CD Review: Not Before My Time - The Amy O'Neill Songbook

Not Before My Time

The Amy O’Neill Songbook
(Various Artists)
"Song of the Week" for 01-12-11 is:
The Third Time’s The Charm
by: Christine Ohlman

The good folks over at Golden Microphone have quietly released a hidden gem of a compilation album. A benefit for Amy O’Neill, who was born with a rare and progressive skin disease known as Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). All proceeds from the sale of this CD are donated to the Amy O’Neill Fund. It is a tribute not only to Amy, but to Golden Microphone as well, that all the songs on this CD, and more importantly, the time and effort to create them, were donated by all the artists involved. Special mention must go to Shandy Lawson, who not only penned and performs the title track – an instant classic in its own right – but also recorded and mixed a good majority of the album at his Shandyland Studios.

What makes this project even more worthy (besides the goodwill) is the quality of the music involved (again, kudos to Shandy). Here you will find the very first official release of a song by New Haven’s legendary trio,  The Who Whos (Barbara Shepard, Kriss Santala, and Anne Donohue): Boy in the Hallway is a must own by anyone who knows what perfect 3-part harmony is all about. Add the slow burner, The Third Time’s the Charm, by Connecticut own Bee-Hive Queen Christine Ohlman, and we’re already justified in stating that this local New Haven/Connecticut scene compilation should not be overlooked.

Consisting of 12 more singer/songwriter compositions created and donated by artists, ranging from the local, popular, favorites - each with their own place on the area’s musical map - to those that fly relatively under the scene’s radar, Not Before My Time delivers each artist’s musical interpretation to complete a collection that stretches the boundaries of the genre.

Quietly and metaphorically, Not Before My Time, The Amy O’Neill Songbook, represents its namesake and its purpose as beautifully as the good folks at Golden Microphone represent its cause.