Kenny's award ironically followed on the heels of his being dumped from the Tribune's staff during a controversial power struggle between the tribe's council and its chairman, Chief James Billie, for whom Raiford Starke plays guitar. Read this article from New Times for more details.

I have a confession to make. Now before you start rolling your eyes and making snide comments about not needing yet another DeQuincy or St. Augustine, hear me out. My confession is neither as lurid nor spiritual as the aforementioned; instead, it serves as a transition. Well, here it goes. While it's true that my formative years were spent in the great Republic of Texas, I was actually born in Florida. I'm not ashamed of it; I'm a seventh generation Floridian and, contrary to many people's perceptions of that state, damned Southern. For anyone out there who may doubt that Florida is actually a Southern state, I dare you to take a detour off of I-10 anywhere along the panhandle between Pensacola and Tallahassee (Go 'Noles!), or if you're feeling particularly intrepid, head on down to the southwest portion of the state around the Everglades, and you'll quickly realize it ain't no Disney World attraction. This is Raiford Starke country, and on his debut release, Speak Me, you can feel it in every note.

Raiford Starke is, technically, Colin Kenny, a Virginia boy who worked in the East Texas oil fields before making his way to the Florida Keys to play music, which led to his becoming the musical director for Seminole singer/songwriter Jim Billie in Big Cypress. His story is interesting enough on its own, but it gets even more intriguing. "Raiford Starke," the musical character, seems to be an amalgam of Mr. Kenny and his musical mentor, songwriter Dicky Wilson, who passed away in 1996; in fact, of the twelve songs on Speak Me, six, including the title track, were written by Dicky Wilson, while five were written by Colin Kenny. And combined, they've made one hell of a good CD.

This is the kind of music you'd expect to hear as you drive into the crushed oyster shell parking lot of a cypress wood bayou roadhouse, or a coastal sailor's dive turned biker bar. It's good, old-fashioned homemade music, worn at the seams and wearing the tattoo of experience prominently on its shoulder. "Speak Me," the lead track of the disc, is street slang for "talk to me" and is used as the conceit in a surprisingly spiritual and compassionate song about the importance of saying what's in your heart to the people close to you while you still have the time. It has a musical similarity at times to Marshall Tucker, but it is also the perfect introduction to the deep baritone of Raiford Starke that sounds like a combination of Townes Van Zandt, Kris Kristofferson, and Tony Joe White.

If you've got a God, well, pray him
For your brother's soul
If you know a God, well, pray him
For your brother's soul, it's a duty of love
It's only right, when it's from your heart
From the depths of you heart

If you've got a truth, well, speak me
Do not let it lie
If you've got truth, well, speak me
Do not let it lie like a broken heart
Grown so cold, Turnin' to stone

"Girl From Immokalee" is the second track on the disc, and easily my favorite on the CD. From its squeeze-box-like harmonica lead-in to its Cajun bounce, this swamp country masterpiece about a boy who loses his heart to a small-town beauty is guaranteed to have even the most vitriolic country music haters singing along midway through the first chorus. Hell, I'm still impressed he wrote a song about a place that will have more than a few people reaching for a map. And, yes, it is an actual town.

I see her ridin' in the rodeo
And down at Miner's Market
I seen her workin' in the orange grove
That's where I'd meet her after dark, yeah

Well, her daddy was from Mexico
He came for the harvest
And her mama is a Seminole
From out of Big Cypress

She's the girl from Immokalee
And the only way I wanna be
Is under a chikee
With the girl from Immokalee

"No Troub Doc" is a foray into calypso music that should leave most Jimmy Buffett fans thinking 'so that's what it's supposed to sound like.' And "Johnny Lee" offers a little bit of swamp blues to back the tale of a condemned man who didn't commit the crime he's going to hang for. Now, don't worry, it's not one of those left-leaning-let's-have-a-celebrity-parade-and-benefit-concert kind of affairs; instead, it has the dark humor and cavalier swagger of a renegade who knew that sooner or later it was going to come to this.

