Hanson Asiedu Stages (EP) Independent (release date: October 3, 2018) https://hansonasiedu.bandcamp.com/ By Bob Marovich Thanks to a successful 2017 Kickstarter campaign, singer, songwriter, and musician Hanson Asiedu (formerly Kase Sounds [“Change the World”]) released a five-track EP called Stages, his debut recording under his own name. Asiedu has a brightness and flexibility to his voice, and a coolness to his musicianship, that bring to mind John Legend. While the songs on Stages traverse acres of musical territory, in general they combine the acoustic-style gospel of Jonathan McReynolds with the earthiness of Tracy Chapman. The opening track, “God of Your Word,” ...

Kim Dexter Reaching (released June 2014) www.kimdexter.com By Bob Marovich Completed thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, Reaching is the sophomore effort of singer-songwriter Kim Dexter, the Phoenix-born former lead singer of the Christian rock band, Mayfair Laundry. Reaching is a melodically lovely, atmospheric set of praise songs that pulls from a musical palette of rock, pop, new age, folk, and CCM. Dexter intended the album to be a worship project, and she has succeeded. The praise is vertically directed and gushes from an overflowing soul. When on the airy “Freedom, ” she sings,  “This is my living in the happy ...