“Goose-bumps rose from my skin as the song “Highway Lonely” filtered from my speakers, mixed with a haze of blue smoke, washing my head with memories more than half forgotten ... and then I cried. Here on Heart Space, Mike Craig has taken me back in time, and yet this music could only be brought to fruition today by a man who was part of those times; the Psychedelic 60’s, the folk underground, summers in the city without air conditioners, and an honesty that’s showering my outstretched arms with cool rain. For years I’ve been digging my heals into the warm earth in an attempt slow down time, to spin the clock backwards, and Mike has just shown me that I don’t have to, that I’m gonna’ be fine just as I am. Mr. Craig fills this all too short chapter from his life with some wonderful magic flavorings. All of the songs are lyrically haunting, and deeply layered in a fashion that bespeaks those of bygone mono recordings, where everything was forced out of a small speaker that managed to excite and expand my world. Mike’s vocals seem to change from song to song, but that may be due to the fact that this recording spans some ten years or more, from 1970 through the early 1980’s. His band is nicely tight, floating images of the Jefferson Airplane, Neil Young, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Charlatans, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Sal Valentino of the Beau Brummels ... from there one can jump forward to the sounds of The Surf Guitar Villains, and even Lloyd Cole, to hear the influence this style of music has had on so many. One of the most interesting and unexpected aspects is the existential makeup of several of the numbers, where Mike sounds like he’s both answering and asking questions of himself, as if he’s looking in a mirror, and reflecting on the nature of his life. Mike has also developed a unique quality of allowing a guitar solo to reveal itself without demanding your attention, almost hovering like a bird riding the thermals, before it takes wing and is lost on the horizon, leaving you with only the memory of something you thought you heard. This is some fine folk rock from the time before it had a name. There are some who are not going to be happy with the production. As I said, the way Heart Space has been laid out brings back the joy of mono recordings, analog equipment, warm tubes glowing in the dark, and a palatable smell of a long lost era. The final song on the album “Cotati” could have been scripted and engineered a bit better, and at first “October West Virginia” sounds a bit awkward ... thought with a second listen, this awkwardness is quiet playful, much in the manner of Neil Young’s “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.” All in all, I think you’ll find this a tasty addition to your musical library, from a man who for all intent, recorded some fine music and then just walked away ... well, Mike Craig is back, or perhaps I should say that a bit of his past is back, and right now, that’s good enough for me. ***” - Jenell Kesler
