Hi Rivers:
It's just a CD that I picked up and enjoy listening to. (I bought The Modern Sounds double CD a couple years ago, along with their 2012 "Sing & Play for You" and enjoy them as well.) Joel--either as part of The Modern Sounds, alone, or as part of other combos--impresses me as a talented guy with a wide range of musical interests. There's a fair amount available on Youtube, so if time allows, you can give a listen. In an interview, he mentions how he played some CB early on and the samples from the "Down At The Depot" CD attest to the fact that he did put in his time learning some of the CB standards. He sounds like the Wisconsin (I believe) guy he is in the samples, but so what? We are who we are.
He, along with his band mates, impress me as people who love the music and take it very seriously (but not themselves)--and really enjoy playing it, keeping it alive and introducing it to new and younger audiences who may not be as aware of it as they are. I noticed that a lot of their work is/are club dates which is great, IMHO, as they are can play this stuff to entertain an audience out for a good time--not necessarily easy when you're a retro band.
And if you decide to take a chance on a CD or two, here's a quote from the Ventrella Records page:
"The ideal place to buy Ventrella products is out of the trunk of a 1997 Honda Civic, but our CDs can be found on cdbaby.com if you are a savvy internet shopper."
I like that image--"Come over here, Son. Give me a minute to get the trunk open. Have I got a deal for you..."
