Grammer

Andy Grammer returns with a new CD that may be the most rewarding and introspective recording of his career. The disc features 13 stellar performances, all of which Grammer is credited with co-writing. Bookended with singles "Smoke Clears" and "Give Love", the album features stellar grooves and the positive vibes that Grammer is known for, but there are plenty of tunes which celebrate the complexity of being a human being. Life is messy seems to be the message of some of these selections. On the stellar "Workin' On It", Grammer opines "we all got monsters that don't see the daylight, skeletons you're hiding ain't going to leave overnight", concluding that the best we can do is to be "workin' on it". The title song "The Good Parts" actually refers to the failures and faults that we hide deep inside, insisting that we need to be vulnerable enough to not "leave the good parts out".

With SEVEN IS THE NUMBER, Tracy Grammer fulfills her promise to bring the last Dave & Tracy project to fruition. Begun in the duo's home studio during the winter of 2001-2002, SEVEN is essentially a re-recording of songs from Carter's out-of-print solo album which had been released prior to his collaboration with Grammer. SEVEN was unfinished at the time of Carter's death; Grammer and engineer Mark Frethem finished the tracking, mixing and mastering in May 2006.

Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer would be impressive as solo artists, but together they have become the up-and-coming duo to keep an eye on. Drum Hat Buddha follows the critically acclaimed Tanglewood Tree, featuring the same dense, symbol-filled lyrics set to fairly straightforward arrangements. Multiple violins and a cello perfectly underpin "Disappearing Man," a quiet melody that evokes a new birth a coming of age with Grammer's lovely vocal carrying the weight of the old-world religious imagery.