Local Exposure: The Craig Kelly Band • Jamie Anderson

Local Exposure

The Craig Kelly Band
Still Searchin’
Pillar Records
You’re anticipating the end of the workday, daydreaming about that first beer and contemplating some tunes for the ride home. So, what’s it going to be, the latest single from Prodigy? I don’t think so. You see, musical fads will come and go but there will always be the need for the working-class rock. The Craig Kelly Band, and their album Still Searchin’, recorded at

Harrisburg’s Green Room Studio, does a nice job of capturing that need.

Songs such as "Lorraine," "It Ain’t Easy (Being a Hero)" and "Young and Restless" deserve to be blaring from the pickup trucks of America that cruise home from work everyday at quittin’ time.

This CD will never win any awards for originality, but as much as the Bob Segers, John (Cougar) Mellancamps and The Badlees of the world can be heard on a regular basis on commercial radio, the Craig Kelly Band deserves the same chance.

Still Searchin’ is available from Pillar Records, P.O. Box 858, Carlisle, PA, 17103-0858 or at the Craig Kelly Band website: pillarworld.com/ckband.

Jamie Anderson
Never Assume
Tsunami Records
As a male of the species there is something slightly unnerving about reviewing a CD that ends with a song entitled, "Menstrual Tango." Jamie Anderson’s Never Assume, with its honest look at women’s and gay issues and the right amount of humor, lulled me so nicely that by the time the infamous track came along, I was humming along and laughing at the lyrics.

Never Assume’s songs can be grouped into a few basic categories: gay songs, female issue songs, message songs, and humorous songs. Although this CD gets a bit clichéd at times, you have to respect the positive force Anderson is trying to convey with her music.

While songs like "One Out of Three" and "Tell" deal with the serious issues of breast cancer and alcoholism, Anderson adds pieces like "When Cats Take Over the World," which provide light moments just at the right time.

Jamie Anderson will be performing at The Wire in New Cumberland on Thursday, October 2. Her CD is available from Tsunami Records, P.O. Box 42282, Tuscon, AZ, 85733.