‘this old dog will still hunt, I don’t need no featherbed, I’m spry as a moon, I won’t even break a sweat’ while the voice in the lazy, psychedelic Folk cut “Dope Mountain” is ‘proud to be a hillbilly, sixth generation, but we ain’t no white trash’. It’s a cut that ramps up to a sound as thick as the humidity in a summertime Georgia forest.
 
“Saw-toothed Jericho” continues the vibe of detailed characters and subtle instrumentation save for the stabbing Southern Rock guitar that comes in quick and leaves even quicker while “Foxfire” has a click-clack train rhythm when it dances toward New Grass and Country territory. Pony Bradshaw digs on the detail, every song loaded with characters, their possessions and feelings brought to life through his ability to tell a vivid tale. These are tunes where the overall mood and landscape is rural and gothic, the tunes carrying a touch of twang via fiddles, banjos and pedal steel that come as a whisper under Pony Bradshaw’s acoustic guitar. (by Bryant Liggett)
 
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For more info, check out the Pony Bradshaw website

​Harry Dean Stanton with the Cheap Dates (from the album October 1993 available on Omnivore Recordings) (by Bryant Liggett)
 
Harry Dean Stanton was in the film biz for over sixty of his 91 years on earth however he was a musician longer. Fans may remember Stanton crooning in Cool Hand Luke or on television in Twin Peaks but his musical talent. Though never presented to the general public on a Hollywood platter or commercial package, music was always there as he plucked out covers or cuts from the public domain for years. October 1993 celebrates Harry Dean Stanton as both musician and music lover, finding the late actor backed by The Cheap Dates, a stacked band with members that did time as The Doobie Brothers, Stray Cats or backing band members for Bowie or Iggy Pop. They’re solid support for Stanton, who bangs out of the gate with a bouncy and groovy version of Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” before charging into a Rootsy and rocking “Promised Land”. 
 
“You Don’t Miss Your Water” has a folkie-gospel feel, and there’s a subtle Tex-Mex vibe to the Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, and Jim Dickinson penned “Across the Borderline” from Willie Nelson’s record of the same name. The back five of the album were recorded live at Doug Weston’s Troubadour in West Hollywood, including a swinging and steel heavy “You Never Can Tell” as well as a Rockabilly-ripping version of “Miss Froggie.” The live set concludes with “Cancion Mixteca,” a cut Harry Dean Stanton sang in his film Paris, Texas. October 1993, from the Rock’n’Roll cool frontman to his ripping band is Roots Rock greatness. 
 
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For more info, check out the Harry Dean Stanton with The Cheap Dates website
 

​Danny Kroha (from the album Detroit Blues available on Third Man Records) (by Chris Wheatley)
 
Detroit Blues, the new album from veteran singer-songwriter and guitarist Danny Kroha, makes for an intriguing proposition. Danny Kroha has a long and diverse discography, including stints with Blues-Punk outfit, The Gories, and avant-garde Garage Rockers, The Demolition Doll Rods. This is a thoughtful, intelligent musician whose artistic width also covers Gospel, old school Blues, and Folk. Detroit Blues is a home-recording, which utilizes a host of traditional instruments such as wash-tub bass, jug, the one-stringed diddley bow (an early, rudimentary form of guitar), washboard, tambourine and foot-stomps. For the arrangements themselves, Kroha took inspiration from both old-time Blues and country. Says Kroha, ‘I listen to both genres, for sure. I just wasn’t trying to make a record that sounds like that. It just came out more like a field recording than a studio recording’.
 
We get a generous fourteen tracks here, beginning with “Poor Howard,” a rousing Country Blues, which jigs and reels, with Danny Kroha's vocals rising and falling with the beat. ‘Whose been here, since I've been gone, pretty little girl with a red dress on’. It's a curiously affecting song, strongly reminiscent of classic cuts laid down in the early part of the twentieth century. Somewhere between Bill Monroe's Western Swing, Jimmy Rodger's rolling Country, and Charlie Patton's ancient -sounding Blues, Danny Kroha makes a home of his own in the songs. There is no post-modern cynicism here, Kroha clearly has a deep-rooted affection for the period. He also has the musical talent and nous to pull of a heart-felt homage, which is eminently listenable in its own right.
 