Johnny Lee walk up to the scaffold
Preacher man read him his lines
He said, "Johnny Lee better 'fess to your maker
While you still got time."
Johnny Lee said, "Uh-uh, no,
I ain't got nothin' to say. No, no, lordy, no, no
Cause I didn't shoot that man down in Birmingham.
I was layin' in the arms of the sweet, sweet Rita Mae."

Other highlights on the disc are "Stockbroker Took My Girl," an adrenaline rushing Georgia Satellites style rocker about an obvious subject; "Roughed Up," a rode hard and hung up wet ballad about sincerity and second chances; "Tall Dark Stranger," an Old West tale of an outlaw and one of the, apparently, 50,000 prostitutes that worked the area back then; and, finally, "West Memphis," with its John Hiatt R&B late-night Memphis sound, is a story of hard luck and location.

Raiford Starke's Speak Me is one of those CDs you wished more people could hear because it would definitely assure most cynics out there that good music is, indeed, still being made - - you just sometimes have to look in the most unexpected places, like in the heart of Seminole country, to find it.

* Don't have any reservations about going to www.bigcypressrecords.com to find out a little more about the enigmatic Raiford Starke as well as to buy his debut release, Speak Me.

"I'm a little bit country, I'm a little bit Bayou Soul." I know, it's cheesy but I think it every time I listen to this excellent album. Although he's been around the music scene for more than twenty years and done everything from playing alongside an Inuit Elvis impersonator to playing alongside the band Phish, Speak Me is Starke's first solo album. In it, Starke covers soulful ballads (Speak Me), blues (West Memphis), and zydeco (No Troub Doc). He manages to funk it up on Johnny Lee and play some goofy rock and roll on Stockbroker Took My Girl.

Throughout the album, Starke's smoky baritone and tasteful, and sometimes outrageous, guitar take the day. Production is first cabin and Starke is backed up by some fine musicians including Bob Taylor on accordion, Michael Cole on guitar, Jeff "Apt. Q258" Sipe on drums, and Count M'Butu on various percussion.

It's hard to find a bad number on Speak Me! I've definitely got my favorites though, I just love the bluesy sounds of Blue Angel and West Memphis - maybe I'm just a sucker for a B-3. Then there's The Girl From Immokolee which reminds me of Levon Helm and The Band. From first note to last this is a pretty damn good album. Speak Me came to me along with the outstanding Moontan by Evan Johns. I'm wondering what other great suprises the Big Cypress label has to offer.

Raiford Starke is new name to me even if as his bio says he was a tourist attraction as a child, with a birthmark in the image of the Virgin Mary. Today, his excellent voice and playing can make him a major attraction again.

"Speak Me," the title track, has some excellent backing and a song with beautiful and spiritual lyrics that offer solace and inspiration. Raiford's voice is strong and deep and eminently suited to the spirit of the song that he co-wrote.

The fascinating title "Girl from Immokalee" attracted my attention. It is a lovely story song of a guy out to find love with a girl from another land. Again the backing married sweetly with sentiments of the song. Even the sound effects blend effortlessly -- something that is rare. This is a hit awaiting its chance. "Gentle Breeze" is a seductive, slow love song.

Starke shows his versatility when we come to "No Troub Doc." This could be a track from a singer from the West Indies. It is pure calypso, given that extra edge by a western delivery. "Stockbroker Took My Girl" is an upbeat track with a theme familiar to any country music listener. The title tells it all.

One of my favourite tracks on this CD is "Tall Dark Stranger." This is old-time cowboy music at its best. It could be Johnny Cash or Kenny Rogers at their peak. The beat, the voice, the lyrics and the story fit together so seamlessly it is a joy to hear.

Raiford Starke is another of those excellent singers out there producing great music who needs a wider audience and that all-important break. Buy this album, listen and rave about it to all your friends, and give him a well-deserved chance.

Night Grooves By Uncle Mike