Norfolk-based country-rock troubadour Mike Aiken will release "Hula Girl Highway," his follow-up to the critically acclaimed "Just Add Salt," on Tuesday.
Aiken's debut album introduced him to the country music world, but "Hula Girl Highway" should put him on Nashville's inner-loop radar. The 12-song album features his best songwriting to date. "Jagger & Jones" sounds like a surefire country hit; "Fine Me" straddles Southern rock a la Marshall Tucker; "Down in Daytona" is an amusing, upbeat breakup tune; the ballad "Banana Republic" recalls Jimmy Buffett and Gordon Lightfoot; and old-school country enlivens "Jump Up" and "Blowin' Like a Bandit."
All of these tracks benefit from a warm, full-sounding mix.
"This CD became a large part of a dream for me," Aiken said. "I found myself signed to a good label (Aspirion Records) with access to Nashville studios and musicians, and with enough success to warrant putting out a new CD. We picked a funky old studio on Music Row and tracked on 2-inch tape. I wanted that analog tape warmth for this CD and had the chance to do it that way."
Paul Shugrue, who hosts "Out of the Box" on WHRV-FM (89.5), will name "Hula Girl Highway" his CD of the week on Tuesday.
Well deserved, indeed.
Heard on the radio
On Monday, Virginia Beach songstress JoAnna Lynne was interviewed on WAFX-FM's "John & Nikki Show" about her experience opening for Bryan Adams and Foreigner at nTelos Pavilion.
After her set, Lynne said she asked a guy with long hair on the side of the stage which band was performing next. When he told her it would be Foreigner, she replied, "Cool. I'll need to hurry up and get out there" to her seat. Moments later, when Foreigner took the stage, she realized the guy she had questioned was Foreigner lead singer Kelly Hansen.
Tweaking 96X
Beginning this weekend, expect to hear more music from the alternative rockin' 1980s and '90s on WROX-FM (96.1).
According to station program director Jay Michaels, the format of 96X is going to skew older. Apparently, advertisers targeting the 18-to-34 demographic are seeing more results online than on commercial radio. Expect the new sound to be more like a mixture of the old Coast and Sara Trexler-era 96X, when it was a cutting-edge youth station in the mid-'90s.
Farewell
Washington, D.C.-based punk band Adam West will make its final appearance in Hampton Roads on Saturday night at The Taphouse in Norfolk. It's part of a farewell tour that will take the band to Europe in October before its finale in D.C. on Nov. 8.
Singer Jake Starr said the band found a following here after developing a friendship with the Candy Snatchers in 1997.
"They invited us down to play multiple times over the years, so we usually do quite well in the area."
On the bill with Adam West is Norfolk's The Rats. Richmond producer and guitarist Dan-O Deckelman has officially joined The Rats as a full-time lead guitarist.
Robbin and Lewis
The Lewis McGehee & Friends music series at Norfolk's Town Point Park will conclude this Sunday when McGehee is joined by Richmond singer-songwriter Robbin Thompson of "Sweet Virginia Breeze" fame.
On a related note, Thompson is scheduled to perform 17 concerts in September in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, where his latest album, "Just a Blur in the Rearview," sold well.
"An agent contacted me last year due to interest in Internet CD sales in Denmark," said Thompson. "I'm big in the Arctic Circle."
Well, just south of it.
Thompson said he'll be performing as a solo acoustic artist in 250- to 500-seat theaters. Jimmy James (former guitarist with Tommy Tutone) will be his opening act.
This will be Thompson's first European tour. He plans to return in April on a double-bill with Canadian songstress Melanie Dekker.
Jeff Maisey, (757) 222-3934, jmaisey@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
