\n<\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So much attention seems to be given to certain names in the music business, it is a wonder that the majority of artists out there even get the chance to get their music heard.\u00a0 All too often, some of the \u2018big names\u2019 in music put out sub-standard albums (in comparison to their own work) but very few take them to task.\u00a0 No matter how many units a band or solo artist may have moved in the past, record buyers still buy their albums regardless of the direction the artist\u2019s muse may have taken them.\u00a0 Music being spread on-line generates a fraction of the money albums generated in the past.\u00a0 Yes, word of mouth can make or break a new record and \u2018trending\u2019 clips is the new benchmark of success.\u00a0 With that said, new musicians may gain a large following, but on-line revenue for millions of hits on a website are not enough to sustain a career these days.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sheryl Crow recently released a new album and noted she earns less than $5,000 for a million views on the internet.\u00a0 A million hits on-line sounds like a lot, but she made far more money from her debut album (<\/span>Tuesday Night Music Club<\/span><\/i> 1993) which moved 43 million records.\u00a0 If these 43 million albums were \u2018hits\u2019 on the internet, she would have made a paltry $215,000 for her efforts.\u00a0 Crow said if it weren\u2019t for licensing some of her older hits for movies, TV and commercials, she would have a hard time making a living these days.\u00a0 I digress, but what got me going on this track were two excellent albums that came my way recently.\u00a0 Let me explain exactly who Michael and Tommy are.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Michael Kessler\u2019s<\/b> recently released solo album <\/span>Gravel Road <\/i><\/b>landed in the WOAS-FM inbox a couple of weeks ago.\u00a0 Circumstances kept pushing a listening session off until I finally hit play on the opening track, <\/span>Roanoke, <\/i><\/b>and I darn near tapped my foot off.\u00a0 Having sustained a hip-pointer two weeks ago retrieving the mail on an icy street made for some uncomfortable time keeping, but I couldn\u2019t help myself.\u00a0 This rollicking dose of New Grass flat picking and fiddle work is certainly a solid introduction to what Kessler does.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Kessler came to music early at the young age of 11 and has spent the last 25 years pursuing his love of Americana music.\u00a0 His band American Folk performed extensively in southeast Wisconsin from 2006 to 2014.\u00a0 To fulfill a professional goal of his, 2024 found Kessler recording and releasing a full length solo album, the aforementioned <\/span>Gravel Road.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Ashokan Farewell <\/i><\/b>features more outstanding fiddle and adds organ backing that would make <\/span>The Band\u2019s Garth Hudson<\/b> proud.\u00a0 <\/span>You Ain\u2019t Goin\u2019 Nowhere <\/i><\/b>dials it back to a slow country shuffle featuring more tasty organ.\u00a0 The first vocal is a semi-spoken affair and the chorus introduces some very <\/span>Nitty Gritty Band <\/b>style harmony.\u00a0 Track four, <\/span>Cherokee Shuffle<\/i><\/b> jumps back into more flat picking with some nicely played guitar licks trading off with (yes, again) more great fiddle work.\u00a0 Kessler and <\/span>Daystorm Music\u2019s Gary Tanin <\/b>recruited a fine mix of musicians to bring Michael\u2019s broad base of influences (Bluegrass, Country, Rock, Funk, and Blues) come to life.\u00a0 Kessler\u2019s interpretations of songs by Bob Dylan, Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Roy Buchanan and RadioHead (yes, Radiohead) are familiar but not just copycat versions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The promo material mentions that Michael\u2019s vocals, \u201chave been compared to <\/span>John Lindell (They Might Be Giants)<\/b> not to be pretentious, disrespectful, neither irreverent nor sarcastic,\u201d but I can find no fault with Michael\u2019s style.\u00a0 Half of these tracks are instrumentals and these tunes certainly play to his strengths, but I can also listen to Kessler\u2019s voice and enjoy what he is doing on those tunes as well.\u00a0 Does anybody remember how rough <\/span>Kris Kristofferson\u2019s <\/b>vocals were back in the day?\u00a0 I loved Kristoferson\u2019s songs but I had a hard time listening to him sing.\u00a0 With Michael\u2019s vocals far surpassing most of what I am currently hearing on the radio (don\u2019t even get me started about those artists using electronically enhanced voices), let me just say, \u201cSing on, Michael, your guitar isn\u2019t the only instrument in your bag of tricks.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>There Is A Time <\/i><\/b>moves along with a nice drum and strum bed with organ, guitar, and fiddle percolating in the background.\u00a0 The arrangement of <\/span>Morning Dew<\/i><\/b> is absolutely beautiful.\u00a0 The title had me expecting the old folk tune of the same name but just like there are only so many chords that can be used to write songs, the same can be said for titles, right?\u00a0 I am looking forward to hearing all of these tracks again but <\/span>Morning Dew <\/i><\/b>is the one I listened to multiple times before I could move on.