We hope you are enjoying a long holiday weekend to celebrate the birth of our nation. Declaring independence is an awesome thing to be able to do. I do it myself every so often! My most recent episode is moving to Austin ten months ago. I am a New Yorker by birth, raised with that strange ethos of accomplishment at the forefront. A hard veneer, relentless, not that New York has a lock on that; you can find it everywhere in America. There is a common thread that runs in us, though, that of yearning for a better life, focusing on the acquisition of the tools to make it so. We are a tough people, as immigrants, having left our families and countries behind in favor of throwing the dice to see if we can make a better life for ourselves and our children. To pursue happiness, to become everything we can be.

I always chuckle as I write about roots artists from New York, for to so many people it just seems incongruous that the most sophisticated of places still has room for the earthy. I know it does. If anything, there needs to be a time to slow down to drink deep, even in the city! For this 4th of July, we bring you Robert Poe. He hails from Long Island. His music is infused with the ghosts of the early rock and roll era of The Everly Brothers and Roy Orbison, with a tad of the bluesy thrown in for good measure. His self titled album is a sweet affair, and includes noted jazz guitarist Matt Marshak, who drives home the melancholy on Robert′s "I′d Rather Be Blue." Sometimes the pursuit of happiness takes you into the introspective corners. To everything there is a season, and we can celebrate all the flavors of living!

- Jessie Scott