Beyond The Velvet Rope

The music on Ohio guitarist J. Russ Willoughby's CD Beyond The Velvet Rope is a mixture of hard rock, on the edge of metal, a little bluesy, but always very melodic. Willoughby handles all the instrumentation on the self-produced CD, except for two tracks which feature the keyboard work of David Frey ("The Open Road", "You Still Move Me"). Willoughby tears down the house with emphatic axework over the thirteen instrumentals. The title track, which opens the CD, is a thematically strong, riff-heavy track which contains an extended solo section, serving notice that Willoughby is here to rock hard. "Cool Shadows" on the other hand, is more metallic (still riff-heavy), and could serve as the soundtrack to a movie documenting an arial assault on a deserving enemy. Beyond The Velvet Rope even features acoustic guitar elements backing the electric groove, making the CD a well rounded production.