The Detroit Blues title track chuffs along with the sharp and spirited delivery of early Dylan. Kroha conjures simple, hypnotic rhythms, singing with moving sincerity. The essential life-affirming, sometimes playful, spirit of Woody Guthrie and Odetta float through this music. ‘When they ride, ride the rod, put their trust, in the hands of god’. Danny Kroha's skill as a lyricist is not to be underrated. Like the best Roots music, he connects on a very human level, with tales of hard lives and hearts' longing. “Way Down in Florida” features some fine resonator slide guitar over thumping, wash-tub bass. Kroha summons flurries of ringing notes which flutter like steel butterflies. On “Come Out the Wilderness”, he slows the pace down to a crawl. Constructed from stomps and rustic guitar, even with such a sparse composition, Danny Kroha manages to convey a sense of complete envelopment, drawing the listener into a bygone/modern world.
 
The stop-start, highly entertaining, “Adam And Eve”, with it kazoo-driven melody, is equal-parts eccentric and comfortingly familiar. This is the secret to the success of Detroit Blues. On every track Kroha successfully employs a fine balance between the old and the new, between rawness and subtlety. A splendid cover of “House of the Rising Sun” (once recorded by the aforementioned Woody Guthrie) sparkles beautifully, cold and clear like a mountain river. Danny Kroha closes with “Up Above My Head”, a proto-rockabilly number on which he lets some of his punk/garage spirit shine through. (by Chris Wheatley)
 
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For more info, check out the Danny Kroha website
 

​Shovels & Rope (from the album Busted Juicebox Volume 3 available on Dualtone Music Group) (by Bryant Liggett)
Shovels & Rope Busted Jukebox series has always been collections that dig into the musical influences that make the duo tick. Busted Jukebox Volume 3 however comes with a twist; the record, better known as Busted Juicebox Volume 3, with Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent joined by other Indie musicians covering tunes for kids musical tastes, able to appeal to all ages. These arrangements are twisted just enough to maybe catch a young ear more-so than the original, with the common denominator of all the players is that now the bulk of them tote around miniature versions of themselves. Hearst and Trent’s vocals are always beautifully worn, aching on the traditional opener of “Hush Little Baby” that’s given a Shovels & Rope treatment and dished out warm and raw. 
Sharon Van Etten helps turn Brian Wilson’s “In My Room” into psychedelic noise-Rock and “What A Wonderful World”, with John Paul White, is an instrumentally sparse, harmony heavy, beauty. “Cry Baby” has an old-school, R&B vibe that, thanks to members of Deer Tick, is screamy and emotionally thick. REM’s “Everybody Hurts”, with T. Hardy Morris guesting, is a blast of Indie-Gospel and that spiritual vibe rolls into “Tomorrow”, a show-tune pulled from “Annie” that features powerhouse vocals from Tennessee duo, The War and Treaty. This is an on the sly kids record, and while it’s got the rough around the edges Folkiness that lives with all the Shovels & Rope releases, Busted Juicebox Volume 3 has got some soft lay-me-down-to-sleep appeal. Call it a cool kids record by, and for, the cool kids. (by Bryant Liggett)
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For more info, check out the Shovels & Rope website
 

