Album Review - Stuart Ferguson - Shackles & Ties

It's funny.

I see the "&" in the title here and I think to my daughter who's 4 asking me what the letter is and what it means.

I know it typically means the letter 'n' but it has some 48 syllable word that goes along with it. Kinda like the singer Prince - who's no longer Prince..... or is now back to Prince but he was a 'symbol' at one point.

But I ask you....what does that have to do with Stuart Ferguson?

Well, he had the great fortune to put the "&" in his album title - Shackles & Ties...and, you have someone like me writing about his music :).

I was introduced to Stuart's music about 2 1/2 months ago when he friended me on my myspace page.

Instantly I was drawn to one of his songs from when I finished college - One Thing Leads To Another (not the song by The Fixx).

And, here we are - 2 1/2 months later and his music has just reached inside of me and grabbed me and held my attention.

I told him about the radio show and within about a week, I had 2 CDs with his music and was featuring his music on the show.

I have a connection to Stuart's music.

Each Song tells a story - whether it be fiction or non-fiction.

And, the beauty of singer-songwriters is that the music always has a piece of them in it and how they view the world.

If I were to whip out a 'small review' of Shackles & Ties, I'd have to say this:

What’s great about listening to Stuart Ferguson’s music is that I genuinely want to listen to it over and over again because I know I’ll hear something new or hear something differently in his music or lyrics.

Stuart’s abilities as a singer/songwriter remind me of the Ghost of Christmas Past carrying Mister Magoo through the air to see the life he had in his younger days. How many singer/songwriters do you know that can take you with them to show you the things they want you to see and hear in the songs they write and sing?

Doing that is a gift that Stuart is sharing with us all if we take a moment to say yes to his invitation to join him and his guitar - Busby. Stuart and Busby’s tempo changes and image-laden lyrics will keep your interest throughout Shackles & Ties and even catch you off-guard too.

Stuart tells a story with each song that you want to hear over and over again to make sure you get that last crumb and when each song ends, you long to have it on again.

Pick up his CD by going to www.stuartferguson.net and let his music become intertwined in your life of music.

Become his friend on myspace at www.myspace.com/stuartgferguson.

Sent him an email to let him know what you thought of his music.

Check back for the full blown album review - It's taking me longer to do than I would have expected.