After having spent a decade rockin' out as part of a duo, I've decided to go the solo route my new material.

Reviews from previously released material are pertinent, with regard to style, focus and ideology - so, I've listed below some of the old reviews; followed by some commentary on my recent solo efforts.

PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

Local artist Rick Frost with ⦠his tall thin frame and Edgar Winter hair ⦠immediately engaged the crowd with his congenial banter, dry humor and nimble licks on the acoustic guitar. Rick, was on a poetic mission and his politics and spirituality came through on the wings of some powerful lyrics as evidenced by âHomeless Joeâ and âI Threw My Cell phone In The Ocean Todayâ, which he delivered in a vocal style somewhere between Arlo Guthrie and Elvin Bishop, a nice balance of sarcasm and genuine worldly concern. The package was effective and got us revved for the main event. - A NIGHT AT THE PUPPET HOUSE WITH RICK FROST AND GANDALF MURPHY & THE SLAMBOVIAN CIRCUS OF DREAMS â Review, CTMUSICSCENE.COM, Brian Gillie

âPerhaps you are not familiar with Rick Frost ⦠if not you should be â¦. A modern day musical crusader, who rocks with messages of whatâs wrong in todayâs societyâ, ( Power Slammed, A Music Review, The Trumpeter, by Roger Straub). Referred to by local press as âa crowd pleaser who generates excitement whenever he appears. Frost is widely known for his smouldering brand of socio-political originalsâ, ( Frost In May, The Shoreline Times). Frostâs last appearance, at the Stony Creek Puppet House and Performing Arts Center, resulted in accolades from the local press, including commentary such as: â good stage presence ⦠accomplished musical style ⦠an impressive blend of acoustic/electric originals â¦. A great set!â â Giglist.com, (where Rick Frost was voted âBand of the Month â April, 2000â in the UK).

SLAMBOVIAN WONDERWALL COMMENTARY (RE: Jan. 21, 2006, Performance)

What a show at the Puppet House! Phenomenal! Rick Frost was exceptional â truly a gifted guitarist and lyricist â¦. He kind of looked like a sorcerer; sure played like one. Iâd never seen him perform live before and I was blown away! Jim Morrison had the Lizard King, put Joziah Longo and Rick Frost on the same stage and you have the âWizard Kings.â Nice job Puppet House â Fun At The PuppetHouse

Wow! What an incredible time I had at the Puppet House, on Sat. night. A huge thanks to both Rick Frost and the Gandalf gang. Rick is really an amazing artist. The combination of stellar lyrics, excellent guitar playing and a compelling sense of humor makes for a winning combination. Rock on Rick Frost â the talented man with the wild hair! - Dante

Special thanks to Rick Frost. Your opening set was wonderful. Thanks again to The Circus, Rick Frost and The Puppet House for a night that was so wonderful and different. - Glad We Made It

Rick Frost opened and put on the best show Iâve ever seen him do. Whatever it is you are doing Rick, keep on doing it. I loved all the pokes and jokes on the politics that you did. After all this is America â we can say what we want and hopefully not get shot for it. Many laughs were had by much of what you said. And, it felt great to laugh ! - Sunshine

FROM BRAVEHOST.COM

Loved your show @ The Puppet House. Your CD, Something Special is great! You and Gandalf seem to have a really cool symbiotic relationship. You folks put on a great show together. Keep rockinâ - Sallie

Saw you at the Puppet House w/ Gandalf Murphy. Loved your set and your CD, âSomething Specialâ as well. - Dave

Rick, not sure if you knew, or not, but people in England, Scotland, Germany, Romania are familiar with your wonderful music. In Alupka, where I reside, you are quite popular with us. Love to you. - Bandi

SOMETHING SPECIAL â CD REVIEWS by LISTENERS

CDBABY.COM COMMENTARY :

Two paws up!! Rick does it again !! â Jae

I love this CD. It never leaves my changer. Iâm always coming back to it. â KellyTh3MAN

This CD rocks â awesome lyrics and amazing music. The thought provoking lyrics in combination with some very skilled guitar playing makes for some well deserved listening. â Sherri

Rick, you rock more than ever! This is an awesome CD. Iâm thrilled by how great you sound. Songs are lyrically strong, as always â had me rocking. Kudos to you. Rick Frost is better than ever !!! This is a must have CD ! â Heather

What can I say? You rock! Keep the good tunes coming. If you havenât had the chance to hear this guy play, you really need to check him out ! And, check out âSomething Specialâ, youâll love it ! â Wolff Mutt

The music on this CD is such an emotional journey.. carries some of the dry humor and sarcasm of past stuff I've heard... but not nearly as much, it proclaims a brighter future. It's inspirational, well done and incredibly impressive for a single man to produce. Bravo:) â Review by Leah

TOWER RECORDS â Consumer Review

Rick Frost is a great guitarist and prolific lyricist. I have had the pleasure of seeing him live both as an electric guitarist and an acoustic guitarist. I know for a fact, that this guy made this CD with very little money. Yet, the songs are uniquely his own and tastefully presented. WATCH OUT â if this dude ever gets released w/ a creative budget behind him â things are going to explode.