By Request – A.J. Croce speaks with Joe Burcaw
I seriously believe in the power of fate, and in the power of manifestation, when it comes to a person’s life path trajectory. A.J. Croce (son of the late, great singer/songwriter Jim Croce) is no stranger when it comes to facing adversity, setbacks, trauma, or fate. Go read his biography for a better understanding of his personal experiences. Yet he has prevailed because he believes in the gifts that have been bestowed upon him through genetic DNA, and through straight up musical talent. He has paid his dues by making sacrifices in order to get to where he is now; grounded, in control, and never looking back, only ahead. Sometimes it’s the hardships in life that propel you to move forward, at least that is what I would like to believe. A.J. really impressed me as person, and doubly impressed me with his keen sense of musicianship and songwriting insights. I kept him for just under an hour, and could have gone another full hour if permitted to do so. He was extremely articulate and eager to discuss his process, and what exactly goes on in that creative mind of his. By Request (released 02-05-21) is the new A.J. Croce album of cover songs that capture and represent close friends from the past three decades. The level of talent involved in this recording is like a ‘who’s who’ of studio and touring musicians coming together under one roof to let off some steam. It’s a house party of Soul and groove, and everyone’s invited to absorb the smooth vibes from inside. 
JOE: Good evening A.J., how are you?
A.J.: Doing well thanks. Man, it's been in the 30s down here and in the 20s this morning, but not as cold as where you're at.
JOE: It’s freezing cold and currently nine degrees and holding steady. We’ll have to wait until April to get out of this arctic blast for good, so we have a couple more months ahead of us until things warm up. Let's talk about your new record By Request, which I am seriously digging. I wanted to ask you about the song choices being this is an all covers album. What was the motivation behind choosing these particular songs? It's very diverse and eclectic ranging from The Beach Boys and Allen Toussaint, to Neil Young and The Faces. Were your fans requesting these titles at shows, and in return, prompting you to eventually record them?
A.J.: The process was a little more personal than that. I've always had…up until recently… enjoyed having folks come over in the evening and play music at my house. Each one of the songs was for a particular friend, on a particular evening, when we were hanging out having some drinks late night. It's probably over 30 years of twelve different evenings with twelve different people, so that was how it all came about. Now how exactly I narrowed it down, I can't even begin to tell you because I started off playing Jazz and Blues and R&B. When I was a young teenager, up until maybe I was 19 or 20, I played Jazz clubs and piano bars performing three to four sets a night. It was mostly cover music and classic Tin Pan Alley stuff. I was never a stranger to playing covers. So, it was difficult to narrow it down because there were so many evenings with so many friends playing so many different tunes, but these were fun and somehow stuck around in one form or another. In the case of Randy Newman, that wasn't a song of his that I really played very often except for one particular night and the person I played it for was more familiar with the Flamin’ Groovies version of it than the original. So, I took that into account and I thought, how would Little Richard have sounded if he was playing “Have You Seen My Baby”? Things came about in a unique way. 
JOE: Did you go into this project with 20-30 songs and have to edit it down to the best 10-12? Was there any material recorded that didn’t make the final cut?
A.J.: I just recorded twelve songs narrowed down from over 100. I have played literally thousands of songs over the years and it was just a kind of fun idea. I lost my wife in 2018 and it was hard to write for a while, so initially I got started on this project at the end of 2019. We went into the studio in December of 2019 and finished the album around this time last year with the intention of putting it out spring of last year, as things turned out it just wasn't practical. I am really pleased with it and it was a fun project. I've been on the road for a while with my touring group and just started throwing in songs that I thought worked for them. These are incredibly talented musicians who have collectively been on thousands of records, but I was thinking about the way we played together and which songs would be fun to tackle. 
JOE: My condolences for your loss. Is this the first recording that you've done with this particular lineup?
A.J.: It's the first I've done with this touring band, yes. Although I've recorded with Gary Mallaber and David Barard before separately. I don't know if you're familiar with Gary’s work but he started off in the 70s working with Van Morrison on Moon Dance, he's the drummer on many of those great early records. He was a session guy in L.A. doing all kinds of things musically, and we met years ago. Then David Barard the bass player is from New Orleans, and he and I met almost 30 years ago and he was with Dr. John at the time. 
JOE: Yes indeed, I was very impressed with David's swing and chops!
A.J.: Oh, he is amazing. It's interesting because he was on the original version of “Nothing from Nothing”, that is kind of how he got his start with Allen Toussaint, he was on “Southern Nights”. That whole period is when he started playing with Lee Dorsey and Irma Thomas and all of those great New Orleans folks that were around when he was growing up. I reconnected with him because I was working with Allen in New Orleans on some stuff and was looking to find a new bass player to tour with. David just showed up and we’ve been playing together ever since. 
JOE: Initially I was going to ask about the tracking process. Did you all track live and then do overdubs afterwards?
