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Written by Jim Dunn Friday, 26 February 2010 21:17

The storytelling is sweet, the presentation is earnest, and you could easily imagine Joe sharing a beer and a few laughs with you in between sets at the club.

Joe Firstman fills that void that has been left by the ascendence of John Mayer, Jason Mraz and Ben Folds to the higher levels of rock royalty (therefore losing their charm and, hence, the reason they were successful). Firstman, who made his name as a regular in the house band for Last Call with Carson Daly offers his fourth studio album, El Porto, which takes a stab at wrestling back some of that charm. Originally from North Carolina he moved to Hollywood and scored  a contract with Atlantic Records, which brought him to national attention.

There is a simple charm to El Porto, which certainly makes it likable. Of course this could describe pretty much any guy, a guitar, and a nice posed St. Bernard (a refer to his picture in the CD). The storytelling is sweet, the presentation is earnest, and you could easily imagine Joe sharing a beer and a few laughs with you in between sets at the club. This wears a bit, but his simple folksy sound might grab you, but there are plenty of Firstman out there. This one might do it for you, but there are a few dozen more right behind him. B- | Jim Dunn
RIYL: a man and a guitar and a dog.

http://www.myspace.com/joefirstman