First, the CD. Upon opening the case I loved the fact that the actual CD was made to look like an old beat up vinyl record, right down to the broken chip. Gotta say, I have a lot of old vinyl that looks just like this disc, so I loved it.

The album itself is much lighter than their live show. But we'll get to that in a moment. Jared McCloud's sound can be described as the music and song writing of the Goo Goo Dolls and the vocal sound of Jon Bon Jovi. And Jared is a very competent guitarist as he is a lyricist. The album's opener, Colors, is a great show of his talent as a musician and as a song writer. It's a bare bones number, just guitar and vocals, but it's a powerful opener to the album.

The album's second track, St. Catherine's Anthem, opens up a bit adding a kick drum and percussion along with keyboard to thicken up the sound. This trend continues and it was the album's third track, Hides My Eyes, and fourth, NYC Song, that made me realize what a great song writer Jared is. But not while I was listening to the album. It wasn't until a few hours after that I realized I was still singing the tunes in my head.

The album does get a bit repetitive as it moves along, but is far from forgettable. Jared has put together a solid record of heartfelt and emotional acoustic pop tunes that are sung with conviction and honesty.

Jared's live act, however, is quite different... in a good way. His band, Marc Charette on drums and Dan Xenatro on bass, are equally talented and present a different side to Jared's music. I caught them on what they described as an 'off night.' Jared was sick but still came out to rock All Stars in Manchester. There's nothing more rock & roll than a singer that will power through their illness to get their music out. But if Jared had not told me he was sick, I doubt I would have realized. He sounded great, if not better than on the album. And the band gave a different dimension to the music I heard on the CD. Marc's drums powered through the songs and energized them without being overbearing. And Dan received his own applause, including several shout outs for a bass solo (which we never treated to; maybe next time). He also played mandolin on several tunes.

Jared McCloud is a great example of a Connecticut artist truly working for his art. Starting in mid February, Jared will launch a club tour in Connecticut and perform in NYC, Asbury Park, NJ, Philly, Washington DC, Virginia Beach, VA, Charleston, SC, Atlanta, Louisville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and State College, PA. It's always refreshing to see a local artist who truly believes in his craft. And judging by his new CD and his live show, he has a lot of reason to believe.

For more information on the band, check out their site at www.jaredmccloud.com

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