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Nancy Naigle's Christmas Presents

This Christmas season the Hallmark Channel in the United States and the W Channel in Canada are debuting two new Christmas movies, Christmas Joy and Hope At Christmas, both of which are based on romance novels written by Nancy Naigle, a USA Today Best Selling Author. The affable Virginian who now makes her home in North Carolina was on the film set for both movies earlier this year and when she sat down with Riveting Riffs Magazine she was effusive about the actors, the production crew and the completed movies.

This writer read Christmas Joy and did not want to put the book down, because the storylines and the characters were so well developed that you felt like you knew them personally.

Joy Holbrook one of the two main characters in Christmas Joy learns that her Aunt Ruby in Crystal Falls has been injured from an accident and so Joy travels from her high profile job in the big city to the small town of Crystal Falls to help out with feeding her aunt’s farm animals, do some Christmas decorating and help out with Molly. You will not see the little girl Molly in the movie edition, but as Nancy Naigle says it is difficult to condense 70,000 or 80,000 words contained in a novel into a movie script of approximately 20,000 words.

So Nancy who is Joy Holbrook?

“The Christmas story came from me. As a career girl (She was a Vice-President with a financial institution) for a lot of years I was really proud (of my career) and I missed a lot of birthdays, I missed a lot of family time and it wasn’t until I hit forty and I started opening my eyes to the kinds of things I was missing that I realized how important those things were that I would never get back.

Joy’s character is much younger than I was, but the whole idea behind that story was that she was a professional girl and she was very good at her job. Her aunt (Ruby) needed her help. She had this big promotional opportunity right at her fingertips and being there to handhold that and hopefully make that happen was important to her. I wanted her to make the right decision, so it turned out good for her. That is where the whole story Read More

Interview with Brad Cole

When you listen to Brad Cole speak, the casual way in which he talks about his own accomplishments and the gratitude that he expresses would lead the uniformed to conclude that he is just a guy trying to find his way in the music world. That is unless, you already know enough about Cole to ask him about being the musical director and keyboardist for Phil Collins for twenty-eight years or his work as a musician, sound engineer, arranger and producer with a star studded array of artists that includes Paula Abdul, Gino Vanelli, Dave Koz, Michael Bolton, Darlene Koldenhoven, Rita Coolidge, Brenda Russell, Peabo Bryson, Al Jarreau and the late Natalie Cole, as well as numerous others. Brad Cole who as we write this is in the midst of a North American tour with Phil Collins, took time out recently just prior to his leaving for the tour, to talk about his career.

Brad Cole grew up in a suburb of Philadelphia and despite the fact it was a burgeoning scene for Doo Wop, Pop Music and Rhythm and Blues in the late 1950s and throughout much of the 1960s, Cole was drawn to music far removed from what most people his age were listening to at the time.

“That is a somewhat amusing part of it, because when I was a kid after a certain time I had no interest at all in listening to AM radio and bubble gum Pop music. Even The Beatles and stuff I became a real snob about. I was a Jazz purist and a Classical purist and I was that way for much of the rest of high school. By the time The Beatles’ Abbey Road came out, which was 1969 that is when I started getting reacquainted with mainstream Pop and Rock. I also liked Cream (Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce). I came back to it, but I missed a chunk of it. I definitely missed all of the stuff that was going on in Philadelphia. Number one I wasn’t sure I was going to become a professional musician and number two it wasn’t the kind of music that I paid attention to at the time. (The music) that was going on locally slid by me. Pop and commercial music wasn’t a focus for me. I have a big gaping hole in my upbringing compared to some of my friends who listened to nothing but Pop and Rock music. Subsequently they aren’t up on the Classical and Jazz repertoire in the same way that I am. It wasn’t the usual path (someone would take),” he says.

