His dad Michael Shrieve helped change the course of rock music as the drummer in the original Santana group lineup and now 40 years later, singer songwriter Sam Shrieve carries the Shrieve name forward with his 2009 solo album entitled Bittersweet Lullabies. Sam’s eleven track CD is pretty far removed from the world beat jazz rock fusion of the first Santana album from 1969, but, in some respects, it’s no less amazing. Writers in the know have compared Sam’s sonorous voice and soaring orch-pop songs to Colin Blunstone, singer in the U.K. pop group The Zombies. Just take a listen to the lush pop strains of the CD’s leadoff track “Beautiful,” a song that carries a lot of weight and would impress Colin’s fans as well as disciples of various Baroque-rock bands from the swingin’ ‘60s, for instance The Left Banke, famous for their big hit “Walk Away Renee.” Orchestral or not, track eight here “Second City” really rocks up a storm. Armed with a album’s worth of catchy, superbly produced symphonic pop tracks, Sam gets solid support from genius guitarist Lyle Workman, acclaimed guitarist Bill Frisell among others. With Sam writing and singing lead on all the tracks as well as supplying piano, acoustic guitars and drums (there’s that Shrieve legacy again!), Bittersweet Lullabies is a bold and intriguing musical move from an artist well worth keeping an eye on. www.SamShrieve.com

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