\u00a0 <\/span>Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)<\/i><\/b> is carried by the melodic organ, flute, and background vocals.\u00a0 I kept waiting for it to sound like the <\/span>Manfred Mann<\/b> record but it didn\u2019t stray from Kessler\u2019s fresh take.\u00a0 How about a little Gospel tinged romp?\u00a0 <\/span>Working On A Building<\/i><\/b> qualifies with a little Holy Ghost piano in the mix.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Track nine\u2019s title (<\/span>Ain\u2019t No More Cane on the Brazos<\/i><\/b>) left me scratching my head a bit, but the slow tempo country burn and the lyrical guitar melody put me in <\/span>Eagles<\/b> mode.\u00a0 Of course, Eagles would probably have ended up writing a bunch of lyrics that would have ruined the song (no, I kid – but we do get hung up on lyrics don\u2019t we?).\u00a0 Another track I will need to hear with the headphones on to get the full effect one does not hear when doing a first listen through on a computer sans good speakers.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I am a \u2018come to the party late\u2019 <\/span>Roy Buchanan <\/b>fan who bought one of his anthologies just because everybody was name checking him all the time. \u00a0 <\/span>The Messiah Will Come Again <\/i><\/b>became an instant favorite and I haven\u2019t heard a better version until now.\u00a0 <\/span>Gravel Road<\/i><\/b> wraps up with <\/span>Fake Plastic Trees.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 Starting with the sound of tom toms in \u2018doom mode\u2019, the song\u2018s wistful organ and fiddle arrangement compliment the lyrics perfectly.\u00a0 It might sound like a bit of a downer song to end the album, but I found myself hearing shades of <\/span>The Beatles <\/b>by the end.\u00a0 If Kessler wants to set a mood that sounds like The Beatles, I, for one, won\u2019t complain.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The second album I purchased after reading a blip about it online.\u00a0 Drummer Tommy Clufetos is a Michigan native who was born in Detroit on December 30, 1979.\u00a0 Clufetos has made the rounds playing behind a host of big name artists.\u00a0 I first encountered him drumming with Ted Nugent from 2001 to 2003.\u00a0 During this span, he appeared on the albums <\/span>Craveman <\/span><\/i>\u00a0and <\/span>Love Grenade <\/span><\/i>(he had also done a stint with Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels prior to that).\u00a0 After the Nugent gig, he worked with Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie from 2004 to 2010.\u00a0 Zombie had no problem with Tommy leaving his band to join Ozzy Osbourne in 2010 but because Clufetos apparently didn\u2019t fess up to his departure ahead of time, it remained a sore point with Rob.\u00a0 The Osbourne connection later landed Tommy on the Black Sabbath drum throne when original drummer Bill Ward pulled out of the reunion tours they had on tap (Ward felt he could not reach a satisfactory contract agreement with the other Sabbs).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When Black Sabbath called it a day with a final show on February 4, 2017 at Birmingham England\u2019s Genting Arena, Clufetos found himself unemployed, but not for very long.\u00a0 Zombie must not have held a grudge from Tommy\u2019s previous departure as Clufetos was invited to join Rob, John 5, and Nikki Sixx for a recording date.\u00a0 Dubbed The L.A.Rats, the supergroup recorded a cover of <\/span>I\u2019ve Been Everywhere\u2019 <\/span><\/i>for the soundtrack of the Liam Neeson movie <\/span>The Ice Road.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>The Nikki Sixx connection landed Tommy another opportunity, this time to back Motley Crue from June 16 to June 28, 2022.\u00a0 His short stint subbing for Crue drummer Tommy Lee came about because Lee was unable to perform a full show while nursing broken ribs.\u00a0 Lee would start and end the show but the injury made it impossible for him to play the whole set without a great deal of pain.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When the world shut down for the COVID 19 pandemic, Clufetos finally found the time and the motivation to try his hand at making his own music.\u00a0 Tommy told Chad Bowar of <\/span>Heavy Music HQ, <\/span><\/i>\u201cI had never had the time or motivation to make my own music [prior to COVID].\u00a0 I found musicians I respected and knew would be open to play the music the way I wanted it played.\u00a0 I was very adamant the music had to have the energy, groove, and feel that I wanted.\u00a0 And to me it came out exactly how I wanted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Though <\/span>Beat Up By Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll <\/span><\/i>was released in 2021, I only became aware of Tommy\u2019s Rock Trip this spring.\u00a0 Having seen enough film of Clufetos banging away on his massive kit behind all of the aforementioned artists, I had to pick up a copy and see how he fared as a band leader and sometime vocalist.\u00a0 Tommy described the writing and recording process to Bowar:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI sang most of the ideas out, then we rehearsed them the old way of getting together and plowing through them all together.