Josh Doyle "Solarstorms"

I was shuffling through my YouTube account one afternoon and saw that I had a message from a guy that wanted me to check out his video. No matter what, I always check out what people send me. Who doesn't like to find new music? I was especially glad I did that day because it was Josh Doyle. I looked at that video and found a couple of his others including a cool rendition of an old Cat Stevens song. I became a fan of his without really knowing he had been in the music biz for a while with a different band and a different look.
Josh was the front man for the British pop band Dum Dums. I did a little research and they supported a lot of acts that toured the U.K. like Robbie Williams, The Flaming Lips at a festival, and Bon Jovi at Wimbledon. After Dum Dums called it quits, Josh and his wife moved to the U.S., Nashville to be specific. He's been working his ass off since he got here. He has released five independently released albums and recently won the Guitar Center's Singer/Songwriter competition. After winning that, he has been catapulted into the limelight and deservedly so.
One of the perks of being the top dog in the contest was recording an album. The result is titled "Solarstorms". I've had the chance to hear a few tracks off of it and couldn't have been happier with what was streaming into my ears. Some of the highlights I've heard so far are 'Bird of Prey', the title track 'Solarstorms', and, my favorite so far, 'I Figured The World Out'. Josh is the epitome of the label Singer/Songwriter. His lyrics are thoughtful and impressive and the music is rich and perfectly fitted to the words. I feel that Josh is on the upswing of a great career (second phase of his career) and we are watching from the ground floor. If you like artists like The Band, Cat Stevens, Paul Weller, Warren Zevon and Elvis Costello, you will love Josh Doyle. He's going places and I'm glad I'm along for the ride.

Here is Josh's website. Go find him! http://joshdoyle.com/

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This is Josh singing I Figured The World Out on Jimmy Kimmel Live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lUjhY8Fg1E

You can pick up the title track on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/solarstorms-single/id553601590

The Woman In Black (2012)

I've been a fan of creepy movies for a long time. I lean more toward psychological terror than blood and guts terror even though there have been some classic gore films that are on my top 100 list. One film that I saw recently fits the psychological genre; The Woman In Black. Since I don't have television, I rely on previews before other movies to find out what I need to see next. The trailer I saw looked pretty good and a little creepy, so I was in. What I got was really creepy and, at times, actually scary. It stars Daniel Radcliff (Harry Potter, Equus) as the main character, Arthur Kipps. He's a lawyer that goes to a small town to do the paperwork for a woman's estate. What he got was a seriously pissed off ghost that kills for revenge.
The first 15 minutes, I was being my typical dorky self and quoting Harry Potter, but the story slowly wrapped me up and I completely forgot that little Danny was my favorite rambunctious wizard. The cinematography was grim and gray and the acting from the whole cast matched the scenery perfectly.  The Woman in Black definitely had a high creep factor to it. Any movie involving dead kids has that effect on me. Add to that the lurking ghost and you've got a winning combination.

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