I've read about people lamenting the fading away of regional accents because of Network TV, especially the News. No matter what part of the country you're from we all watch the same shows and for the most part all the people on those shows speak more or less the same. This goes along with franchised restaurants diluting local palettes so everywhere is beginning to taste the same as well. However, our musical tastes still retain some regional flavor although not necessarily the one you'd expect.
Case in point is the new 15 song CD by Philadelphia multi-instrumentalist and producer Jay Regan. Although there are a few Big Band arrangements complete with horn sections such as The March Of The Romans and Right Between The Eyes (allegedly inspired by the TV series The Walking Dead), for the most part this CD is a catchy, bouncy excursion into Southern Rock, Country Rock (somewhat like early Eagles) and modern Pop Rock. On some of the tunes such as Can't Let Go the only difference between it and some of the new Modern Rock hits currently on the radio is it's lacking the disco beat drum track which apparently has been making a big comeback.
Because of the sound effects used, the light hearted lyrics and the excursions into unfamiliar musical styles such as reggae, a couple of the songs (Whiskey and Little Fish) might come off somewhat novelty tuneish, which isn't a bad thing, it just shows Jay's sense of humor but are a little off track from the rest of the CD.
For a self produced piece of work that gives Jay the only musician credits according to his press kit, it has a nice, real band feel, full, textured arrangements and professional sounding production. Jay has a good Modern Rock / Country Pop vocal style. Also according to his press kit: Jay
Regan is the former lead singer/guitarist for the 90's bands April Fool,
Dezire and Today We Live. He started playing original music as a soloist
in 2014 and released his first independent CD "Dreams & Nightmares". The last few years he has spent time recording his latest CD "Wash
Me" and performing live in the Philadelphia
and surrounding areas.
And now, once again, for the bad news: Although his press kit says he performs live in the Philadelphia area, from everything I could see his live shows are as a solo acoustic act (see above). There's absolutely nothing wrong with that and I would think with his tunes, his pleasing voice and journeyman guitar playing, his live shows could be very worthwhile. But come on, this CD rocks and if I went out for the evening to spend my hard earned money I'd want to see the band I'd been listening to, not just one guy.
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