As a musician Brad Cole has built a stellar reputation as a piano and synthesizer Read More

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Tom Saviano - Interview Part One

In one or more of the following capacities, Tom Saviano has played live or recorded in the studio with and / or composed for or arranged music for artists and bands such as, Chicago, Juice Newton, Sheena Easton, Dolly Parton, Sweden’s Björn Skifs, KISS, David Foster, Dusty Springfield, Melissa Manchester, Bill Champlin, Leo Sayer and many other iconic artists.

One might say that Tom Saviano’s journey to becoming one of the most respected individuals in the music industry began with his childhood in a multi-ethnic neighborhood in Chicago. On the other hand it is far more likely that we can say that odyssey began with his father Albert who was born in 1920.

“My dad came through the depression. By the time he was fifteen they were six years (removed) from the ’29 crash. There were fourteen children in the family and there was not enough money to buy each of the children instruments, so he waited until he was married to my mom and I think she helped him buy his first instrument.

(When he was growing up) he wanted to play so badly, while he watched his older brothers play (an instrument) that he would play a paper accordion. It was almost sad and funny at the same time. He was so hungry to be a musician that once he got a horn he just ate it up. That is all he did.

He found Zilner Randolph (Jazz trumpeter) when he saw Lil Armstrong, Louis Armstrong’s wife coming down the steps of a hotel, the Grand Terrace in Chicago. He approached her and asked if she knew anybody who would be a good teacher and who would teach him how to arrange. She gave him Zilner Randolph’s phone number. Read More

Jesse & Noah and Neon Pike

While in the studio recording a few songs, Jesse & Noah (Bellamy) kept writing more songs and before they knew it they had enough for a new album. The album became Neon Pike.

Jesse says, “We cut three songs to begin with and it was going to be a tip our toe in the water kind of a thing, but we realized we might as well keep on making an album.”

Noah says that they wrote about forty songs in total and then they picked the best ones for this record.

The album opens with the up-tempo love song “Unconfined,” driven by Jesse and Noah Bellamy’s acoustic and electric guitars and featuring some great fiddle playing by Lillie Mae Rische who also provides background vocals for this tune.

Although, Jesse & Noah have always played the guitars on their previous albums, we asked why it seemed for Neon Pike that their talent as superb guitarists seems even more highlighted.

Noah says, “We brought in more musicians and other engineers, so we were able to focus more on our parts because of that, whereas before we were producing and engineering a lot of it ourselves. It took the pressure off with not having to do that.”

To which Jesse adds, “We could just come in and be the players and not have to worry about (the rest). We were also able to cut it a little more live.”

Both men are multi-instrumentalists and in the past they utilized those skills for their albums, but this time many more musicians appear on the album.

“We brought in Lillie Mae Rische Read More

Hayley Sales - "Like Never Before"

Rarely in this century has an individual come along who possesses the ability to equally amaze others with her acting and her musical talent to the degree that American / Canadian Hayley Sales does. It has been an incredibly busy late summer and early fall for the affable Hayley Sales, as she recorded one album, is recording another, shot a film and a television episode and in the midst of all that she also got married.

Sales, took time out from her busy schedule to sit down with Riveting Riffs Magazine to discuss at length her album Slightly Out of Tune, which will be released in the spring of 2019 (She has posted some songs on YouTube), her twin careers and to share a little bit about her life.

The self-described romantic co-produced her album (and yes she really does know her way around a recording studio) with her father Richard Sales, known for his work as a producer and sound engineer with the Grateful Dead, The Ramones and Miles Davis. The songs on Slightly Out of Tune range from those that invite the listener to dance, such as the opening track “I Don’t Believe,” and the retro infused “Waiting It Out,” backed by a stellar horn section and the soulful “Out of Tune,” to her romantic love letter “Like Never Before,” co-written with Sharon Stone.

