LENNY SOLOMON BAND

Many of the songs tell stories that leave the audience with a message. For example, "Brother Blue," written about a legendary Harvard Square street performer/story teller (and long-time friend of Lenny's), relates that if you "smile to your neighbor, you might have a friend to help you, like my Brother Blue." It is a song about finding hope and faith in friendship. "Dreams" has a similar message ("So ask yourself not what the other has got, but what you both have in pairs "). One of the central themes in Solomon's music is that life is what you make it. Self-destructive behavior is just that. It provides no glory.

Some of the upbeat tunes such as "The Salesman," "Scattered," and "Other Side of the Street," venture into acoustic rock. Songs such as "The Bird House" are about little dramas in life such as a birdhouse blowing down from a tree in the back yard. "Idler Special" is a good old-fashioned beer drinking bar tune, while "Jesse" is about the joy and wonder of being a parent.

Much of Solomon's recent songs have a strong country influence. Songs such as Firefly, Fishin', and Leaving Town Today from the Not Life Threatening album; He's a Cowboy from Armando's Pie; and Spare Change, Players in the Band, and Rockabilly Kid from their new CD Maybe Today, combine country style and picking with untraditional lyrical themes.