Weekly tune-up

You know we love keeping it local and recently I was introduced to a band that hails from Ashland (close to central Ohio for our non-Ohio readers) – Jeff Ritz.

I know you’re not supposed to judge a book, or an album, by its cover and I should have kept that in mind with Jeff Ritz’s The Spree. Looking at the group’s photo I was not expecting the Jason Mraz-esque sound that came through throughout the album.

While I wasn’t disappointed in what I heard when I popped their album in, I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about it either at the start. The first few songs on the album sounded to me like they were missing something. There didn’t appear to be a lead instrument throughout the first half of the album and the music faded too much into the background behind the vocals.

As the album went on though, the music got stronger and they seemed to find their style. The lead guitar combined with the Mraz-style vocals works well for the band and Jeff’s vocals. I was a pretty big fan of the harmonica that made a surprise appearance on “Thunderstorms of Rain” and “One Thing I Know.”

Don’t judge this album by its cover, or its first few tracks. This is definitely an album that gets better with every track. I would be interested in seeing the band live - if they could bring the energy of their last few tracks to all of their songs during a live set, it would definitely be worth it.

Check out more from Jeff Ritz right here on their Facebook page.