Often punctuating our conversation with light laughter Hayley Sales talks about her musical influences, “I have always been in love with Judy Garland who was my first influence. When I was five years old I was madly in love with her and that introduced me to a different time. In some ways I was that absolute dork. I didn’t know that Pop culture existed until I was eleven or Read More

Andrea Miller - Maybe Today

Andrea Miller, Jazz singer, by choice, but who measured up well with the best R&B and Pop singers when she delved into those genres earlier in her career, may be one of the best young singers on the music scene today. She has drawn praise from the late Al Jarreau with whom she was booked for an extensive tour, before his passing in 2017 (Editor’s note: Al Jarreau passed away, before the tour took place.), from Celine Dion for whom she recorded a demo, as she worked with David Foster, as well as Alan and Marilyn Bergman and from producer, arranger, songwriter and musician Tom Saviano (Dolly Parton, Melissa Manchester (as musical director and arranger), Dusty Springfield, Sheena Easton and others).

Andrea Miller recently released her new album Maybe Today, composed and arranged by Michael Cunningham, an album that they hope to tour with full orchestral support.

She talks about the album, “They are all of Michael Cunningham’s arrangements and compositions. It is almost like I am the voice of Michael Cunningham on this particular album. These are his wonderfully orchestrated string arrangements. A lot of his original material is on the album.

We did some covers, “It’s All Right With Me,” “The Water Is Wide,” and “You Would Be So Nice To Come Home To.” He wrote everything else on the album. I love his writing so much and he in turn likes my voice a lot, so we decided to make an album together.

Originally, we met online through Facebook and he asked me to do a couple of songs in a work for hire session work. We both really dug each other’s musicality. One thing led to another and it took us about two years to finish the album. It wasn’t funded by anything or anybody.” Read More

Arrica Rose's New Album

The name of the album is Low as the Moon, but after listening to Arrica Rose’s new album you will be on a high. Each album by the California singer, songwriter and musician, just seems to keep getting better. From the hypnotic, rich vocals of “All and None of These Things,” featuring some scantling guitars by Rose and Marc Thomas, to the intriguing retro vibe of “Bobby,” written with Dan Garcia and “X-Ray Eyes,” an introspective journey from childhood through youth and beyond, there is not one weak song on this entire album. The latter song showcases Rose’s rich vocals and her ability to tell a story that leaves a powerful impression on her listeners and if you have never heard Kaitlin Wolfberg play the violin then you are in for a real treat.

In describing Low as the Moon, Arrica Rose says, “I think for me the theme became reaching for the silver lining when it seems to be the most obscured and finding the brighter side when hope seems to be lost. I went through some challenging times and people around me were going through challenging times. There was a point when I did not want to be working on anything and I used this set of songs to help pull me through that place that I was in. It was cathartic. It helped me to process some of the things that I was going through at the time.

These songs are specifically written for this record. Everybody in the band and the producer that I work with everyone was going through a bit of upheaval, so it took a while to make this record. I started writing these songs around 2015. I worked on this collection of songs for about six months Read More

Diane Marino at Her Best!

In what may be her best album to date, Soul Serenade the Gloria Lynne Project, Nashville based pianist and Jazz singer Diane Marino brings to life the songs of Gloria Lynne whose career spanned a phenomenal six decades.

Marino talks about her decision to delve into Lynne’s catalogue, “I wasn’t too familiar with her, but I heard the name years ago. While I was doing a gig up in New York my drummer was Vince Ector and he was Gloria’s drummer for the last fifteen years of her life. He knew all of the material very well. We were doing a tune called “I Am Glad There Is You,” which I recorded on another album many years (earlier) and I didn’t realize it was one of her signature songs. When we played it on the gig Vince told me that. Then he said her big song was “I Wish You Love,” and that I know and I sing it too.

It got the wheels turning and I investigated her catalogue of music. I thought these are really cool tunes. I had not heard a lot of them. She also recorded a lot of standards, but the songs that we picked out for this CD I had never heard before.”

As for why this particular selection of songs she says, “It is a combination of the song and how she sang them. It is great stuff. How do you put your finger on how it struck you emotionally? When I listen to her versions, I go wow. She was very dynamic and very soulful. I sang from the heart and the soul and it just went right through me. That is what brought me to these particular songs and in listening to more of her music I came to appreciate who she was and what she did.” Read More

Interview with Louise Goffin

Just in time for Valentine’s Day singer, songwriter and musician Louise Goffin is releasing a new song this week, “Good Times Call.”