\u00a0 Loud and together in the same room, no computers, no sending tracks back and forth.\u201d\u00a0 As far as being a vocalist, the three tracks he did scratch vocals on turned out well enough, he decided to keep them rather than have Eric Dover recut them.\u00a0 \u201cI liked the vibe they had, so I ended up keeping them as they were,\u201d he told Bowar.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Asked to describe the record, Clufetos was brief but to the point:\u00a0 \u201dHeavy rock \u2018n\u2019 roll.\u201d\u00a0 Once I got my copy of <\/span>Beat Up By Rock \u2018N\u2019 Roll<\/span><\/i>, I got it on the air enough times that I must agree with his description.\u00a0 The band Tommy put together for the album included Jellyfish alum Dover, Eliot Lorengo (bass), Hank Schneekluth (guitar), Nao Takashima (guitar), Tommy C (sax), John Schreffler (guitar), and Doug Organ (Hammond B-3).\u00a0 Takashima shares song writing credits on several of the tracks with Clufetos.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The interview cited above took place in 2021 just as concert tours were beginning to open up again.\u00a0 When asked if he was planning on touring with the Tommy\u2019s Rock Trip crew, Clufetos confessed the album only got done because of the pandemic.\u00a0 Frontier Records had asked him about several projects during the lockdown, but he said, \u201cWhy don\u2019t I just\u00a0 make my own music.\u00a0 I have no plans at all as no one knows the future as of this moment.\u00a0 There is a tune on my album called \u2018<\/span>You Got the Cash, I Got the Flash\u2019 <\/span><\/i>by the way.\u201d\u00a0 To me, it sounds like he was biding his time until the next opportunity to tour with someone else came along.\u00a0 The \u2018next\u2019 tour in que was apparently with The Dead Daisies with whom he had previously worked in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Michael and Tommy are quite polar opposites in terms of the music they create.\u00a0 As for their plans for the future?\u00a0 It would not surprise me to find Kessler following up his fine solo album with another one sooner than later.\u00a0 By his own admission, there probably won\u2019t be another Tommy\u2019s Rock Trip album in the offing anytime soon.\u00a0 As I was putting together this <\/span>FTV, <\/span><\/i>I stumbled upon another new release that I had to order and it is already on its way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The late entry to this <\/span>FTV <\/span><\/i>could have added <\/span>BOC <\/span><\/i>to the title.\u00a0 As a long time lover of Blue Oyster Cult, I can\u2019t say I own every one of their albums, but I do have quite a few from all across their fifty year career.\u00a0 With at least ten live albums to their credit, they have never been shy about showing off what they do live and without a safety net.\u00a0 Frontier Records released <\/span>50th Anniversary Live – First Night <\/span><\/i>on December 8, 2023.\u00a0 No doubt this one will appear in my collection sooner or later, however, this is not the album I just ordered.\u00a0 The new <\/span>Ghost Stories <\/span><\/i>album was released on April 12, 2024 and features a dozen tracks recorded between 1978 and 1983 and one from 2016.\u00a0 The album piqued my interest because it features contributions from original band members who have not been in the band for several decades (including keyboard \/ guitar player Alan Lanier who passed away in 2013).\u00a0 The Bouchard brothers (Albert on drums and Joe on bass) did come in and contribute to the re-recording of some of these tracks making it as close to a reunion of the original band as one can get, all things considered.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are some familiar titles from their live shows (covers of the MC5\u2019s <\/span>Kick Out the Jams<\/span><\/i> and Mann and Weil\u2019s <\/span>We Gotta Get Out of this Place)<\/span><\/i> but most are deep cuts.\u00a0 Some of these were partially completed songs and others just never found a home on an album release.\u00a0 It does not matter because I am a sucker for these kinds of records.\u00a0 I am not much for reissues of classic albums that include an entire disk of outtakes and studio chatter, but <\/span>Ghost Stories<\/span><\/i> seems to be an interesting way to help BOC celebrate their 50 years together.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thank you to our friend Gary Tanin at Daystorm Music in Milwaukee for putting us in the loop with Michael Kessler\u2019s <\/span>Gravel Road<\/span><\/i> album.\u00a0 Gary briefly mentioned there will be more new music coming from Daystorm artists Peggy James and Jim Eannelli in the future.\u00a0 We will keep you informed. <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Top Piece Video – Roy Buchanan’s\u00a0The Messiah Will Come\u00a0<\/em>from 1976 – Mike Kessler does a wonderful version on his new album.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So much attention seems to be given to certain names in the music business, it is a wonder that the majority of artists out there even get the chance to get their music heard.\u00a0 All too often, some of the \u2018big names\u2019 in music put out sub-standard albums (in comparison to their own work) but 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