Maybe August Review [Long]

["Bob McGraw" <rmcgraw@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've been listening to the new[fairly new,anyway] Maybe August CD,"A Fine
How Do You Do."For those who aren't familiar with them,Maybe August is a
rock group from[I think]Ann Arbor,Michigan,and they feature one of our own
harp-l members,Roscoe...or I think he's a member;he doesn't post much,at
least not recently.

Anyway,I gotta say I really like this record. It's
intelligent,tuneful,big-hearted pop music.Good vocals,passionate
lyrics...the vibe reminds me of the way I used to feel when I was an
idealistic younger man,which is a cool thing for a collection of songs to be
able to do,I would submit...anyway,you probably figured out that I think
these are good songs.[Mostly...it's not a perfect record...but there aren't
many of those,huh?]

The playing on the album is fine;good rhythm section,nice guitar
playing...and,as I said,the singing is good.

But what about Roscoe's harmonica?

Superb.

I don't know much about this guy,though I have heard rumblings through the
proverbial grapevine about him for some time. From his picture on the CD
cover,I would say he's in  his mid-to-late 20s;he uses the extended
techniques[OBs,ODs,etc] and he is in the process of forging quite a
distinctive style. Much of his work on the CD is acoustic,melodic and very
much in the service of the song:no showing off.On a couple of the cuts he
does play amplified and he can obviously really rip when he wants to...but
even when he does,it's still done tastefully.This guy plays with a degree of
restraint that I think is  unusual for a young player with his technique...
very musical playing that is fresh and new without straining to be so.

As I said earlier,I like this record...maybe you will,too?You can order it
from their web site:
www.maybeaugust.com
As everybody always says,I have no financial interest in Maybe August
selling any CDs...Don't know 'em,never met 'em,etc....damn,they are good
though,IMHO.And I suspect we will be hearing lots more from Roscoe in the
years to come...at least I hope we will.
WVa Bob