By Ed Yashinsky

With Jennifer Nobel’s silky-smooth soprano, the VH-1-ready musical stylings of Dwayne Keith (piano, vocals) and Eric O’Dell (bass, guitar, vocals), Grey Eye Glances’ major-label debut, Eventide, may seem like simple window dressing for the baby-boom generation. But beneath the music’s glossy sheen lies a literate passion that has drawn a wide and diverse audience to this New Jersey band. The majority of Eventide relies on the standard verse-chorus-verse format to drive the music, but the lyrics breath life into each piece, offering a snapshot of everyday life that is genuinely sincere, yet lonely and introspective. There are many immediate standouts on Eventide, such as "Hard," "Halfway Back," "The Passing of the Evening", and "The Way You See". But the true beauty of this release lies in the hidden subtleties that begin to emerge after many listens. Like a classic piece of literature, Eventide grows and changes with every return.

By Mike Easton

After the release of their newest CD High Water, the Triple A Blues Band, a State College-based party-blues sextet, should consider renaming the band Chef Tolins and the Pressure Cookers. Guitarist, bandleader, and principal songwriter, Andy Tolins, along with harpist Pete "Jukester" Sheridan, guitarist Dave Midgett, sax/clarinetist Doug McMinn, bassist Ronnie Wasco and drummer Curt Krebs, not only transport you to the blues meccas of New Orleans, Austin, Frisco, Chicago and the ‘sippi Delta, but you can almost smell the backyard cuisine of these regions on a hot June night while sipping the local favorite and butter dunkin’ the innards of various crustaceans. Now if that doesn’t make your mouth water for the blues on a cold March day I don’t know what will. Of High Water’s 13 tracks, many of Tolins’ originals recall the work of Taj Mahal and Bob Dorough. The Triple A Blues Band doesn’t offer much in the way of sittin’ and sulkin’ blues. High Water perfectly captures the real blues with all its regional flavors intact. Dare to buy this CD even if you are blues challenged, because it has it all—blues, jazz, rockabilly and crawdaddies. What more could you ask for?