(Self-released, CD)

It's said that age is just a number. This could be true; a lack of years certainly isn't a problem for fiddler Mike Barnett. The 15-year-old prodigy's new CD, Lost Indian, displays musical maturity and a solid grasp of one of the most expressive instruments in the string family. His 14-tune disc offers a vibrant mix of music in a variety of styles, from lighting-fast bluegrass reels to expressive waltzes to soulful blues.... Read more

(Self-released, CD)

Burlington's User Shorty Patent Co. features members of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals moonlighting on spacey, epic indie-rock. Taking cues from Neil Young's exploratory jams as well as the narcotic swirl of space rockers Spiritualized, the band's debut release Depart So Slow occasionally falls victim to sluggish pacing and half-formed ideas. When the band is firing on all pistons, however, there's plenty of "ragged glory" to be heard.... Read more

(Self-released, CD)... Read more

(Grand Design Music Company, CD)... Read more

(Self-released, CD)

It's been nearly five years since ragged indie rockers Rock 'n' Roll Sherpa came together -- almost an epoch in the Burlington music scene. Though familiar to local audiences, Sherpa never released any recorded material during this period. Content to exist as an in-the-moment phenomenon, they remained as enigmatic as their band name. Until now.... Read more

(Self-released)... Read more

Unrepentant lounge lizards who thrill to Muzak might want to check out Rick Gravelin's Amore Moments, which his press release calls "easy listening Latin feel work." To my ears these 15 tunes are vaguely Euro-sounding — there are plenty of Salsa-esque rhythms, but that faux accordion jibes with the painting of Venice on the CD cover.... Read more

For a state so far from Memphis, New Orleans and Chicago, Vermont has more than its share of talented blues, jazz, soul and funk performers. Twentysomething beauty Grace Potter is one in a long line of Green Mountain prodigies spinning out some pretty sweet sounds.

Following 2002's Red Shoe Rebel, her second CD, Original Soul, is just under 50 minutes. On it, Potter cycles through the above styles with impressive results... Read more

St. Albans resident and songwriter Meg Willey has lots of experience directing and performing in local theater productions and, after listening to her new CD, it's no surprise to find out that many of them were musicals. Willey's collection of original compositions is not the singer-songwriter fare you might expect from a 23-year-old; the disc sounds like the soundtrack to her life as a musical. After taking classical voice lessons nearly half her life, she's well equipped to deliver the goods.... Read more