Thing with Rick is that he lives his words. Of the thousands of gigs heâs done, over the course of the past decade, over 90% of them have been done for charity â even though he canât afford to buy his own car.Amazing guy â writes amazing songs, as is evidenced on âSomething Special.â From his âtip of the hatâ to âWhat The Bleepâ w/ Nothinâ We Canât Do â to his assassination of those things technical with â I Threw My Cell Phone In The Ocean Todayâ, Rick is refreshingly original. Visit his web site â listen to the whole CD for free â then come back to Tower Records and buy it. It is quite a piece of work for one guy w/ one guitar â 5 STARS OUT of FIVE â A Lot of Bang for Your Buck â Reviewer Darnel

BRAVEHOST.COM COMMENTARY

Rick every new song you play amazes me more than the last. Your new CD has been very inspirational to me, in trying to write my own stuff. I have to say out of all the people Iâve played your stuff for, everyone of them finds someway to connect to it.Canât wait for more music. Love you â Mel Bell

I love your new CD, Something Special. You are incredible and I canât wait for you to play Black Mountain, NC when Gandalf and you come down in Oct. â I know it will be fabulous. â Becca

The value of ANYTHING is determined by the agreement of only two people. And, âSomething Specialâ has significant value. â Jacob

VOTE FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL AT HARDCOREMIX.COM

posted August 21st at 1:08pm

HELP AND HOPE The song, Something Special, was selected by hardcoremix.com for rotation. They billed it as a “Hot New Song” and kaboom – did it ever take off. Four days of air play and the song was #4 on the Hardcoremix.com Chart. An additional five days in rotation and when the new chart came out on Aug. 20th – Something Special was #2. This is a source of really huge excitement for a musician that is stone cold broke. To be able to record a CD with virtually no money in your pocket and then to watch as the press and listening public embrace it. Its’ as if they are saying its o.k. that you’re broke – we wanted to hear songs – not the latest sounds produced by the most expensive foot pedals that money can buy. Fans, music listeners, musicians, and industry professionals – you have all been incredibly inspirational. Not one of you said I couldn’t do it. Think about that – isn’t it amazing – not one individual said, “Wait – you can’t make a CD with no money.” Not one of you turned it into an elitist game. I have yet to pick up a feature, or review, that says ‘ if only he had x amount of this, in combination with x amount of that, he could have ect.,ect., ect. No, all I got was commentary on the songs. “Refreshingly different …. Can’t really compare to anyone else which is certainly original …powerful and spiritual lyrics .. smoking guitar licks …..hard to believe so much sound from one man with an acoustic guitar…” You folks removed the handicap of poverty, by refusing to acknowledge it was one. By concentrating on the music and lyrics you made everything else inconsequential. And, I am so thankful and filled with admiration, respect, and love for each and every one of you. Something Special could go to #1 on hardcoremix.com’s International Chart this week. It will need a lot of help ( like it didn’t need a lot of help to get to #2 right?). But, I’d love to see this song go out with a bang. So, if you find it in your heart and its conducive with your schedule - please help us out – request the song (only if you like it – I think that’s a given). I would be most greatful. All it takes is a phone call or an e-mail request – and the passing along of the word to as many friends as possible. Go to the hardcoremix and hardcorejamz, “Request and Feedback Form” at: http://www.hardcorejamz.com/contact.html (please cut and paste url in your browser window) Enter your name, e-mail address and request that hardcoremix.com please play “Something Special” by Rick Frost. You can add any other feedback you like to the form and then hit SEND. OR – You can call the 24-hour request line. You will reach a recording and when the beep goes off – simply ask that hardcoremix.com please play Something Special by Rick Frost. The 24 Hour Number is: 1-216-539-7125 And, for those of you that are musicians – submit a song , or two, to hardcoremix.com These folks are dynamite. There is no elitist musical hierarchy in place. This is just a radio station that wants to know if listeners like your stuff or not. Its pretty simple. For all of you, who took the time to help me this week – a huge thank you. For those of you that thought about it, but didn’t quite get around to it – thanks for the thought anyway. What I’ve been able to do with some songs, no money, great fans, great industry folks, such as hardcoremix.com, Cdbaby.com, Extraplay.com, Jukeboxalive.com,My Space.com, AFCollective.com, etc., etc., etc – has truly been amazing. Everysong that I’ve recorded (all 24 of them), is available at Extraplay.com and 50% of the gross price on each track goes to charity. There are 8 legit charities to choose from and the purchaser of the song chooses the charity as well.To check it out just go to: http://www.extraplay.com/downloads/about.asp?albumid=60 (please cut address and paste in browser window) How’s that for the ultimate turn-around? Something Special, a song made for virtually no money, by an impoverished musician – is now feeding hungry children. Folks, it doesn’t get any better than that. Thanks, Rick Frost