Goffin says, “Releasing this song the week of Valentine’s Day made sense. It’s an upbeat love song. The conventions of this holiday push so many buttons. What’s love? Are people supposed to feel less-than if they’re not in a relationship? The cultural messages for Valentine’s Day are full of myths that have nothing to say about love being a state of being. The myth is that love is a state of having. “Good Times Call,” is not about roses, chocolates and chivalry. When we are open to loving ourselves as we are while loving and allowing others to be who they are, that’s when the good times call."

Louise Goffin originally wrote “Good Times Call,” with songwriter / producer Chris Seefried and singer / songwriter Ethan Burns, with Burns being the intended singer. Goffin’s recording provides us with the perspective of an empowered woman.

"Whenever cars are involved in songs, it’s 98% the man driving. It makes a nice change to hear a woman say what “Baby, drive my car means," she says.

Recently Riveting Riffs Magazine chatted with Louise Goffin and we could have covered a wide variety of subjects that relate to this very Read More

Nobody's Girl Releases Waterline

Nobody’s Girl a trio of young women from Austin, Texas (Rebecca Loebe, Grace Pettis and BettySoo) have released a terrific new album titled Waterline, comprised of mostly original songs, plus a cover of the Blondie hit “Call Me,” which they do in fine fashion. Of all the songs on the album the title track “Waterline,” signals that this is a Pop / Rock group with the potential to be something really special. The harmonies are superb and subtle the way harmonies are meant to be, three voices blending into one and yet each having a distinct role to play.

Drummer J.J. Johnson keeps the beat on “Waterline,” David Grissom on electric guitar leads the way eloquently and bass guitarist Glenn Fukunaga is his equal.

BettySoo from Nobody’s Girl took time out from her busy schedule and her touring to talk to Riveting Riffs Magazine about “Waterline,” and the new album.

“The song “Waterline,” is the most straight ahead Rock song on the record. It is a little less Pop and positive. David Grissom’s guitar is all over it and he is really fantastic. The song is about things slowly coming apart.

The metaphor used in the song is of water rising and you do not realize it until you are under water. You are in the middle of a disaster. As you get older and you get into adulthood there are things that don’t turn out the way that you wanted them to and there were signs all along the road. Read More

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Billy Thompson Sizzles

Billy Thompson’s self-titled and current album segues easily between straight up Blues and Blues Rock. The album was recorded in seven different studios and features a cast of top rated musicians including, drummer Tony Braunagel (Coco Montoya, B.B. King, Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt), organist Mike Finnigan (Curtis Salgado, Neal McCoy, Tracy Chapman, Steve Tyrell), James “Hutch” Hutchinson on bass (Marc Cohn, Randy Newman), keyboardist Michael Leroy Peed, bassist Daryl Johnson and several other musicians too numerous to name in this space.

As for recording the songs, “Stranger,” “Hourglass,” and “Phoine” at Ultratone Studio in Studio City, California where it was recorded by Johnny Lee Schell (Marcella Detroit, John Lee Hooker Jr., Bonnie Raitt, Joe Cocker) and calling up old friends Tony Braunagel, “Hutch” Hutchinson and Mike Finnigan, Billy Thompson says, “I feel the bluesier stuff always works great with those guys. I recorded four songs, but I only used three and the fourth one will be on the next album. I think those guys are the cream of the crop when it comes to Blues based playing. They are some of the best players in the world. Mike Finnigan played with Jimi Hendrix when he was twenty-two and Tony Braunagel was with Back Street Crawler, which became Free with Paul Rodgers and he played with Eric Burdon.”

The album opens with the somewhat funky “Burn It Down Bernadette,” cuts to the jumping “Phoine,” a song on which Thompson’s guitar seems energized by Finnigan’s splendid organ and vice versa.

