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 Songs For The Sleeping
Album Info: Songs For The Sleeping
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
Sean McDonald Album: Have Mercy! Label: Little Village Genre(s): Contemporary Blues Posted
By: Duane Verh
Jan 26, 2026
Review
The classic postwar sound & feel of the guitar solo on “Killin’ Me” is only more jaw-dropping when one finds out it comes from the fingers of a 24-year old. Sean McDonald connects solidly with old-school sensibilities here and pretty much everywhere else on this set. The GA-born newcomer infuses classic blues, rock-and-roll, NOLA-flavored r&b, etc. with a young man’s verve. Along with the previously-mentioned track, standouts from this not-to-be-missed offering include “Angel Baby” and Ike Turner’s “That’s All I Need”.
Charles Tiner Album: Good Soul Label: Self-Release Genre(s): Soul Blues Posted
By: Duane Verh
Jan 18, 2026
Review
Charles Tiner’s powerhouse vocals are tempered with just the right touch of focus and sheen to make any song he takes on here a commanding performance. These features meet with mirror image lyric sets that make for some very stylish blues- “Bad Woman”, “Blue Moon”, “Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right” and some seriously fiery inspirational fare- “Peace By The River”. The Windy City-born singer-songwriter is no slouch on keyboards as well. Production values here set a high bar for self-released recordings. An early “Best Of” candidate for the year.
Review of Blue Fire: The Van Gelder Session (feat. Jared Gold & McClenty Hunter Jr.)
Album Info: Blue Fire: The Van Gelder Session (feat. Jared Gold & McClenty Hunter Jr.)
Dave Stryker Album: Blue Fire: The Van Gelder Session (feat. Jared Gold & McClenty Hunter Jr.) Label: Strikezone Genre(s): Contemporary Jazz Posted
By: Robert Silverstein
Jan 14, 2026
Review
Guitar ace Dave Stryker made a lot of jazz fans very happy with his 2024 album Stryker With Strings Goes To The Movies and Dave returns in early 2026 with Blue Fire. Subtitled The Van Gelder Sessions, the 9-track, 56-minute album title alludes to the historic Van Gelder Recording Studio in Paramus, New Jersey. The Van Gelder Recording Studio, started by the late great recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, was where so many of the historic Blue Note and CTI albums were made including John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme.
In this setting, guitarist Dave Stryker and his trio, featuring Jared Gold (organ) and McClenty Hunter (drums), sets the studio on fire with a mix of Stryker originals and covers of legendary songs from the pens of Harry Warren, Charlie Parker and Jerome Kern. Amid the 4 Stryker originals is a track written by Jared Gold, while a
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
