Whether your tastes in music run from Margaritaville to block-rockin' electronica beats, from smooth jazz guitar to Neil Young-ish folk rock, local artists have you covered. Here's a look at recent releases by area musicians.
THOMAS JONES JR., "Looking Up" (JaThom Records)
Vital Stats: Jones, an Atlanta native and Ormond Beach resident, began playing bass at age 8. By age 12 he had formed a 12-piece band and also was playing guitar, keyboards and drums.
Still, he was considering a career in basketball until a knee injury sidelined those dreams and pushed him wholeheartedly into music.
"Looking Up" is the 46-year-old guitarist's fourth album.
The Music: The opening track of Jones' new CD is titled "Breezin'." No, it's not that classic pop-jazz instrumental by guitar master George Benson.
Is Jones being cheeky by appropriating the title of Benson's bubbly hit? Or is Jones simply paying homage to Benson?
No matter. The 10 instrumental tracks of "Looking Up" find Jones' smooth-jazz guitar commanding the spotlight on its own merits.
While such tunes as "Hold On" and the title track sport a bit of urban bounce and slinky soul, other tracks veer into a more jazzy vibe. Either way, Jones' fretwork remains effervescent and melodic throughout.
You'll Like This If You Like: George Benson, Earl Klugh, Wes Montgomery, Lee Ritenour
Website: thomasjonesjr.com
Upcoming Gigs: 8-11 p.m. Saturday, The Dish, 1185 W. Granada Blvd., Suite 1, Ormond Beach. Information: 386-672-3567.
CD Available: Online at jathomfamily.com and 101distribution.com
TOM MOORE, "It Took Five Years But Now We're Doing Fine"
Vital Stats: Though born in Warwickshire, England, Tom Moore cites Longwood as his hometown, and he currently lives in Deltona.
"My father was a guitarist and used to play a lot of James Taylor songs and British folk songs from the '70s," Moore says. "He got me my first guitar when I was 10. I grew up listening to the Beatles, Paul Simon and Gilbert O'Sullivan. These artists were a big influence on me."
Moore earned his degree in jazz performance from Seminole State College in Sanford, and he formed the jazz-inspired indie alternative band On the Soap Box before recording his debut solo EP, "It Took Five Years But Now We're Doing Fine."
The Music: Moore says his EP is "a five-song chronicle" of his "love story with wife Meagan." It's a chronicle he relates with light and airy acoustic guitar work and a flittering voice that recalls James Blunt.
The song "Hey You, Smile, Don't Cry" finds Moore conjuring languid, sweet jazzy melodies from his guitar, while he gets downright folky on the title track.
"I Need You Now" is a jaunty ditty that finds Moore strumming his acoustic guitar and pondering love "in my old age," while his wife, who duets on the track, playfully reminds him they are still young. Both musically and lyrically, the song makes for a nifty companion to the Beatles' "When I'm 64."
You'll Like This If You Like: James Blunt, David Gray, Norah Jones, James Taylor
Website: tommooremusic.com
Upcoming Gigs: 7 p.m. Saturday, Genuine Bistro & Lounge, 2 S. Charles Richard Beall Blvd., DeBary. Information: 386-320-0217.
CD Available: Digital download on iTunes and Amazon mp3; CD at tommooremusic.com and cdbaby.com.
BILL ST. JOHN, "All This Time"
Vital Stats: Bill St. John is a Palm Coast singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (guitar, banjo, drums) who previously spent 16 years in Las Vegas playing the casino circuit.
The Music: For St. John, his time is the time of 1960s pop and rock, and the music of even earlier days.
"Real Thing" and "Make Sweet Love Tonight" are some of that old-time rock 'n' roll, the former spiced by a sassy sax, the latter by a boogie beat.
On "This Love We Share," St. John conjures the spirit of Roy Orbison. "Do You Know" is a pedal steel ballad that finds St. John's velvety baritone channeling Conway Twitty.
St. John takes an even longer trip in the Wayback Machine in two songs: "Meltdown Look" is a fun, old-timey swing ditty replete with peppy brass and a charming scat vocal by Yvonne Peterson. "A Lotta Pretty Women" is a frantic country-roots tune packed with fancy pickin', piano, banjo and pedal steel.
The biggest surprise on the album is "What Can I Say," which sounds like a lost Paul Revere and the Raiders track -- and that's a good thing.
