Reverend Jim Howie Moon and Stars

Jim Howie is a singer/songwriter who has always appreciated the sound of acoustic guitars and pop, bluegrass, folk and rock music. Although acoustic guitars and rock music don't exactly have a direct, familial relationship, energy is energy and there is enough of that in Howie's songs to make it sound as if the acoustic guitar was born to rock. How he writes the occasional rock or country song is still a mystery, given that he learned how to play guitar during the reign of fingerstyle guitarist/songwriters such as Dan Fogleberg, Jim Croce, John Denver and Paul Simon. Come to think of it, all those guys could rock as well, so maybe it's an inherent or potential energy that lies waiting in every good quality acoustic ax, just waiting for it's release. Jim has a peculiar muse. He hasn't written much by the inspiration of staring at a pen and paper. His songs always erupt after hearing a phrase or word, sometimes in a surprising context. From the phrase, a fully formed chorus or verse flows to paper as if watching time lapse photography of a flower opening it's petals in reaction to the warmth of the sun. His new album, 'Moon & Stars', is chock full of songs that run the gamut from rock to pop ballads; all with an overheard turn of a phrase as their genesis. One can almost smell the rural roots, the prairie, which gave settings and lent their airiness to the writing and music.