John D'earth








Gary Green



Mary Gordon Hall with Soul Canoe





Laura Light

Jeff Romano
 

David, Helen Leicht, and Mick Choder at WXPN Studios

Reviews of Acoustic Guitar Based CDs 

A great recording studio

John D’earth is the epicenter of the music scene in Charlottesville, Virginia. He has taught, inspired, and helped people from Dave Matthews to David Kleiner. Any Thursday night in Charlottesville you can usually hear him at Miller’s downtown. Don’t miss it. This incredibly generous musician has played with Mel Torme, Tito Puente, Miles Davis, Bruce Hornsby, the Dave Matthews Band, and me. The Thomson/D’earth band’s new release, Mercury, featuring John and his wife, vocalist Dawn Thompson, is available at davematthews.com. Musicians on the CD include: Carter Beauford, drummer for the DMB; Bobby Read, reed player for Bruce Hornsby; and Dave Matthews in a special appearance. The album is produced by Greg Howard, Chapman stick player extraordinaire and co-producer of my first CD, Sweet Reunion.
www.thompsondearth.com
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Gary Green is a harp blowing phenomenon, the world champion Hohner harmonica player. I had the enormous pleasure of performing with him for many years when I lived in Charlottesville. His work on “This Human Heart” does more than demonstrate his chops, it also shows the way he listens to the other musicians. What the CD can’t show is what a nice guy he is. Take my word for it.

Gary playing the Birchmere with Cleve Francis
www.milestown.com
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Mary Gordon Hall, seen on your right in the photo of her trio Soul Canoe, has a pure and pristine voice that blends with mine better than any voice I’ve ever heard. (Not surprisingly, a host of other singers will make the same claim.) She’s also a singer/songwriter best known for her children’s songs. She is currently working on a CD of songs for adults. Check out Soul Canoe. Tom, Emily, and Mary Gordon will be opening for me and backing me up.
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Virginia fiddler, singer and composer, Laura Light, performs for dances, festivals and concerts nationally and internationally. (I know. I toured France in one of her bands.) Her repertoire includes southern old time, New England, Scandinavian, Cape Breton, Quebecois, Irish and Swing styles. And, when I was still living in Charlottesville, she threw the best music parties! Laura’s latest release “Kachemak Bay Waltz” features her husband George Paul (who has already heard every John and Ringo joke you can think of), Ralph Gordon on bass and cello, Dan Sebring on guitar, mandolin and twin fiddle, and Mary Gordon Hall (see above) adding harmonies.
www.lauralight.com
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Jeff Romano (on the left in the photo) is an amazing multi-instrumentalist, a member—with Browning Porter (right)—of Charlottesville’s finest folk duo, Nickeltown, and the go-to-guy as a producer—at his Greenwood Studios—for Charlottesville singer/songwriters the likes of Paul Curreri, Mary Gordon Hall, and Devon Sproule. The vocal harmonies Jeff created for my CD do an incredible job of showcasing the melodies. He also recorded and produced the harmonica, fiddle, and trumpet tracks. You be the judge. Thanks, Jeff.
www.nickeltown.com
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Jeremy Berberian is the drummer for the very fine Eric Mintel Quartet. He has played and recorded with Mick Choder (see below) and me. I look forward to having his rock solid time supporting me in the future.
www.ericmintelquartet.com
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Mick Choder - Months before I started working at MorningStar, I got together with my friend Mick once or twice a week. In his basement studio, we worked out arrangements, recorded document tracks, and talked over the songs. Along the way, we wrote “Stand Up for Freedom” and won the Philadelphia Songwriters Project’s “Vote Festival” contest. Later, we performed the song on Helen Leicht’s show on WXPN. Mick, a terrific singer, songwriter, and guitarist, has one CD available and is presently working on his second release, featuring Freebo on bass.
www.mickchoder.com
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Ray Duffy - When I perform in Philadelphia, I often have the very good fortune of playing with Ray Duffy, a fixture on the Philadelphia acoustic music scene for many years. Because he “plays well with others” on guitar, banjo, and other stringed things and is too nice to say no, Ray is in more bands than you want to read about here. Most notably at present, he is in the Philadelphia Bluegrass Band and the Acoustic League of Justice. Ray's recording of light classical duets with Ellen Tepper was picked by Chuck Elliott of WXPN as one of his top five CDs of the year. Ray often accompanies the amazing Tom Gala, as well.
www.phillybluegrassband.com
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I have been the lead reviewer for singer/songwriter material on Minor7th for about six years. We write about acoustic guitar based releases, both mainstream and independent. Along the way, I’ve reviewed many fine CDs and interviewed folks like Chris Smither, Peter Mulvey, Vance Gilbert, and Ellis Paul. I truly believe the writing on the site is as good as you will find anywhere. All of my reviews and interviews are archived. Check out Minor7th.com. If you make music based on acoustic guitar, send a CD for review.
www.minor7th.com
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Glen Barratt and MorningStar only produce fine CDs. They have the space, the tools, the musicians, and the toys to make an astounding variety of music. The versions of the songs on “This Human Heart,” are remarkably faithful to the originals while at the same time transforming each song completely. I don’t know how that’s even possible. Thanks, Glen, Lizanne, and everyone at Morningstar Studios.
www.morningstarstudios.com
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Ray Naylor was the first person on the Philly folk scene I met when I was still only considering returning from Charlottesville. He writes and performs charming songs of his own. But he's also well known around here for supporting people in the folk scene in a variety of ways. Now he's got his own Internet Radio show called "Fiddles and Frets" and he's playing my songs.
http://www.live365.com/stations/raynaylor
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