We receive many CDs every week here at the switchboard to review.  Over the past few months I had been corresponding with Brown Derby Junction.  Here's what I knew... A bunch of 17 to 18-year-olds had formed a band and were recording a CD.  Okay I remember what the band that I was in when I was 18 sounded like.  Eeesh!  But persistence from this 9-piece band from Lancaster, Pennsylvania paid off and I agreed to listen to the CD.

What first struck me was that this band has not covered any Big Bad Voodoo Daddy or Royal Crown Revue songs. Even the Cherry Pickin' Daddies are missing. Good decision. On BDJs debut CD, Leaving Home, I hear a lot on imagination in the arrangements that I haven't heard form musicians twice their age. There is a lot of experimentation going on here giving this CD, a fresh Dixieland/Swing feel with some interesting guitar effects every now and then.  But when the songs get going the assembly of the music is well played and arranged. The majority of the songs are written by front man and guitarist Seth Dubin, who seems to be the lead Derby. Mixed within the CD are the vocals of Jenna Eisenhauer whose voice is quite appealing, especially on "Why Can't You Stay Away From Her" and "Nothin' to Say".  BDJ have produced a fun recording and promises to be one of Pennsylvania's swingin' club bands, while in the future they could give The Squirrel Nut Zippers some competition with the 30s swing sound revival. That is if heading off to college doesn't spread them too far apart.