Regular Columnists

Artist: Joanna McMeikan
Album: "Breaking The Habit"
CD Review: Genre: AC/Easy Listening
Sounds Like: Tori Amos/Natalie Merchant/Kate Bush/Sarah McLachlan/Carly Simon
Technical Grade: 9
Production/Musicianship Grade: 9
Commercial Value: 8
Overall Talent Level: 9
Songwriting Skills: 9
Performance Skill: 9
Best Songs: Rainbow, Galatea, Again, Merry-Go-Round, Laughable Tragedy, Lover Of Mine, January Snow
Weakness: ?
CD Review: Joanna McMeikan, who is a singer, songwriter, and classically trained pianist from England via Los Angeles, turned in this stellar showcase of radio friendly, commercially viable songs which consistently deliver: musically, vocally, lyrically, and artistically on the highest levels.

With a smorgasborg of diverse and well produced tracks, Joanna offers profound insight and poetic reflections on topics that cover the full spectrum of the love experience. Her talents and strengths as a writer while undeniable, are somewhat expected (she studied the English language and Literature at Oxford University), but what takes you by surprise is her ability and willingness to strip away all pretenses and tackle adult topics with sophisticated street candor as in "Lover Of Mine," where she finds herself in the undesired and unfamiliar role of the other woman, questioning her convictions while celebrating "being played like a cello...and being left hungry for more..."

Her writing is keen, precise, and deliberate. She has a knack for directing your focus while allowing you to make your own interpretations and draw your own conclusions. She does it with force. She does it with finesse. She does it with humor as displayed in what should be the radio single, "Rainbow," which is a song about using prozac or relying on prozac as "a chemical umbrella to protect her from the rain so that she doesn't have to feel." If this song were in a packet it would read: "Instant radio hit - just ad airplay."

When the music industry catches this rising star, adult music lovers will become addicted to Joanna McMeikan and find listening to her songs to be a hard habit to break.

Advice: The world is waiting to embrace and celebrate your talents. You just have to find a way to let them know that you exist.

www.joannamcmeikan.com