“Second Skin” is, appropriately, the second album from Snakecharmer, a band that was originally founded by former Whitesnake players Micky Moody and Neil Murray in 2011. It was released on 12th May through Frontiers Music. The band has moved on a little since their debut release in 2013 and Moody has been replaced by local guitarist Simon McBride.  The influence and sound is still very much the blues rock era of the late 70’s and bands such as Whtesnake and Bad Company. I included the track “Sounds Like A Plan” on the Friday NI Rocks Show for 19th May.


 

Snakecharmer are Chris Ousey on vocals, Laurie Wisefield and Simon McBride on guitars, Adam Wakeman on keyboards, Neil Murray on bass and Harry James on drums. Ousey had previously sang with British AOR band Heartland, whilst Wisefield played for Wishbone Ash and Wakeman had performed with Ozzy Osbourne. Harry James is of course the drummer with Thunder and Magnum. McBride, from Belfast, won the ‘Guitarist’ magazine ‘Young Guitarist of the Year’ award when he was 15, before joining Sweet Savage. He was a member of that band from 1994 to 1998 and then spent six years touring with Andrew Strong (The Commitments) before launching a solo career.


There are 11 tracks on “Second Skin” – the first single from the album was “That Kind of Love”. Other tracks that stand out for me are “Sounds Like A Plan”, “Are You Ready to Fly”, “Hell of a Way to Live” and “Forgive & Forget”.


For more info check out the band’s website - http://www.snakecharmer.org/

 

About “NI Rocks Recommends”

The simple idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends” is to acknowledge and promote some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI. I'll not be giving marks or ratings or analyzing the tracks in great detail; just telling you something about the artist and the album. It’s a personal recommendation to go check something out, not a traditional “review”!

My musical tastes cover most things rock; from the not too melodic to the not too heavy. The albums that I’ll be recommending are those that you’ll hear me playing tracks from on my shows on Rock Radio NI.


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