Michael Hawkeye Herman:
With over 40 years of performing experience, Michael "Hawkeye" Herman exemplifies the range of possibilities in acoustic blues, and personifies versatile musicianship, originality, and compelling artistry as a blues storyteller. His dynamic performances have won him a faithful following, and he leads a very active touring schedule of performances at festivals, concerts, school programs, and workshops. Hawkeye performs a wide variety of traditional blues, ballads, swing, and original tunes, on six-string and twelve-string guitar, and is an adept and exciting practitioner of slide guitar and slide mandolin. His music has been included in video documentaries and in three hit theatrical productions, and his solo CD, Blues Alive!, released in 1998, was greeted by rave reviews and greatly increased the demand for his live performances at major blues and folk festivals. His newest CD, It's All Blues To Me!, was released in May of 2005 ...

James Taylor's musical reliance upon nuance and subtle feeling would make it seem that he is a bad fit for generally impersonal large venues, but his ability to project those qualities to sizable audiences has always served his material well.

Friday night, he opened his summer tour at the ctnow.com Meadows Music Theater in Hartford, and lavished an abundance of his still-potent mellow charm on a captivated audience with a classy, first-rate performance.

Taylor's brand of showmanship is stylistically earthbound, understated in ways that allowed him to glide nonchalantly into his program with the supple "Secret O' Life," a lightly ringing synthesizer accompaniment married to his lone acoustic guitar. The mood set, he brought on his full seven-piece band and three backup vocalists and eased into the airy, flute-edged bounce of "Summer's Here."

Taylor was accommodating enough to sign autographs from the stage during the show, but not so slavish to fan desires that his set list was predictable. He left out several notable songs from his catalog, "You've Got a Friend" among them, opting instead for the less obvious, idyllic storytelling of "On the 4th of July" and a chipper, soulful cover of the Dixie Chicks tune "Some Days You Gotta Dance" ...

A highly productive year has found finger-style guitarist Lucas Michailidis releasing his long awaited second CD ‘ Freshwater Road ' along with recording and embarking on a European tour with acclaimed Tartarstan singer, Zulya.

In keeping with previous work, Freshwater Road finds Michailidis in a solo setting, performing unaccompanied, instrumental compositions that demonstrate a broad palette of musical expression. His extensive and unconventional use of guitar tunings, provides the music with a fresh, melodically driven approach that is free of cliché ...

The official website of Meredith Brooks.
The contagious, bright eyed smile on the cover of Meredith Brooks' long anticipated Kissing Booth Music/SLG Records debut Shine beautifully reflects the triumphant spirit of the singer/songwriter's life, both personally and professionally, in 2004.

The artist who electrified the world-and established herself as an undeniable creative force in a new generation of female rockers--with her multi-platinum disc Blurring the Edges and its worldwide hit single "Bitch" became a mother to baby Troy in July. She continues to thrive as a producer (Jennifer Love Hewitt, Hilary Duff), and recently signed up and coming teen rock singer Bec Hollcraft to her production company/label Kissing Booth Music.

Best of all to her eager fans, Brooks' solo career gets back in full swing in late September, with the release of Shine and its inspirational title track, chosen by none other than popular TV therapist Dr. Phil for a series of on air TV spots and the anthem for the new season of his show.

Chosen by Dr. McGraw from among hundreds of submissions because it fit the forward thinking, triumph over adversity philosophy of the show, the song's message also reflects Brooks' attitude towards her own survival in the music industry. Earlier label trouble prevented the twelve track collection from reaching its rightful audience for the last couple of years, but Brooks never gave up on her belief that a good song will always get its due. This is truly her chance to "Shine."

"In the song, I say, 'When there's nothing but no, and there's nowhere to go, you find a way'...and I did," she says. "Thanks to this extraordinary opportunity with Dr. Phil, both 'Shine' and the other songs are being given a chance in a new format which perfectly fits where my life is at these days," she says. "My hope is that they will touch people of all ages and life experiences across the board. My life is in a good place now, and the songs have an even deeper meaning to me than when I first wrote them. I was in a slightly different emotional space then, but I had the knowledge that whatever struggles I was going through, I would ultimately come through them and thrive. Life is always about change, good and bad, and my songs are very self-reflective. I knew I'd be rising up to those challenges, and now I have. Now I want to keep having fun and moving forward."

Shine opens with the sizzling, anthemic title track before moving into the crisp rock edges of "Crazy," a colorful statement about asserting one's independence. The blistering, hard grooving "Lucky Day" has a catchy singalong feeling and will no doubt inspire listeners to stand up to a controlling lover. The wistful and optimistic "Where Lovers Meet" offers rich rays of romantic hope, while "Bad Bad One" is a dark, moody exercise in deep self-analysis. "You DonÕt Know Me," which ruminates over the fallout from a hard breakup, begins with a mystical intro featuring filtered vocal and sonic effects. Touches of bluesy twang and funky hip-hop cool fuel the playful upbeat rapture of "Pleasure," which is balanced perfectly by (what else?) "Pain," about the harsh consequences of holding on to a love that still hurts. "Walk Away's" sharp hip-hop scratches echo Brooks' declaration that she's leaving a relationship gone sour, while "Your Name" is a good old fashioned brooding rocker that lets the listener's imagination take control of the plot. Concluding the set are folk meets alt rock tinged "High" and "Stand," a spiritual, "Bridge Over Troubled Water"-type expression of steadfast loyalty that could follow in Shine's footsteps as an inspirational anthem. Shine also includes a Dr. Phil remix of the title track.

The delay between the recording and release of 'Shine'-follow up to her 1999 release Deconstruction--gave the Corvallis, Oregon native a chance to step out as a first call record producer and develop her own production company, Kissing Booth Music, and a growing indie label with that name. In an era where hit albums are made by committee and multiple production teams are the norm, Brooks harkened back to the old days by producing every track of singer/actress Jennifer Love Hewitt's breakthrough project Barenaked, whose Top 30 title song was one 2002's most memorable hits.

She also co-wrote and produced "Party Up," from teen sensation Hillary Duff's 2003 album Metamorphosis, and did tracks with the up and coming Texas based Barefoot, which Brooks describes as "Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young by way of Matchbox 20." The first artist signed exclusively to Kissing Booth is 15 year old Bec Hollcraft, and the two are currently in the midst of recording her debut album ...

David Lindley performs music that redefines the word eclectic.
Multi-instrumentalist David Lindley performs music that redefines the word "eclectic." Lindley, well known for his many years as the featured accompanist with Jackson Browne, and leader of his own band El Rayo-X, has long championed the concept of world music. The David Lindley electro-acoustic performance effortlessly combines American folk, blues, and bluegrass traditions with elements from African, Arabic, Asian, Celtic, Malagasy, and Turkish musical sources. Lindley incorporates an incredible array of stringed instruments including but not limited to Kona and Weissenborn Hawaiian lap steel guitar, Turkish saz and chumbus, Middle Eastern oud, and Irish bouzouki. The eye-poppingly clad "Mr. Dave's" uncanny vocal mimicry and demented sense of humor make his onstage banter a highlight of the show ...