Gary, Gary Going On
... hirstius' down river brings to mind petty and buffet, but is it too much to ask for a whole song? ....

"Down River ", by Gary Hirstius
Genre: Folk / Country / Acoustic
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Review by Popwill

New Orleans Singer and Songwriter Gary Hirstius, was born and raised in a city rich in musical heritage and style, and is presenting his second album on Four Cats/Radionic Records -- a local independent label that believes in standing firmly behind their artists. As rich and diverse as New Orleans is music-wise, styles such as folk, rock and country are not that popular within the Jazz, Blues, Rhythm and Blues fixed city. This is exactly the reason Four Cats set out to break the ice with producing such music and helping talented songwriters and artists like Gary Hirstius along the way.

The fact that Gary (harp, guitar and vocals) is backed up by a recording company, even an independent one, is a fact that can't go unnoticed when hearing the production quality of this CD; which, by the way, is nearing perfection. The result is a set of radio-friendly and jukebox-ready mellow country rock tracks, which I'm sure are rocking the bars in Louisiana as we speak. Although we are only given the opportunity to review a sample, around thirty seconds of four songs from the album -- which is around 40 minutes in total playing time -- the difference in each song can be felt right away. From pianos to harmonica and female back-up singers, to other instruments typical to the country music genre - all solid proof of Gary's songwriting and arranging skills.

Gary is not the only person in the band, however. Currently, he is getting help from James Intveld (bass, mandolin), Lee Spaths (drums), Mike Turner (guitars), Al Minikitani (guitars), and Mike Thompson (keyboards). The last album also saw his father and musical inspiration Bruce Hirstius, (famous trumpet player from the jazz band Storyville Dixieland) doing backups on one track.

Unfortunately, as already mentioned, those are only samples of the real songs, so I am a bit sad that the label decided to put parts of the songs for streaming and didn't allow us to get a full idea of this artist's music. I think this is a way of fighting the mp3 and pirating, but I am sure that the lovers of independent and mainly good music would appreciate and would buy the CDs when they're available with the chance to listen to at least ... one of them. Athe same time I'm sure that with the way they're working with Gary, there'll be a lot more artists heading in the direction of Four Cats/Radionic and the new indie labels like them that huve sprung up with increasing frequency in the past ten years or so.

To find out if the critics are right to compare Gary's music to Tom Petty and Jimmy Buffet go to http://www.fourcatsradionic.com/newReleases.html and stream any of the songs from the "Down River" album.

 - Popwill
   BandFreaks Band Reviewer