For all of you James Moors fans, you will find plenty to like in his new CD "Skyline." James lays out several songs that are true to his sound and style. The storytelling folk artist is alive and well in this collection, but there is plenty of new material to wrap your ears around as well.
This project sounds more "produced" than James' last CD, "Hush," which was a more organic sounding project. On "Skyline," there is the strong presence of a band. There are drums, bass guitar, keyboards, acoustic guitar and electric guitar. There are also back-up vocalists and sometimes vocal doubling. This results in a bigger sound and more energy. I was surprised by the rock element introduced in this collection of songs. It is up-front and continued throughout the entire CD.
With each track I listened to, I was able to sense a strong determination on James' part to reach beyond what he has been more comfortable with. There were interesting chord progressions.
The song "Slip Stream," which was co-written with Kort McCumber and Peter Van Dyken, has a great groove and sets itself apart from some of his other work. I also really enjoyed the "Ricky Nelson-like" sound of his song "No Ordinary Girl."
Being a guitar player, I liked the extra attention that James gave to his guitar work. It is evident throughout with his solos and riffs. The track "Virginia" leans on an interesting country mix of James' voice along with harmonies provided by McCumber. The whole song is decorated by the Nashville sound of steel guitar. The song makes for a fun diversion from the rest of the CD without being distracting from the collection.
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I have to give this one four out of five music notes. It is a solid collection of folk-rock songs, must haves for your collection. James doesn't disappoint. Then again, he never does. You can see him perform locally at several different venues, especially on Sunday nights at Sir Bens in Duluth. If you're thinking of the future, he will be one of the featured artists at this year's Northwoods Music Festival July 29 on Barker's Island.
Scott Johnson is the owner of Northwoods Music and the Northwoods Music Festival. He is alos the host of Home Town Sounds, which can be heard from 3-4 p.m. every Saturday on 850 AM radio.