A.J.: The singing and playing was all live, there's no fixes or anything like that. No overdubs either, I wanted it to feel like the audience was invited into my house. So, it was kind of an invitation for folks out there to come on over. I wanted that to be present in the recording, we recorded sixteen tracks to two-inch, which is pretty much my normal way of doing it in analog. In this case I did transfer over to Pro-Tools for mixing, it just makes life a lot easier. I had done it kind of the old way with Dan Penn on the last record and I hadn't been involved in that process since I started the first record, which was completely live back in 1992 and much easier. When recording my first album with Dan we recorded live to 16-track and never went over 16-tracks. There weren't sub-mixes or anything like that, we really treated it like his Muscle Shoals, Memphis period trying to get everything on three tracks and see where we end up. It’s the same kind of idea with By Request. I was trying to keep the tone aspect as sweet and honest as possible. I'm a huge fan of vintage gear too!
JOE: I think you were able to capture a special moment tracking live. I was going to ask you this earlier, speaking as musician to musician, I find playing with folks from the south differs from musicians up north. There is this type of swing and looseness. You're not hanging on top of the beat. I’m from New York City and we tend to ever so slightly play on top landing right on the one, but never rushing the tempo. Whereas, I find that a lot of cats from the south and west coast lay back with this ‘give and take’ feel. Would you agree?
A.J.: That is very interesting. L.A. has a kind of sound, there are more players who are comfortable moving from being a little behind and laidback to kind of pushing it. Then you have the session guys that are just right on it, they’re like metronomes when it comes to Rootsy music. It does have a laidback thing which I've always looked for in the way that I play, it's a push and pull. You know, when you slow something down in a solo section it makes the music wider and gives space to the soloist. As you speed up slowly during the solo it makes it seem more exciting and then you come back to where you were at. It’s a little trick I learned when I was young, and always kind of think about.
JOE: Would you say that comes from being a younger musician performing with a lot of the elder statesman who kind of schooled you, such as BB King or Ray Charles?
A.J.: It was. You know, playing with those people was obviously an amazing experience but even at that time it was my natural way to play piano. I had grown up listening to Ray Charles and all of these different R&B, Soul, and Rock’n’Roll players. Whether it was fast and driving like Wallace James B. Johnson, Willie Lyon, whether it's a boogie like Pete Johnson or Alberta Hammonds, it doesn't matter, it can still swing and you can lay back on the left hand and push a hair with the right and sort of move the time a bit. Since I started off as a solo piano player you do move the time naturally to create excitement and dynamics.
JOE: Absolutely, plus you feed off the audience too.
A.J.: It’s as simple as that.
JOE: There is complete control and great choice of notes with some serious pocket. As far as your piano soloing goes on the new album, did you go in with written charts or with a rough sketch ahead of time where to navigate concepts and ideas?
A.J.: Only when it came to the horns I arranged on “Nothing from Nothing”. I was looking for something a little bit funkier than the original which sort of has that circus feel. I wanted it to feel a little bit like that early 70s Sly and the Family Stone or Stevie Wonder kind of horn section where you have this line that's continuing on over the bar and ascending, that was my idea for it. As far as the piano, we probably did three passes and took the best one.
JOE: It certainly is groovy, ohh my goodness. I was listening to “Ain't No Justice”, that’s an instrumental from the 60s or 70’s by Shorty Long, yes?
A.J.: Yeah, I think it’s from around 1968.
JOE: For me, I heard a Steely Dan vibe going on which reminded me of something off of the Pretzel Logic album.
A.J.: Interesting, that's interesting. That certainly wasn't where I was coming from but I could see it was a little of where they were coming from too. I love them and came to them sort of late. I sort of discovered them in the last fifteen years and really started enjoying the music. The Wurlitzer solo I was recording in the room with the guys because unlike the piano, I didn't need to be isolated in a different room I could be in there with them. We had a whole group of friends hanging out in the kitchen and recorded at this place called Bomb Shelter here in Nashville. It's a little house and that was one of the reasons I chose it because we couldn't record at my home. So, I found another house that had been converted into a good analog studio. We had friends with us drinking and talking and we did a few passes of it. The solo on that reminded me a little bit of Herbie Hancock in that sort of late 60s or 70s early electric era. For whatever reason, I don't know why I played it that way. It was just the way the band was playing and what I felt. I wasn't thinking about him, he’s such a brilliant player and it's not like I can play like him. There's just something in the way that the notes I chose that remind me of it afterwards. I heard it and thought, that's kind of interesting. You know, I come from (Thelonious) Monk’s style of playing, that sort of melodic dissonance was always really important.
JOE: That is so funny that you mentioned Monk! I was going to ask you about his influence on your playing because I heard that in your style, and your possible interest in cluster chords? Monk’s Criss Cross album is one of my favorites. I heard inflections in your attack and it sounded like his playing approach.
A.J.: He's one of those people who I didn’t really feel when I was young but my band and I would play one of his tunes. I'll be honest, he's not someone I think is really meant to be covered or played note for note by any piano player. I think it's one of those things where he created such an interpretive way of composing, the way he interpreted which notes should be played was really in the moment, even though he had the basic structure there. You can hear different recordings of him doing the same songs differently probably a dozen times, and they’re all different. Yeah, whether he was playing solo which is my favorite, or whether he's with a band I’m always taken away in some fashion listening to him.
