May 17, 2012.

I’m approaching my 30th birthday this week, with some trepidation perhaps, but a certain verve and enthusiasm as well…I mean, why not? Each day, hour, minute, second is what you make it, regardless of what point on the chronological spectrum it occurs. I am lucky enough to be surrounded by an unbelievably supportive, affirming, positive network of family and friends, and then of course there is my anchor in this often-confusing and tangled sea, my wife Dolly. Having this kind of love and beauty in my life is my own personal definition of success, as the mind-numbing bureaucracy of the so-called “professional” world has an unfortunate tendency to obscure the truly important things. I love and am loved…30th birthday or otherwise, there is no substitute for that. In keeping with this personal theme, I feel as though I have no choice but to name this particular entry “The Soul Iconoclast Series,” as each of the artists and LP’s I’m discussing this time out have their own unique and idiosyncratic way of approaching the “soul” genre, a label with a scope so wide and vague as to signify nothing at all except, perhaps, a general sort of sensibility. It becomes clear in the work of artists like those mentioned below that labels and tags have little to no importance in the feeling one gets from the music, and the musicians mentioned in this go-round have feel for DAYS…as well as three individualized aesthetics that manage to connect the dots from one soul-sound landmark to the next. So, that being said, “swing down sweet chariot stop and let me ride…”