The third song on the album “Black Rain,” is poignant in its social commentary, Thompson explains, “Black Rain was inspired by all of the shootings that have been happening for a good long while. I was thinking about Ferguson when Ferguson first happened. Then I got thinking about Virginia Tech and some of these other instances, which were Read More

Outside the Soiree - Erin McDougald

Outside the Soiree, is the name of the album by Jazz singer, arranger and songwriter Erin McDougald, a fitting title for someone who does not shy away from putting a different twist on her music and music that has been composed by others. That said McDougald is far from being a wild child or the 2018 version of in your face Punk come to set the Jazz world on its ear. She is in fact far from that. Erin McDougald is respectful of Jazz music heritage, tips her hat to lyricists and composers from yesteryear and she allows a lot of room for her musicians to showcase their talents. All of those elements are on display in abundance on Outside the Soiree.

For many years now Erin McDougald has been compared to Jazz icons such as Anita O’Day and as flattering as that may be it does a disservice to the tremendous talent that McDougald possesses. This writer would like to suggest that it is now time for Jazz journalists, reviewers and fans to start using Erin McDougald as the gold standard to which other artists should aspire.

The music from Outside the Soiree is being played on the radio from coast to coast with stations in New York City and in Los Angeles raving about Erin McDougald’s vocals, her arrangements and the fabulous musicians who compliment her so well, such as, Mark Sherman (vibraphones), soprano and tenor saxophonist Dave Liebman, percussionist Chembo Corniel, pianist and guitarist Rob Block, drummer Rodney Green, Tom Harrell (trumpet and Flugelhorn), bassist Cliff Schmitt and Dan Block (flute, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone). Read More

Fanny Walked the Earth

Continuing she says, “One of the things that we brought to this record, which was different from the first four Fanny records is this record is all original. There are no covers on this record. That was a first for the Fanny women.”

The self-titled album Fanny Walked the Earth boasts numerous solid songs, including one “When We Need Her,” that is heralded as somewhat of an anthem for women.

The song begins with a strong downbeat on the drums, served up by Brie Howard Darling (led vocalist) and with the Millington sisters clearly demonstrating that time has not eroded their abilities as musicians, with Jean on bass and vocals and June on electric, slide guitar and vocals and in fact there is a spellbinding guitar solo. If listening to the three of them play is not enough to get you excited, they have an all-star cast of singers backing them up. How about this, three members of The Bangles, Vicki Peterson, Susanna Hoffs and Debbi Peterson? On top of that Cherie Currie, the former lead singer of the all teenage girl band The Runaways, Patti Quatro, Teresa James (also plays piano), Sherry Barnett, Alicia Velasquez, Kathy Valentine, Wendy Haas-Mull and Genya Ravan also sing background vocals.

Brie Howard Darling explains how having this all-star cast of women join Fanny Walked the Earth on the album came about, “The very first person I thought to have on as a guest was Sherry Hagler who is now Sherry Taylor and she is from the group Birtha who were our contemporaries Read More

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Opportunities for Women In Music

A Guest Editorial by Manda Mosher

There is a significant divide when it comes to opportunities for women versus men in the music business. I currently co-lead a female-fronted band, CALICO the band, and jointly operate a female owned record label, California Country Records, both with Kirsten Proffit. I know what it is like to be completely DIY (Do It Yourself) and participate in every aspect of the business. I come from a music business background and graduated from Berklee College of Music. I have lived and breathed music my entire life. At one time our band was being considered by a significant record label. Although that label expressed their love of our music, they were unable to work with us because they already had another “girl group” on the roster. I had to laugh at the ridiculousness of that notion in particular. I cannot imagine that being the case for any “guy bands.”

From the comments that I receive on social media, it is clear many men believe the divide in equality is fabricated, imagined, or an effect of women not wanting to do the work or take a seat at the table. This is untrue. I have had the pleasure of working with and witnessing incredibly hard-working women threaded through the entirety of the business; it is just that there are so few of them.

Billboard recently spotlighted a new report from the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism that states: Read More

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