Shasta is poet, guitar player, songwriter, and comedian all wrapped into one remarkable package. No More Smoking! Consist of 14 tracks chock full of poetic justice, tongue-in-cheek lyrics, rollicking acoustic guitar parts, and at times some biting electric riffs provided by select guests, that make your ears perk up and take notice.

This artist will remind you of Dylan. The influence is obviously there, and he openly and proudly proclaims his allegiance to the former Robert Zimmerman. Personally, I never liked Dylan's vocals and actually this artist has a more palatable vocal style for these ears and he is on the lighter side of those bloody tracks, which is always a welcome addition to my stereo. The best example of levity and some fun sexual innuendo is “It Won't Reach! (My Hose Won't Reach!).” The track is an absolute riot and the music is just dandy as well, in fact, Shasta does a nice job consistently offering up some decent guitar licks on the acoustic. The man seems to have an innate ability to put the lyrics right on top of the notes so it is smooth sailin’ all the way through.

If you are looking for polished and pretty, you will not find it here on this CD. Its WYSIWYG from start to finish and that is exactly why I enjoyed this music and the way Shasta goes about presenting his act. Now when I spin this CD again I know exactly what I am going to get, there are no false pretenses or surprises, you get “Modern Fixations” sandwiched in between a “Cold New England Rain” (lord knows I can feel it as I write), which have no parallels whatsoever. This guy has something different to dish out in every song and each one has nothing to do with the last one you heard. When the party is over, this is a notable strength and what makes this album what it is in the first place…different, original, and all Shasta, even if he does sound like Dylan.

Artist: Shasta
Title: No More Smoking!
Genre: Folk
Label: Mountain Thunder Music
Website
CD Baby Link

Shasta: lead vocals, acoustic guitars, harmonica, effects
Ed Goldfarb: keyboards
Bill Hare: bass, electric & acoustic guitars
Rod Farias, Jon & Pat Driscoll, Jeff Tracy & Brian Masaki: electric guitars
Jeff Lewis: trumpet & harmonica
Randy Musumeci, Steve Rosebery, Frank Stewart, Charlie Sporck & Joe Rizzi: drums Tracy Harris, Susie Slade, Monique DeMoulin & Lotte West: background vocals

Tracks:
01. No More Smoking! (live! Clean Edit) (3:41)
02. Outside My Window (3:51)
03. It Won't Reach! (My Hose Won't Reach!) (3:14)
04. Cold New England Rain (6:34)
05. Modern Fixations (3:53)
06. No! No Doctor! (3:52)
07. America's Home Town (bonus Full Length Edition) (4:38)
08. Condo-Commandos (3:26)
09. Stand Back! /Drop Down! (6:19)
10. Silicon Heartland (3:48)
11. Freudian Flowers (3:12)
12. America's Child (4:02)
13. Chasin' My Ghost (6:59)
14. No More Smoking! (live! Explicit Lyric) (3:42)

© Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck