Two Moons

Jack Bruce must have enjoyed his 2005 get-together with Cream so much that, when Clapton and Baker were unwilling to continue the collaboration, he rang up Robin Trower to renew the brief power trio fling they had in the mid-'80s. The Trower-Bruce pairing had released only two albums, B.L.T. and Truce, and was dormant since 1982, so this 2007 reunion was somewhat of a continuation of the project, albeit one separated by a quarter century. The results impressively continue where Truce left off, as Bruce brings his distinctive croon/moan to bluesy, riff-oriented tunes dominated by Trower's silvery guitar runs. Gary Husband fills the drum slot adequately if inconspicuously, but his contributions are mixed so far under Bruce's vocals and Trower's guitar that they are secondary. The previous two releases called in Trower's old Procol Harum lyricist Keith Reid and Bruce collaborator Peter Brown to write the words, but Bruce and Trower pen these 11 songs without outside assistance.

Calling Shepherd Moons a near carbon copy of Watermark puts it quite mildly. Like Watermark, Shepherd Moons opens with the title track, a calm instrumental, has another brief instrumental titled after a Dora Saint book smack in the middle ("No Holly for Miss Quinn"), and concludes with a number incorporating a striking uilleann pipes solo, "Smaointe…." In general, Enya's own musical style and work remains the same, again assisted on production by Nicky Ryan and with lyrics by Roma Ryan. Shepherd Moons does have one key factor that's also carried over from Watermark - it's quite good listening. Though the total continuity means that those who enjoy her work will again be pleased and those who dislike it won't change their minds, in terms of finding her own vision and sticking with it, Enya has increasingly polished and refined her work to a strong, elegant degree…

The Beat Daddys' new bump and grind CD, "Five Moons" makes you want to, well . . . . . bump and grind. The duo has called Malaco Records of Jackson, Mississippi home, since 1990. Drummers and bass players come and go, but the core of the Beat Daddys has remained Larry Grisham on lead vocals and Britt Meacham on lead guitar for 20 years. Larry says that they are the few, possibly, only white players signed by Malaco. Paul Scott is the band's drummer and they are actively seeking a full-time bassist.
All tracks of the new album were written by Grisham who lives in a FEMA trailer in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. His 6'5". frame doesn't fit into the "queen-sized" bed so he sleeps diagonally, and his feet still hang over the end, and his head hits the wall behind him. It's parked in the middle of a cow pasture which turns to mush at the first sign of rain. "But it's a place to stay, anyway. Getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night is an experience." He spends most of his days on the road, sleeping in motel and hotel rooms, spreading the wealth of the Beat Daddys experience. His parents lived on the bay in Bay St. Louis and lost everything to Katrina. They now live in Newburgh, Indiana…..