From CD Cover
Irv Lyons Jr., , Wonderland
Syracuse guitarist and singer Irv Lyons Jr. obviously put his heart and soul into his new album Wonderland.
The 10-song collection bursts with love songs touched with his rich guitar work, innermost lyrical poetry and plenty of help from his Syracuse music community friends.
The veteran member of standout blues band the Ripcords has delivered a CD that’s solo in the sense that it’s his, alright, but undoubtedly a team effort nevertheless.
Recorded at Syracuse’s Moletrax Studio under the mastering guidance of owner Jeff Moleski and Steve Lloyd, the 10 songs carry Lyons’ writing and playing skills solidly through and through.
“What is love?,” he asks on the back cover. “You cannot put it in a box. Its name is tossed around too easily.
“A quantum of feelings, emotions and perceptions …
“We fail at love by placing our limitations on it. We must only acknowledge its existence.
“Peace and love, forever.” … Irv
And so he sings of that mysterious building block of life from the start in opening cut Starlene, full of heat and plenty fresh with Lyons’ vocals and guitar joined by Edgar Pagan’s bass and Moleski’s drum foundation.
Fire without a Flame continues the burn, with help on vocals from Kim Monroe and keyboard from Bill DiCosimo and guitar from Richie Melito.
Then comes the title cut, co-written with notable Syracuse/London hip-hop/rocker Joe Driscoll, and full of Joe D’s free-form feel inside of Irv’s blues-pop blueprint. Very nice indeed, this gang of friends. On Your Love Emedin Rivera joins in on conga and Chris Eves brings in his guitar, and on I Love the Night — Remix Jeff Bianchi’s cajon and the late Mike Casale and Jim Bianchi’s background vocals are heard, and the purely gorgeous Slide Cynthia Lyons was a co-writer with Irv.
Yay, community, right down to the cool artsy cover graphic by Debrah Miller and inside cover photograph of Lyon brandishing his guitar in Armory Square by Christopher Molloy and total graphic design by Lauren Chyle and management by Kimberly Rossi.
Lyons and Pagan host open mike nights on Tuesdays at the Limp Lizard in Liverpool, N.Y.
Here’s the link to Lyons’ Reverb Nation page.
If you clicked the link to Irv’s page, which song do you like best, and why? Do you love love songs or hate love songs, and why? What’s the last music album you purchased, and why?
Mark Bialczak 
I love you love of music Mark and I love music too…it soothes the weary soul. ❤
Diana xo
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Music is indeed a healer, Diana, for which I am grateful so often. ❤ Thank you for pointing that out once more.
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Another excellent review which we will be sharing with our community, Mark. We did follow the link and listened to each of Irv’s songs. Mathair’s favorite is: I Need Your Love. My fav is: Starlene. But they were all awesome and you can tell that these are musicians that have mastered their craft. Another great post. 😉
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Thank both of you so much for your opinions, and sharing with your community via social media, my friends. Inion N Mathair is a powerful ally, and I am grateful. 🙂 ❤ It is an honor for me to have you in turn place these Syracuse musician in the ears of others.
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i love love songs.
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I had a feeling you did, Beth. I love that you love love songs. 🙂
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Let me see…I haven’t bought an album since the mid-90s and I can’t even remember what it would have been, I am not a big fan of love songs, I don’t know why. It’s a curious thing.
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That is a curious thing, the love song-aversion, SD.
As for my definition of album, I include any collection of music in any format at all. 🙂
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Hi Mark, Just wanted to let you know, this is the second time in recent days that your post did not come up in my reader. I know you post in the early a.m., so I went looking. Not sure what is happening in WP, but I don’t follow by e mails. FYI. Have a great day up there in the great white north !
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Thanks, Van. I think it’s because I changed the headline, per request by Irv, who did not wish be be called a bluesman, as I did in the original. I may have changed the other headline, for clarity. I do that sometimes. Once you change the headline, it drops from the Reader. Maybe.
Thanks for the heads-up, in any case, and for trying to find me.
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I had no idea…thanks for the tip on the headline change, Mark. And when I see Ann K’s post…and yours is nowhere around… I suspect it’s been dropped. ☺️
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I schedule mine to publish at 7 a.m. Eastern 99 percent of the time, Van. FYI 🙂
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I always enjoy reading your reviews of music and movies, Mark! Today is no exception. I am not somewhere where I can stream the music you linked at the moment, but I look forward to having a listen later on!
The last album I purchased was 1989. I love me some TSwizzle 😉
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That was a while ago for your album purchase, Charlotte. I hope you are listening to your music by other means, my friend.
Thank you for your kind words. I try to point people toward some good discoveries. 🙂
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I tend to buy individual songs as opposed to whole albums, so that was just the last whole album I purchased. 🙂
And you are so welcome! I really enjoy your blog, Mark! Keep up the awesome work! 🙂
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A singles buyer. I get it, Charlotte. Many people go that route these days. And thank you for your kind words, my friend.
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