Review - Roxanne Paladin
& Stephen G Kiely “Song Sampler”
independent CD
Not content to allow the Songsalive!
compilations to showcase their work, Stephen G Kiely and Roxanne
Paladin have put their own compilation CD together. Simply titled “Song Sampler”, these 8 songs performed
and or/written by Roxanne, Stephen and Bruce Wallace highlight
the genres they have each chosen to work within.
Roxanne is better known
as a country music performer, with a full-length CD “See The Difference” released in 1995. Her appearances at the
Songsalive! and other showcases are always a pleasure, and here on “Song Sampler” she shows the spirit in
which she sings and writes, although in When
You Mess With Me it is a decidedly jazz/pop/swing cabaret medium! Stephen
and Bruce
write together with Stephen as the vocal member of the partnership. Their music is
more Adult-Contemporary but branches into country on Sad Times Bad Times.
All together, this CS is not unlike the “Songsalive! 2” compilation on which three of Stephen and Bruce’s
four tracks appeared. While it is not as broad-ranging as that collection it is
still a great example of where the “Song
Sampler” artists are headed and all we have until either of them release
another individual album.