Monday, June 11, 2018

Cathy Hutch releases LP



Cathy Hutch releases LP


Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada is home to singer and songwriter Cathy Hutch. In addition to volunteering her musical talents for autism fundraisers and her community, Hutch has found the time to release her second album, Free Wheelin.'

The 11-song album is foot tapping and soul-searching journey ready for summer listening and perfect for country-blues-rock playlists.

The title track gets you behind the wheel and ready to roll down the road or along the coast on your motorcycle. Hutch’s band is equally deserving of accolades. This tune could fit nicely into an Americana-roots rock genre. The guitar riffs, as well as the piano and percussions on all of the tracks are flawless and tight. Free Wheelin’ gets two thumbs up for setting the mood for a nice, easy going summer.

It’s interesting that Hutch makes you feel like you’re moving and there’s a sense of nature and certainly the human spirit in her songs, but it’s really an album that is best-experienced sitting down and not being distracted. You fall into her vocal spell.  She will color your day with grace, light and rapture.

Songs like “Know It All” and “Sweet Dave” are amplified, and Hutch seems to dig deeper into her vocal arsenal for edgier deliveries. Her originality is refreshing and she’s not trying to be anything she’s not. While some might compare Hutch to the legendary Tanya Tucker, Pat Benatar, or even Melissa Etheridge, Cathy Hutch stands her ground in an already entertaining splendor. She’s genuine and passionate. Most of all, her caring smile comes through in all the tracks.

At first listen I didn’t think “Carry You Along” would be my favorite track. It’s very wholesome and almost children’s programming or Christian rock. It’s an upbeat song, and like the final track “Lullaby” her passion for the human spirit shines through. “Lullaby” is certainly timely and reminds us that we have to get together. In a motherly way, she sings to us as if we were sing out loud an evening prayer. Both of these songs stuck with me throughout my day and her voice seemed to remind me to keep my head up and move forward.

Hutch serenades the listener with her angelic voice in “Good Friends Like You” and again in “Reflections.” While some listeners might find it hokey or even silly to fall into these feel-goodery songs, Hutch reminds the listener that she can keep her listeners moving and listening with her quick upbeat tracks like “Sweet Dave.” She’s a true artist. Her vulnerable voice channels the idea of personal growth and taking personal inventory of a who’s who in your life. “Good Friends Like You” might appeal to mostly females, but it’s still an open diary. Props to Cathy for sharing her words and her voice.


Colin Steele

Conor Gains - Compass



Conor Gains - Compass


A musician’s life is only driven by two things and two things alone. One: the need for food and water to sustain survival. Two: the need to express, and express, and express more, as freely as the universe allows. Like a river crashing between the rocks and slowly but surely breaking them down to dust, Conor Gains’ debut record Compass will rock your world with its giant guitars and finely textured percussion, horn and key arrangements, but it’s the long term effect of its inspired lyrics that will impact you at the highest threshold.

Conor Gains is a pretty easy going guy. Even if you don’t pick that up from his very happy go lucky style of play, he’ll be the first one to tell you that he doesn’t sweat the small stuff. In the past few years he’s been developing the material for what has ultimately become Compass, weeding out anything that he didn’t deem to be up to his high standard of music output. According to Gains, he wrote approximately a hundred different sonnets, ballads and poems that he ironed out over and over before finely deciding on the ten tracks featured on his debut album. Chalk it up to perfectionism or simply fate, but the results are well worth the wait that industry peers and critics alike have been waiting for.

Even for the most intellectually-resistant, casual music fan, Compass offers a buffet of qualities to be appreciated and enjoyed by everyone from kids to seniors. There are a lot of jazz workings in the structure and plenty of psychedelic noodling to keep things interesting, but it’s probably the world music influences that stand out through the funk and blues more than anything else. There’s a well-traveled smokiness to Conor’s voice that is as sexy as it is as mysterious, and it makes for an exciting layer in addition to the many other cultural accents on this album. The diversity of sounds, tones and themes in Compass might strike some as a little cocky for a rookie release, but Gains is not your typical up and coming singer/songwriter. The cohesiveness of the songs remains without fracture despite vaulting from danceable (“Dance Like It’s Your Birthday” and fresh single “I Know”), to the reflective (“Miracles” and “I’ve Been Looking for Your Heart”) and willfully abstract (“In My Head”). Compass is as nimble as a four song extended play but with the IMAX sized vision of a double full-length record.

Conor Gains isn’t just dropping new music on the charts for sport; he’s engineering a new style of relaxed, free jazz that welcomes the spirit of experimental indie rock with open arms. The combination is nothing to take lightly – we’re looking at the next phase of alternative music packaged into a single record here, folks. Who knows why it took so long for the scenes to find each other, but now that it’s capturing the attention of audiences from one side of the Atlantic to the other, Gains can rightfully take his place as the king of post-millennium swing.


Trace Whittaker