What is the point of music? Is it just an entertainment that whiles away those empty hours, or does it hold some greater significance? Music often throws up unresolved problems, problems that we can all relate to. Music here offers an empathetic support. Can it go further though, to actually resolve those issues and set us on the right path to a happier and more fulfilled life? Could it be possible that the solution to all life’s problems can be found within the lyrics of one’s favourite songs? Continue reading “What should I do, Americana UK?”
David Crosby has been on a quest over the last few years to make up for the time he’d squandered on a path of self-destruction. This is his fourth solo album since 2014 saw the release of ‘Croz‘, and part of the process of being prolific has involved having two bands – albeit with some overlapping membership – who can work on different styles or feels in Crosby’s music. On ‘Here if you listen‘ we’re back with the Lighthouse band – Crosby’s gentler, jazzier sidekicks who offer the unusual aural experience of Crosby and predominantly female harmonizing and dueting vocals. The combination of the voices of Becca Stevans and Michelle Willis also offer David Crosby another opportunity he never really had before – that of recording an album with his favourite singer-songwriter, the “better than Dylan” Joni Mitchell. 
Get excited – David Crosby, the one who writes “the weird shit” has announced UK dates for this September. Don’t get too excited, it’s not what we’d call a tour. It’s two dates – Manchester at the Palace Theatre on September 15th, and then on the 16th it’s the Shepherds Bush Empire in that far flung corner of London that is Shepherds Bush. The dates are listed as Crosby & friends, so we’re guessing Nash, Stills and Young won’t be popping up – far more likely is the evolved CPR who are now the nucleus of the Lighthouse Band – playing on ‘Lighthouse’ and Crosby’s last album ‘Skytrails’. 
This live broadcast box represents how good these “archive” (aka bootleg) sets can be. This particular collection is made up of three CDs, two of which have been generally available for a few years. Towering Inferno is a Crosby, plus backing band, appearance from 1989, New Years Eve with the Dead is dated to 1986 whilst David and the Dorks is Croz with the Dead again, this time from 1970. Taking these from most recent to the earliest – Towering Inferno has a mix of songs from Oh Yes I Can, alongside classic CSN tracks. The sound is spot on, no complaints at all.