JOE: I think you owe it to yourself as a musician to broaden your horizons.
A.J.: Especially if you want to do it for a living, I always felt like I've had a lot of different periods. When I started off, I felt like I was shot out of a cannon. I started out at seventeen and got my first session here in Nashville, with Cowboy Jack Clement when I was still in high school.
JOE: How did you get the gig?
A.J.: I was at a friend's house in the Berkshires and a woman asked him to come over because she heard me playing and said there is someone that needs to meet you and hear you. A few weeks later I got a call to come to Nashville and do a session with Cowboy. I got there and walked in and Jerry Lee Lewis was walking out. I didn't know I was filling in, I really had no clue. I think it was Elvis's band sitting on the couch. That was my intro, and my very first recording ever. When I was nineteen, I got signed to a major label and started touring. It happened really fast and then I wasn't on a big label anymore. The company I was signed by was bought by BMG, and then I was on RCA everywhere else in the world. Here in the U.S. when that label folded into another label, it just was like okay, now I'm independent and I’ll probably never get to sell records like that again, or get signed by a major again. I didn’t have that kind of marketing and money and PR behind me to let people know that I am alive. So, I started my own label and I did a few records on my own, and it wasn't always easy. I figured if I cannot make a living with original music and touring then I would either play with someone else who was doing music that I liked, or play private parties. I could always do what I did when I was young. As long as I can make a living playing music, that has always been the important part.
JOE: Did you always have the vision and drive to pursue this? In a way you can look at the Berkshires experience as pure luck, correct?
A.J.: Yeah, it was luck and there's been luck here and there. There is also a lot of character building in between. If you're not paying your dues in the very beginning, then you're gonna pay them later. It's probably going to be harder if you start that way, and it was hard for fifteen years. Then things sort of came into a new place, I think I developed more and understood what people who bought my music were into. It’s always hard to understand, and I had gone in so many different directions that my audience didn't always follow me. 
JOE: That tends to happen and it can be an uphill struggle, especially if you're going independently because then everything falls onto your shoulders. 
A.J.: Absolutely, it's a lot of work. There were periods where I would focus more on writing. I moved back here in 2008. For about three years I was just writing for my publisher doing around 90 co-writes a year and 90 songs a year for other people. I was doing a lot of sessions during that time playing piano and found myself in these odd situations where I was just using two fingers on my right hand to play something anyone could be playing, the engineer or the drummer could play what I was playing. I am grateful for the work. but it wasn’t really that much fun. I learned a lot.
JOE: Was it unfulfilling?
A.J.: Yeah, it was musically unfulfilling at that point, and it was just at the end of that period of time I started meeting some really fun players and started playing with some folks that I really, really enjoy playing with. Marco Cimino was one of them and Buddy Miller, just some great players. There's so many great players here, and everyone is working as you don't always fall into the place where you want to be when you want to be there.
JOE: That's true, the musical God's place you where you need to be at that precise moment in your life. I always found that true. Let me ask you this question, having played with so many older seasoned musicians who possess such a huge pedigree of incredible artists they have accompanied in the past, do you feel like you've learned a lot with them as a musician?
A.J.: I learn every day that I play with someone else, even if I've played with them a thousand times, I learn something, and it doesn't matter where someone is at with their proficiency level or musicianship. I've always been aware of that even if someone is just learning how to play an instrument, everyone approaches their instrument in a different way. Just watching someone who is starting out sometimes can remind you that the fundamentals either need to be discarded or kept because of their importance to what you do. So, I think as long as I stay open and willing to learn, it will never feel like I know it all and then I'll stay creative.
JOE: I love what you just said, you definitely sound like a teacher. Do you teach?
A.J.: I have done some master classes on 20th century piano at University of Barcelona.
JOE: No no, I mean have you ever taught privately one on one piano instruction?
A.J.: I am really terrible at that, I don't see very well and my sight reading isn't very good. There's not a place in between reading glasses and my regular glasses where I can see the score very well. Yeah, so if I'm learning Chopin in C sharp minor Opus #10, which is a fast piece with a lot of notes I have to learn it by ear. Part of learning something like that is so different from playing Rock, Pop, R&B/Soul, or whatever, it's the posture and the way that I need to sit in order to play the way that my hands need to be. I don't need to be told I can hear it, I can feel it and know I'm not going to be able to execute this section unless I sit properly. It's always how I learned.
JOE: As far as the way you attack the piano keys sounds very rhythmic, are you fond of drumming?
