@slaw Thanks. I will look into those.
@bgross Leon Bridges blew me away with his first album. Just amazing. Have not enjoyed his follow up albums. I do love his work with Khruangbin. I have not listened to JJ Grey in a long time. Seems like he wasn't doing much for a while. I'll take a look and see what he's been up to because I really like his older stuff. I've got one of St. Paul and the Broken Bones CDs but I can only handle Janeway for a few songs at a time. Never given Bruno Mars a chance. Maybe I should.
As far as the crooners, sure, I like them. Tom Jones, yep, grew up listening to him because my mom had his records.
But, I'm not saying that there haven't been great front men. Plant, Mercury, Jagger, Daltry.....the list is endless. What I was referring to was new stuff. Last few years and up and coming stuff. There just seems like a vacuum.
I've mentioned these before but if you want to see swagger and chops look into a band called The Struts. Luke Spiller is like a Mercury/Jagger mashup. Look at their first two albums escpecially the second. Third album is terrible. Fourth one is so-so. They been around for about 10 years. Got big about 5 years ago.
Then there is MacSaturn. Lead singer Carson Mac channels Jagger but is smoother. They just released their first album last year the day before their brand new keyboard player got arrested for molesting a minor and they are currently in limbo. They are magic live. Check out their first album Hard to Sell. Great songs. Well produced. Hope they recover from their set back.