As I mentioned earlier, I went to see Noah Stone open for Johnette Napolitano last Friday.

At the show, we picked up Johnette's CD. It was a no-brainer. Christine has been listening to her music for two decades, and me for the better part of that. It's also a pre-release, which means you can't get a copy until later this month.

And while Noah gave a great performance (I previously mentioned on my flickr photostream how he's a one man band on the stage), I'm not a big fan of the "Unplugged" genre of music (unless they're basically the golden standard of the genre-- like Cat Stevens or James Taylor), which is how, for better or worse, his music came across to me on concert night.

In the meantime, however, having visited his myspace page (Noah Stone at Myspace) and hearing the studio-recorded versions of his songs, I'm really digging it. Take "Man Behind the Glass" for example, one of my favorites I've been unable to get out of my head these past couple days. It's one of those songs you wish you could put on repeat and crank the volume to 11.

It kicks off with a bluesy guitar riff, John Mayer style, with a few layered guitar licks peppered throughout. Taking a page from the "Tom Petty" book of songwriting-- "All I have is a red guitar, three chords and the truth" -- this is a simple tune that gives you some soulful guitar licks with a catchy chorus hook. (While there are more than three chords, there are certain progressions that are reminscent of Tom Petty's "Into the Great Wide Open")

Just as compelling are "Casualties of Love", "My Green Eyes", "Little Revolution", and "Paula" (the latter of which sounded a bit Paul Simonesque to me).

To top it all off, he's exceedingly nice, a talented photographer, and a pioneer of online musician's rights. (Noah Stone's Flickr Photostream). If you happen to be on the east coast and looking for a great show to see, tour dates are listed on his blog (Noah Stone's Blog).

(No, I was not paid a fee for this promotion, in fact, I just bought his CD :-p)