A.J.: Oh, absolutely, it’s a percussive instrument! I do treat it as that, I've never had a kit in my house but I love playing percussion. I do play some hand drums and I do play a variety of different percussive instruments which have been recorded over the years on records. I've learned things from people I've worked with. It was funny because I hadn't played with Robben Ford for probably twenty-five years. He is my neighbor who lives directly across the street, so I called him up and said, ‘Hey, man, would you be into coming down and playing on something?’ He agreed and came in and I was playing a chord in this way he taught me years ago. I didn't even play guitar at the time, but he was playing something at Ocean Way studios in L.A. around 1992 and I'm sitting there saying, ‘What's that chord, how are you playing it?’. I looked at it and still use that shape when I'm playing guitar. The song he played on was requiring a chord voicing that I played guitar on. So, it was kind of full circle in this curious way, that was really fun. But you asked me about the way I attack. One of the beautiful things about piano is that it's so incredibly dynamic. It’s as if you have the orchestra right at your fingertips. I can hit very hard, and I can play with a lot of strength and emotion. You can emphasize things with your left hand, I'm lefthanded so it's easy to emphasize the bass line or rhythm or something with the left hand and play lighter with the right. But you end up emphasizing the groove by hitting it, whether it's on the one or whether it's on two, four or whatever. You have this ability to really emphasize the groove and the melody.
JOE: I thoroughly enjoyed the Sam Cooke track off of your album, I listened to it multiple times. Aside from the rhythmic piano solo I felt vocally you were digging into that Dr. John vibe.
A.J.: Yes, but I wasn't trying to do anything except what I do naturally. That's always the case, I just have to do what feels natural, but it just comes out. It's funny because when my first album came out there were a couple people that came to me and mentioned Dr. John, and I didn't know who he was. I had a conversation recently with someone who's writing a book on Leon Russell, and Leon and I had written a bunch of songs together, probably a dozen songs which I recorded a few. I loved his music and loved the songs he played. He wasn't an influence of mine, but when we got together, we really had a great conversation, especially the first time we met. We had all of these similar influences. When he plays, he has this strong ferocious one, and then he just lets it ring. He'll let it run for a bar. He makes a statement and then he tells the story, with a statement prior to the story. That’s what I dig, it comes from Ray Charles, it comes from that old Soul and R&B.
JOE: It never gets old listening to that man. I was reading somewhere that you were studying Middle Eastern & Indian scales. Are you still working on this project?
A.J.: Yes, it's a really challenging thing to do on piano and much easier on guitar for drones, obviously. I've been working on this project for many years, in the last couple years I started collaborating with a group called Antibalis. I had written this whole sort of short book about these origin stories. It was designed to just be a guide for putting this album together. There are fables and folklore and mythology and cultural anthropology and history and science and religious stories of origin and creation, it’s still in the creative process. While I had the downtime I started experimenting with a lot of different scales experimenting with how to apply it to popular music in Western form. I was deconstructing “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo”, by (Duke) Ellington, and you have this minor ascending line that just really goes between two chords until it gets to the bridge, instead of going a whole step I just went a have step between the first and second. I was listening to what he was doing, but then I sort of simplified this and apply these Indian ragas, sort of classical raga scales, to that form to see if it holds together and how far can I push it before it's not something that anyone would want to listen to.
JOE: Were you concentrating on drones as well, and soloing over a drone even though it’s challenging on the piano?
A.J.: Yes, what I was doing was using the bass sustain pedal playing fifths, fourths or these kind of notes that would eventually deteriorate. I was able to move half steps with the right hand on the scales actually playing the chords of the scales. Sort of experimenting sonically having these slight rubs, but it's in that Monk world of not quite a quarter tone but these semi tones of some sort. Then when you're working with the treble sustain you have other harmonics that are going on in the piano, so it’s really interesting. I can't say that I’m really proficient at it because there's so much to learn. I've just spent the last eight or ten months doing it as part of what I've been practicing.
JOE: All of that microtonal playing is no joke! Do you plan on recording a follow up release any time in the nearby future?
A.J.: This album comes out early February, so I'm going to promote By Request as long as the label wants to keep supporting it, and then I’ll be ready to go into the studio. I have songs written that I loved a couple years ago and still love, and last year I've wrote so much that I'm happy with. I'm really looking forward to recording the next project and that's not going to be the one with Antibalas, it's just the way our schedules have worked for right now.
JOE: I know we have to wrap up, and thank you again for your time and graciousness. What does 2021 hold for you?
A.J.: Of course! I have a really fun concert that I'm going to be streaming with many of the members of the studio band as well as my regular group. The singers are going to be there and my rhythm section, I'm just waiting to hear back from the horn players. I'm going to do an album release at City Winery and it will be broadcast live. There will be info on my website and on my Facebook page and Instagram and all that. The actual gig is on February 27, and on February 28th I’m going to do three different shows. The first one will have a limited audience performing By Request and the second day will be more of my full catalogue including stuff from By Request. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to that and I think there'll be some really fun stuff in there. We haven't played together and we miss it. My guitar player came over last week for the first time in months and we played from a distance and it was wonderful, it was just great to play with someone else.
JOE: It has to be cathartic getting back together with your musician friends.
 
