MUSIC_DIRECTOR for Pickin'
Paonia, Colorado, United States
Andrea "Dre" Castillo joined the KVNF staff in June, 2022. With a strong passion for music and people, Dre serves as the Music Director & DJ Coordinator. She is originally from the West Coast and moved to the Western Slope of the Rockies in 2016. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, rafting, drawing and going to see live music. You can catch her on the KVNF airwaves.
Latest Album Reviews
Review of Blast Off! (feat. & His All Star Band)
Album Info: Blast Off! (feat. & His All Star Band)
Duke Robillard Album: Blast Off! (feat. & His All Star Band) Label: Nola Blue Genre(s): Classic Blues, Blues Rock Posted
By: Duane Verh
Feb 16, 2026
Review
The reliable Robillard drive and exuberance are present and accounted for on his current offering as is The Duke’s inclusive approach to roots-bound fare. Inspired-sounding jump tracks with abundant “blow” choruses for the band’s capable horn players stack up alongside a variety of burners charged by the leader’s predictably masterful fretwork. Vocalist Chris Cote delivers consistently as well on tracks including Tom Waits’ and Kathleen Brennan’s “Lowdown” and Allen Toussaint’s “Confusion”. Nice work.
Review of Music For Microdosing (Sound Therapy Music Series)
Album Info: Music For Microdosing (Sound Therapy Music Series)
Steven Halpern Album: Music For Microdosing (Sound Therapy Music Series) Label: Steven Halpern Music Genre(s): New Age Posted
By: Robert Silverstein
Feb 13, 2026
Review
When Steven Halpern released his first album for meditation and healing in 1975, there was no genre that described compositions that downplayed the role of melody, rhythm and predictability. His album liner notes introduced the phrase ‘ambient soundscapes’, before Eno released his own versions, though his glam rockstar status garnered much of the credit.
Music For Microdosing (Sound Therapy Music Series) was produced with the conscious intention to create a portal for long time and new fans of all generations to experience the blissful natural high when your brainwaves are balanced and synchronized in the deep alpha brainwave state… a sonic portal to mindfulness and inner peace.
Unlike many albums that are streaming nowadays, No AI was involved in composing and producing this masterpiece.
For those new to this field, it must be noted that
The Leemoo Gang Album: Family Business Label: Castle Genre(s): World, Worldbeat Posted
By: Robert Silverstein
Feb 13, 2026
Review
A 2026 CD release on France-based Castle Records, A Family Business by The Leemoo Gang features a wealth of progressive World Music with a decidedly Indian music flavor. Another joint effort from France’s fusion guitarist / composer Bernard Margarit and sitar master / composer Joyeeta Sanyal-Margarit, the 5-track EP clocks in at 25-minutes and features Bernard and Joyeeta supported by a range of musicians.
With Joyeeta and Bernard each writing and composing the music, the album also features Bernard’s children Tanya Margarit (vocals, keyboards, arrangements), Leo Margarit (drums) and Nayan Margarit (drums) in addition to several native Indian musicians on percussion.
Musically, A Family Business sounds like a natural follow up to the 2025 album, entitled Fifth Element, by Bernard and Joyeeta’s other band, Jee & Bee. Joyeeta’s sitar playing is consummate
The Grand Undoing Album: Songs For The Sleeping Label: Secret Candy Rock Genre(s): Pop Rock Posted
By: Robert Silverstein
Jan 29, 2026
Review
Boston-area rockers The Grand Undoing reinvent their sound on the 2026 release of Songs For The Sleeping. A stunning follow-up to previous masterpieces, Sparks Rain Down From The Lights Of Love (2016) and In A Vigil State (2020), Songs For The Sleeping is their most potent and consistent album yet, and certainly their most confident and ingenious. The sound is stylishly enhanced by a rotating cast of players on various instruments resulting in a commanding presence. The songs form a sonic collective and the whole album seems to peak into a euphoric zenith.
Performed with an excellence reserved for the finest bands, The Grand Undoing pulls out all kinds of stops on Songs For The Sleeping. Kicking off the fuzzed-out rock desire of “Sing A New Morning” and culminating in the orchestral, prog-rock daring of “Now I’m Going Home”, to these ears, the 9-track /
Tom Salvatori Album: Lullaby for Jude Label: Self-Release Genre(s): Classical Crossover Posted
By: Robert Silverstein
Jan 29, 2026
Review
One of the most discerning and understated classical nylon string guitarists in the US today, Tom Salvatori is hardly a newcomer to the American independent guitar scene… carving out and tending to his own self-made corner of the music world since the mid-1990’s. In mid-2025 Salvatori released a newly recorded 4-track, 13-minute solo guitar EP called Lullaby For Jude, which conjures an immediate somber state of affairs as his original title track represents a sonic eulogy dedicated to a family member who lost her first-born son in childbirth.
Tom continues with a classical guitar adaptation, this time featuring “Gabriel’s With This Love”, a solo guitar cover of a track composed by Peter Gabriel for Martin Scorcese’s 1989 movie The Last Temptation of Christ.
After another wistful original piece that exudes more optimism and resilience, Tom dives
Jan 16, 2026 -
AVAILABLE NOW: THE NEW BOOK FROM AUTHOR TAD RICHARDS
Listening to Prestige: Chronicling Its Classic Jazz Recordings, 1949–1972
A... Read Full Article
Nov 30, 2025 -
New Christmas Music by from Marcus Goldhaber “I Can’t Wait For Christmas” (digital only single) and Margee Minier-Tubbs &... Read Full Article
Sep 9, 2025 -
Chicago-based Indie-folk singer-songwriter Chris Rawlins is set to release his much anticipated sophomore album, Flyover,... Read Full Article
Sep 7, 2025 -
Putumayo Discovery is proud to announce the release of French Groove, a dynamic compilation that showcases the fresh face of French... Read Full Article
Sep 7, 2025 -
Putumayo Discovery's new album, Instrumental Odyssey, out on September 5th, 2025 is a journey across cultures, continents, and musical... Read Full Article
Oct 24, 2024 -
For fans of Beirut, Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos, Regina Spektor and Keren Ann. The lush bucolic folk of ‘Season to Season’ is the first... Read Full Article
Sep 12, 2024 -
Indiana based Singer Songwriter Abbie Thomas to release eagerly awaited second album Sept 27
The candid creative spark behind Abbie... Read Full Article
Jul 31, 2024 -
FOLK MUSICIANS CATHY FINK, MARCY MARXER, AND
CHAO TIAN ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM,
FROM CHINA TO APPALACHIA
THE GLOBAL MUSIC PROJECT... Read Full Article