You'll Like This If You Like: Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, Chris Isaak, Charlie Rich
Website: kozmusic.com
CD Available: Online at kozmusic.com
RICK STEFFEN, "More Palm Trees"
Vital Stats: Rick Steffen is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and bassist who's been known to hang his hat in both the Daytona Beach area and Key West.
The Music: Steffen sums up his music best on his website: "A musical substitute for your missing rum runner, pina colada or worn-out Jimmy Buffett tapes."
On "More Palm Trees," Steffen crafts what he calls "trop rock" on such Jimmy Buffett-like songs as the title track, "Party Til My Ship Comes In" and "Tourist Town."
Sample lyric from the latter: "I'm on the backside of the bubble, the front-side of my mind. My right brain is telling my left brain to relax and enjoy the ride ... Living in a tourist town, selling my songs by the pound. Playin' and drinkin' and makin' the rounds, living in a tourist town."
Steffen meanders into reggae with his songs "West End Girl" and "Reggae Music Flowin'," and island-calypso with "Drinks for the Band."
Steffen turns to good ol' rock 'n' roll, with a bit of country twang in the guitars, on "Job Change."
"Rusty Old Heart" is a sparse ballad packed with plenty of old-country soul -- think George Jones. It's the kind of ballad that today's country stars seem unwilling -- or unable -- to create.
You'll Like This If You Like: Jimmy Buffett, Jerry Jeff Walker, the Amazing Rhythm Aces
Website: keywestmusic.net, ricksteffen.com
Upcoming Gigs: Poolside, noon-3 p.m. Monday through Saturday, throughout July, at the Shores Resort & Spa, 2637 S. Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach Shores. Information: 386-767-7350.
In the H2O Lounge, 6-10 p.m. today, Holiday Inn Resort, 1615 S. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach. Information: 386-255-0921.
Poolside, 5-9 p.m. Saturday and noon-4 p.m. Sunday, throughout July, Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort, 100 N. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach. Information: 386-254-8200.
CD Available: Online at keywestmusic.net
STEPHEN BERCELI, "Night Once More"
Vital Stats: Stephen Berceli is a Palm Coast pianist, singer and songwriter who earned a master's degree in clinical psychology at the Daytona Beach campus of the University of Central Florida.
The Music: One has to figure a musician with a psych degree is going to probe the human mind in his lyrics, and that's what Berceli does on his 13-track CD.
"There is a certain amount of anxiety that comes from being alive," Berceli said in an interview with The News-Journal. "I wanted to explore some of that anxiety in my music, even at the risk of making listeners uncomfortable. As it turns out, I've frequently been told that this album is uplifting."
"Are we growing toward greatness or are we just faking it?" Berceli asks on his song "Our Best Guess." "Born on a planet with out any plans, tied to a world we don't understand. Taught to believe in the stories that reason rejects ... we bet on our best guess."
On that track and others, including the handful of instrumentals, Berceli plies his lyrical piano and vocals over synths and bass by Ted Henderson and drums and percussion by Justin Aldridge. The result is a melodic pop style that doesn't rely so much on hooks and riffs -- think of the esoteric side of Elton John, as in "Funeral for a Friend."
That said, Berceli tosses a nifty vocal hook into "Boundaries." And on "This Little Theory" he takes time off from the mind games for a love song and reflects that "I've noticed that I like myself the best when I'm with you."
"Could Heaven Be" is Berceli's "Imagine": "Could heaven be equality? Billions of lives, not one denied. One day I hope we'll truly be free -- free of the orders and borders we make. More than the sum of the partners we take. Freedom for real not some deal on a page, more than ethnicity, gender or age."
You'll Like This If You Like: Rufus Wainwright, Ben Folds, Nick Drake
CD Available: As a CD or mp3 from Amazon.com, iTunes and CDBaby.com
SEVEN OCTAVES, "Encouragements"
Vital Stats: When Palm Coast pianist Kenny MacKenzie isn't performing classy, classic jazz, he turns to what he jokingly calls his "dark side" -- electronic music, also known as "rpm" music, which he performs under his alter-ego, Seven Octaves.
The Music: On "Encouragements," MacKenzie ... er, Seven Octaves amazingly meanders from Trent Reznor-ish heavy synths to a Bollywood pop hook to Keith Emerson-style prog rock -- and that's just on the track "Press On."
"Forgiven" takes the Emerson, Lake and Palmer vibe and turns it up to 11.