A.J.: It really is, and then after that I think things are slowly going to pick up in March. Last year was full and now everything from last year has been pushed to this year and into 2022. This year and next year is completely full. I think it's going to start pushing into 2023 because of all of the tour dates, so I'll be working quite a bit. I always give myself time to come home for a couple weeks a month to be able to do creative projects that I'm thinking about, and to keep writing and have the experiences in real life to write about.
 
JOE: That’s so true, you need those life experiences in order to be able to put words to music. Please tell the people how they can reach you as far as your social media handles and website etc. What is the best way to get up to date information?
 
A.J.: Yeah, Instagram is at A.J. Croce and Facebook if you go to A.J. Croce music band page you can catch up on it and then AJCrocemusic.com is a good way to take a look at stuff and you can listen to all different kinds of music that I've done over the years and stories and all that stuff.
 
JOE: Well, if and when you get up to the Hartford/New York area I'm going to come out to a show and say hello, once life normalizes again.
 
A.J.: Good, good, good! Sooner or later I'll definitely be there!
 
JOE: Thank you so much for your time, it has been an absolute pleasure.
 
A.J.: Hey, thanks for having me, absolutely. Take care and be safe.
 
JOE: Same to you, be well
 
Listen and buy the music of A.J. Croce from AMAZON
 
For more info, check out the A.J. Croce website
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