need new music?

If you're like me, you appreciate any good, new song but tend to stick with what you love -- those few absolute favorites you can turn to time and time again, like comfort food. For Laura, George Strait. For Jimmy, U2. For Kate, Nickelback. For mom, Josh Groban (or dare I say Sandi Patty or Bette Middler???) And for Mere, Michael Bolton, of course.

For me, it's James Taylor, Sara Groves, Patty Griffin, Rosie Thomas, and Snoop Dogg of course. Really anything bluesy, folksy, and mellow. I don't often add favorites to that list. I do, though, enjoy any and all new music I can find that meshes with these genres in some way. I appreciate mellow and good lyrics (which is obviously why I am such a fan of Nickelback) and a nice beat. What can I say.

So I introduce to you today the music of a fellow Starkville native and Starkville High grad, Kelley McRae. She's Mississippi talent, so of course I want people to listen. But besides that, it really is just GOOD music.

Steve Tuner of Paste magazine gave her four stars in his review:

"Part of a new generation of Celtic singer/songwriters working out of Brooklyn and the East Village, Kelley McRae came from Mississippi dragging a guitar case full of rural references. On 'Never Be,' she moves effortlessly from the mournful tones of the plantation to the celebratory swing of the saloon, from songs of loss and decay to hymns of love and grace. A ruminative writer with an attractively vulnerable twang in her voice, McRae has made an assured and varied coffee-house debut that helps put a little Hank into Williamsburg."

She's got one album out, Never Be, and has a second, Highrises in Brooklyn, scheduled for release on August 19. Listen to her music and read about her here. Her music is available on iTunes, as well.

She's really, really good -- I particularly love the songs, "Time" and "Break Us." They are all amazing, though.

Just a suggestion if any of you are looking for fresh, new music but aren't having much luck. These songs are gems.