The Grove Project

Looking Toward Summer

Now that winter is upon us in full bloom, it seems appropriate to reflect for a moment on the anticipatory first days of summer. Staring across the counter of the local coffee shop at the confused but eager barista - in - training last week I was reminded of my first high school summer job working at McDonalds. I swept a lot of spent plastic straws and unwanted hamburger pickles off of the hot summer asphalt while living out a bountiful career in my head as a heavy metal guitarist - a daydream brought about by absolute boredom…and futility. However, growing older leaves little time for boredom, and world renowned musicians are better suited to fuel my musical synapses than my own narcissistic revelry.

One of the great benefits of a life of leisure would be the opportunity to continuously feed my insatiable appetite for great music. But, since I don’t have a life of leisure, I rely heavily on a reasonably abundant CD collection, occasional acoustic sets from local crooners and highly coveted visits to the House Of Blues. About once every 2 years the HOB presents the Chris Isaak band which in my opinion is better than a visit from Santa Claus. The 2007 visit was more exciting and memorable than ever for a few important reasons. The first is that the band kicked ass - as always. The second is that a family of 4 payed us $100.00 for our seats (not our tickets…we still got to see the show.) The third was a free porn show in the parking lot presented by 2 pale-skinned youths in the front seat of a Nissan pickup truck - which generated as much steam on the windshield as the hot asphalt I swept in high school (after a cooling rain.) While all of this was more than enough to make the trip to Barefoot Landing more than worth while, the pinnacle of the evening was the presentation of the opening act.

Nicole Atkins (http://www.nicoleatkins.com/) (MySpace) has been spawning her musical career for many years. A native of New Jersey, she just last year released a full length album entitle “Neptune City.” A feature ballad by the same name is set on a backdrop of childhood summer memories - and longing for simple things not forgotten but only now truly appreciated. We need to sometimes be reminded that the time between boredom and bliss is filled with opportunity and there’s nothing like a great song to help put things into perspective. From the standpoint of inspiration, I hold the song “Neptune City” in the same regard as Michelle Shocked’s “Come A Long Way.”

Nicole sings with a voice as whimsical as the ethereal guitar ballads of Yngwie Malmsteen (wikipedia) and as lyrical Sharon Isbin’s “Journey to the Amazon”. It may seem unreasonable to compare an accomplished classical guitarist with a contemporary female pop vocalist, and even less reasonable to compare her music to an 90’s speed metal icon. However, there is something remarkably nostalgic in her voice which, in a peculiar way, is similar. There are a couple of songs from “Neptune City” which appeared in a more simplified and perhaps more beautiful format on Nicole”s preceding EP “Bleeding Diamonds.” If I have at all sparked your curiosity about this recording artist, I recommend that you run out and get a copy of this one first. Most of the 6 songs on the ep are completely transcendental and I have nothing but great expectations from future recordings. In a world where it is extremely difficult to innovate, Nicole Atkins and the Sea not only represent creativity at its best but have done so in a way that is accessible in a primitive but human way.