Wonder Writer

Coming on stage, one could see he didn't feel so hot. He said he was wrapping up a long illness, but it didn't wane Rob Townsend's Saxon Pub performance. The music had that thing in it. In every song there was something of a melody that made me want to stay longer. It's like when you try the chocolate-chocolate dessert and you know you are already stuffed, but you want to create a new stomach so you can just have more. It's that wonderful. On the keys, he seemed most at home. He said though, on that keyboard, he "ran out of keys," but it was hardly noticeable from the front row. A world-renowned music friend of mine defined him as a "musical genius," and it was easy to see that. I got the feeling I could give him oranges, shoelaces and peanuts, and he'd have a song. He reminded me of a younger Harry Connick Jr. in that music came with such ease, and the lyrics were so married to the music that I got lost inside of them, and

She reminds me of everyone woman I want to be. She's a rock. She's vulnerability. She's running toward a dream and winning. Her voice is a blues version of Joplin with a whirlwind demand to not look away. She is the unstoppable force. And, that force comes with confidence and don't-get-in-her-way might. In the songs, I travel and hear her journey. I hear of times when she was beat down. I hear when she cried. I hear when she fought back and said, "Nope, you're not stepping on me again. I am woman, hear me roar. . . I am THE woman, hear my roar." Snuggled inside the high and mighty rocking roar are lyrics of love, passion, fight and might. These lyrics dare you to look away because, honestly, you just can't. A look around the room, and you see a room packed with hungry dedicated passionate rock-n-roll veterans- -people that adore her so much that they talk about her, and they get there way before the show to prepare for the journey.