"Lone" sounds like the long-lost son of Herbie Hancock's "Rockit'' and the '80s synth pop of Thomas Dolby, that "She Blinded Me With Science" guy.
On "The Real Me," one of two tracks with vocals, Seven Octaves mashes up the vibe of Cher's triumphant modern disco anthems with his own inspirational tale.
"Out of the Bluez" combines Chemical Brothers-style block-rockin' beats with some funky stuff.
You'll Like This If You Like: Daft Punk (who did the soundtrack for the film "Tron Legacy"); The Crystal Method; Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Website: kmtrio.com
CD Available: Online at kmtrio.com
THE PIRATES, "Drifting Away"
Vital Stats: The Pirates are a New Smyrna Beach band that includes John Hostetter on 12-string guitar, harmonica and vocals, Gary Buckels on lead guitar and vocals, Justin Innamorato on bass and Jimmy Bunn on drums and vocals.
The Music: Hostetter says the Pirates' music "juxtaposes acoustic rock with blues, country and jazzy touches." Of the 15 songs on "Drifting Away," all were written by Hostetter except "Country Ride" by Buckels.
While the Pirates never fail to infuse their songs with tasty hooks and melodies, the star on "Drifting Away" is Hostetter's clever lyrics.
Hostetter jokes that "Doowopapocalypso" is music for "a dance we can do at the end of the world." It's a faux island music ditty in which Hostetter waxes poetic about a "world full of kings and kooks, eager freaks with nervous nukes. We'll be cool though if they blow, 'cause we'll be doing the Doowopapocalypso."
"Can a Robot Play the Blues" is a good-time shuffle inspired, Hostetter says, by Mose Allison's answer to a question about what music will sound like in 50 years.
Hostetter introduces "Charley Manson Eyes" as "a love song ... sorta" -- it's a playful romp about a guy who's stupefied by his girlfriend's scary stare.
"Country Ride" amps up the twang and lands somewhere between Pure Prairie League and the Grateful Dead.
You'll Like This If You Like: Jimmy Buffett, Loggins & Messina, Roger Miller
Website: thepiratesnsb.com
Upcoming Gigs: The Pirates play at 8 p.m. Thursday (and just about every Thursday) at Peanuts Restaurant and Lounge, 421 Flagler Ave., New Smyrna Beach. Information: 386-423-1469.
CD Available: Online at thepiratesnsb.com
FYLO ZOET, "Zoet's Box Set on the Net"
Vital Stats: Fylo Zoet is the performing persona of area singer-songwriter-guitarist Phil Weidner. "Zoet's Box Set on the Net" is Weidner's ambitious project to bring his entire recorded output -- more than 150 songs spanning 30 years -- to music fans via his website fylozoet.com.
While the site includes a fair number of tracks available for free listening and-or download, an introductory one-year membership, with access to all of the music, costs $11.99.
The Music: Zoet's latest works are collected in two caches on the website: "Spring Sessions 2011" and another titled "Confessions." The latter includes what Zoet says are rough mixes recorded this past winter, but one hopes additional production won't exorcise the grit and soul in these grooves.
The gothic "Turning Selfless" and "Already Died" are what Neil Young and John Lennon might have collaborated on had the occasionally folky Canadian rocker joined the former Beatle on his infamous "Lost Weekend."
"I Believe in You" extends the Neil Young vibe but with an arresting, alternative world music beat.
"Don't You Hate It" stumbles and tumbles through a rockin' Dylanesque groove, with freak-treated harmonica along for the ride as Zoet croons "Don't you hate it when authority is wrong and you have no choice but to follow along."
On the spare, folky "God's Looking Down," Zoet turns into an Appalachian troubadour whose invocation of the title mantra leaves us wondering whether he's expecting salvation or damnation.
The dozen other caches on the site collect music Zoet has recorded from the 1980s onward, including online versions of CDs he has released over that time. Those collections include "Pop Goes the Banjo," Zoet's sometimes quirky explorations of that instrument, and "Crossing Wyoming," recorded in the 1990s, Zoet says, "when grunge was at its peak and I was there in the zone."
If some songs on "Confessions" echo the spirit of the acoustic Neil Young, the tracks of "Wyoming" echo the electric Young at "Like a Hurricane" strength.
You'll Like This If You Like: Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Richard Thompson
Website: fylozoet.com
Music Available: On fylozoet.com (includes a free preview section)
