The Round Table

John Mayer’s latest album, Battle Studies, took the the number one spot on the album charts this past week giving the Grammy-award winning singer his second stint atop the Billboard Top 200 chart. Mayer moved 286,000 copies to earn the coveted spot.

Italian vocalist, Andrea Bocelli, took the number two spot with his latest album, My Christmas, which pushed 185,000 copies. Rounding out the top 5 were Norah Jones’ The Fall, Casting Crowns‘ Until the Whole World Hears, and 50 Cent’s Before I Self Destruct respectively.

Other chart-toppers for the week include Justin Bieber’s EP, My World at number six, Michael Jackson’s This Is It, the “New Moon” soundtrack at number 8, Carrie Underwood’s Play On at number 9 and of course, Taylor Swift’s Fearless at number 10.

Guess we’ll see if Adam Lambert takes the number one spot this week after his AMA fiasco. All signs point to yes.

A few weeks back, we gave you a sneak peek at new artist Andrew Hoover’s with his lead single “Lie to Me” off his debut  album, Chances, Stances & Romances, set for release on September 22nd. We immediately fell in love with the uptempo track that features hints of R&B, soul, and funk with a clever pop twist, which left us anticipating listening to the full length album. Well, thanks to our friends at Rock Ridge Music, we got our hands on an advanced copy.

As it should, Chances, Stances & Romances, kicks off with “Lie to Me,” which is a nice introduction to Hoover’s sound for those unfamiliar with him. His self-taught, slap-style guitar playing sets him apart from counterparts and while his bio likens his sound to Marc Broussard and Ray LaMontagne, I’d probably equate him with Gavin DeGraw (vocally) when he burst on the scene. The DeGraw comparison is most notable on the last track of the album “Someday Cecilia,” a slow, raw, acoustic track where Hoover shines as he pines over a love.

(more…)

This past weekend, a few friends and I piled in a jeep and trekked to  North Carolina for a brief escape from the daily grind. We received a tip that one of my favorite indie artists, Tony Lucca, was performing at The Evening Muse in downtown Charlotte on July 4th with another group called The Benjy Davis Project so we figured we catch the show.

Since we’re always in search of good, new music, we arrived early to watch The Benjy Davis Project who opened for Tony. We were very impressed as we were treated  to a flawless set, which began with Benjy Davis performing a few acoustic numbers solo. He was later joined by his backing band including Mic Capdevielle (drums), Matt Rusnak (bass guitar), and Jonathan Lawhun (electric guitar).

(more…)