Orel Family

In late August, I received an email from an account manager at Special Ops Media in New York, asking if I might be interested in receiving a review copy of Patti Scialfa’s new album Play It as It Lays and post a review of it. It was a form letter, likely sent to anyone with a reasonably well-known Springsteen website. Nonetheless, having liked Patti’s first two albums well enough, not minding receiving promo material, and without promising what type of review I might give, I figured that yes, I might just be interested. The disc arrived August 31, which, as anyone who has read any of my other recent blog entries might know, was about the worst possible day to arrive. August turned to September, my priorities turned to those of mourning, and the package did not make the trip to New Jersey. I asked a long-time friend if he wouldn’t mind writing the review for me. Three weeks have passed. I’m returning to some semblance of normalcy. Patti’s album was released, to occasionally g...