Music & More

Danielia Cotton brought her band to the Sellersville Theater on Thursday, October 6th for a headline show. A native of nearby Hopewell, New Jersey, Cotton performs an energy rich brand of rock that includes strands of jazz, blues, gospel and R & B. Cotton is an accomplished songwriter, musician, and singer with a voice that falls somewhere between Joan Osborne and Melissa Etheridge. With a career now spanning over a decade, I count four albums and four EPs. She played four of the five songs on her latest release, which is called A Prayer . This EP is the first half to a two-part album, the second half will be out early next year. She also played one selection, "You", from that upcoming release. Her last full length was called The Real Book (2014), which was a collection of excellent cover songs. From it, she performed a powerful "Gimme Shelter". This song was an inspired choice, not just because it's a great Stones tune, but Cotton embodied the soulful...

Even though I had recently gone to NYC to see Chrissi Poland's album release show for Waking Hour at Joe's Pub, and even though that show had a full band including the musicians who played on the record, when I saw that Chrissi was booked to play the Sellersville Theater (in the greater Philadelphia area) I had to come out. Full disclosure: Whatever it is about music that has kept me obsessed since the Beatles first appeared on Ed Sullivan when I was ten years old, whatever that is about music that causes enjoyment in me, I have never been able to pinpoint it exactly, but it is still working on me totally when I hear her sing. With most other artists, I prefer a band or at least one or two backing musicians. But her show, when she performs solo, has it all. She's one of the rare performers whose voice can command a room. Accompanying herself on an electric piano, with a few songs on acoustic guitar, Poland's voice is so rich and so soulful that such a performa...

Let me say right at the top that Raul Midón's music is so good and blends so many genres that by rights it should be receiving airplay on many different types of radio stations, both terrestrial and satellite, and as such, his concert appearances should be selling out everywhere. Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world, one in which I've yet to hear his latest on the radio, and when Midón took the stage at the Sellersville Theater the audience would have fit into a venue like the Rockwood Music Hall (NYC) or Burlap and Bean (Newtown Square, PA). I can safely speak for that small but adoring crowd when I say that I'm filled with gratitude that Midón played the date and didn't cancel like many others might have. Even though Midón didn't play anything from Soul Eyes, he gave a brilliant performance, had a great rapport with the crowd, and I found him to be truly inspiring. I like it a lot when an artist offers up new material such as tracks that have yet to ...

Photo courtesy of Dead & Co. It was a good New Music Friday. With the dog days of summer and Labor Day in our rearview mirror, the new music is coming on strong. The last day of September saw new releases from Van Morrison (New Studio album), Eric Clapton (2007 Live w/J.J. Cale), Jimi Hendrix (Historic Live), The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (Live 50th Anniversary w/guests), and more including Blue Mountain, a new studio album from Bob Weir. It's great to hear Weir again. It seems like ages since he has recorded a solo album. He's had many side projects such as Rat Dog, Kingfish, and Weir and Wasserman, not to mention lots of Dead activity. The last few years have definitely seen a Dead resurgence. There was the 50th Anniversary with all the attendant hoopla including a spate of lives shows and a gargantuan box set. For the last year we've had Dead & Company out on tour with John Mayer, revitalizing the Dead canon. Not that it needed revitalizing mind you. The assoc...