4 posts tagged “alternative”

Sometimes giving up the "9-5 sure to succeed" track and following your dreams leads to bigger and better things-- and Rob Drabkin is the perfect example of this. Although he studied music for years and years, he got all the way to post college graduation before it occurred to him to follow his love and be a musician for a living, rather than an avocation. We are all blessed and lucky that he made the decision to follow this dream. With lyrics that are well written and stream from the heart, uncanny and beautiful skill with a guitar and a collection of talented instrumentals playing along, both his first album and the subsequently released EP are additions to my musical library I will replay and treasure for long to come.
Without taking himself too seriously, he puts heart and soul into every song he creates. A Small Time, from the Don't Worry About Me EP has deep echoes of Dave Matthews, but his unique style shines through in a tale of hope and longing.

Contrast this with Lullaby, from the same EP, that is a soulful guitar and sax instrumental that may make you cry yourself to sleep from the sheer beauty of it.

Showing off the incredible breadth of his talent, his style stretches all the way to from acoustical guitar cover of Frank's The Way You Look Tonight on his first self titled CD, Rob Drabkin  that would give any girl chills to the faster paced finger twisting She Comes and Goes.

There is not a bad track on either of these releases- we can only wait with baited breathe to see what comes out of Colorado and Rob's heart and mind next.

See excerpts from a live show:

Eleanor L Vault is one of the classic things I most love about Amie Street.  In the classic world of music distributed on plastic the odds that this group would even make an album, much less that I would chance across a copy of it to purchase are very small. Here is a group that is a side project for a few folks, not a full time job, but they are making wonderful enchanting ambient folk styled music. Ethereal is the best word to describe what they create. If you like the samples here, go download their latest album, Ghosts and Thieves. 

Tiffany Randol, the lead singer of Valeze, has also released some solo work. Her solo work is a bit softer than Valeze, but still has a great edge. Check out this sample of Kiss Me Kiss me, from Sammasati.

While there is not a free song left on the Sad Crazy Love Songs album, it is still priced under 2 bucks for 12 tracks and is worth every penny. Although you can hear the Beatles influence in these songs, there is also a lot of the Kinks and the Smithereens mixed in.

This is almost the album that the grandchildren of the original Beatles might have made, if they grew up in the family music and playing in their parents' 80's rock/pop albums.  Pacing varies from hard rocking, rollicking tunes to quiet slow numbers.

Give it a listen: