Connect with us

Featured

New Album “The Dream Is Free” From Crack The Sky’s Joe Macre

Having worked with some of the biggest names in American rock music, Joe Macre has now
announced the release of his new album “The Dream is Free” and standalone single, “I Need You.”

Best known as the original bassist for the progressive rock band Crack The SkyJoe Macre has announced the release of his sophomore solo album, “The Dream is Free.” In contrast to the star-studded lineup featured on his first solo release, “The Dream is Free” spotlights Macre on all instruments and vocals. Guesting on the album are fellow Crack The Sky member, Rick Witkowski, Al Macre on keys, and solos by Chris Elliot.

Joe Macre says, “The Dream Is Free’ album is a reflection on my life experiences as a musician. ‘The Dream Is Free’ BUT the pain’s sold separately. It takes some talent to get in, but there are consequences if you have no idea of the BUSINESS of music. So, I guess it’s loosely a concept album, but also a collection that was written during the covid times.”

“The Dream Is Free” album and “I Need You” were recorded at Macre’s Joe Mac’s American Garage
Studios.

ABOUT JOE MACRE: Joe is known as the original bassist for the progressive rock band “Crack The
Sky” best known for achieving debut album of the year in Rolling Stone Magazine and still included in
the top 50 albums of all time. Joe was a member of Crack The Sky from 1975–1980 and 2004-2009.
Joe has also worked with The B. E. Taylor Group, Wild Cherry, King Friday, Jim Croce, David Sanborn, The Brecker Brothers, Marie Osmond, Keith Green, Clint Brown, and others.

Advertisement

Links: http://www.joemacre.com
https://soundcloud.com/cuppajoemusic/sets/the-dream-is-free
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUnj3mE99udGF8QHZsDEPCQ
https://www.facebook.com/joe.macre
Digital downloads at: https://joemacsamericangarage.bandcamp.com

Artist Spotlight

“Subterranean Homesick Blues” finds a new direction through Ghost of Panama

Ghost of Panama

Rearranging a song that carries six decades of cultural weight is a creative challenge, but Ghost of Panama approaches “Subterranean Homesick Blues” with clear purpose. The rock band radically reworks Bob Dylan’s counter-culture hit, reshaping its identity while keeping its rebellious spirit. It’s a tribute to musical heritage and a statement of artistic independence all in one.

This new interpretation is very much shaped by the production, made at Ghost of Panama’s home studio in West London. The setting allows an intimate approach to reinterpreting a familiar song and lets the group engage directly with the material, taking it in a new artistic direction.

“Subterranean Homesick Blues” centers on the tension between conservation and transformation. Ghost of Panama is true to the song’s rebellious spirit without adding to its legacy, and this approach gives the release an adventurous feel, grounded in countercultural energy but driven by a desire to see what the composition can become in a different musical context.

Their version of this 60-year-old classic shows that respecting a song’s history can also mean breaking the rules and finding new ways to express its spirit. Fundamentally, “Subterranean Homesick Blues” presents Ghost of Panama as artists who want to engage with the past without being tied to it. The release’s strongest identity is a familiar heritage reimagined through a singularly forward-looking creative vision.

Advertisement

Connect – Website | FB | IG | TikTok | X |

Continue Reading

Artist Spotlight

“NO MORE” by Amanda Holley connects healing, awakening, and survival

Amanda Holley

“NO MORE carries that kind of emotional weight, and some songs feel like they come from lived experience but reach for something bigger. Amanda Holley blends R&B and soul, turning a lifetime of survival into a vision of healing, awakening, and the determination to move beyond what caused the pain.

“NO MORE is a healing anthem for people who have gone through bad experiences and reached a place of higher awareness, but it’s also an emotionally charged protest. The duality is introspective and outward-looking at the same time, turning personal survival into a broader declaration that some experiences, conditions, or cycles should end.

Holley had a premonition of the song six months before the world went into global shutdown. In the vocal booth, working out melodies with her collaborators, she pictured people in the streets. Those images were hard to imagine at the time, but subsequent events would make them painfully familiar.

“NO MORE is given a particularly contemplative underpinning by the context. The identity of R&B and soul leaves room for emotion. The song’s themes link survival, awakening, resistance, and the need for change. Amanda Holley is an artist using music to process personal endurance and a broader sense of social awakening. It’s got a complicated significance, and its release feels like a glimpse of a moment when personal intuition and public reality collided in an unexpected way.

Advertisement

Photo Credit: Yulia Shusharina

Connect – Website | IG |

Continue Reading

Video Of The Week

Trending