"First Breath" is an impressive first offering from Richmond, Virginia singer/songwriter Regan. Taking the route of the independent musician and using today's technology, "First Breath" has been released over the Internet on mp3.com and is also available at live performances. And while Regan no longer performs over half of these songs live, "First Breath" showcases her talent as a songwriter and her amazing range as a singer. The songs on "First Breath" vary from ethereal ("Virginize", "Breathe") to straight-ahead rock ("Caught On A Wire", "Today", "A Fuss") to acoustic ("Turn This Boat Around", and the beautifully sad "Useless"). The CD also contains a "hidden track" at the end called "Beautiful Trees," a 20 second ditty that sounds like somebody playing with the recording of different vocal qualities. One of the many highlights on the CD is "Butterflies, Dandelions, & Bumblebees" which I can only describe as a children's song gone horribly wrong. Each verse starts out so sweet, degenerates into a nightmare, then the chorus returns to sweetness. A lyric you certainly don't want to sing to your young child is "baby's breath and puppies with their gnashing teeth digging into my flesh" Don't worry though. The Beatlesque ending is cheerful enough. Lyrically, most of the songs on "First Breath" explore various aspects of relationships, both happy and sad. It's interesting that on my first listen of "Useless" I thought it was such a lovely song, but the singer is someone who's been hurt badly. Regan is accompanied instrumentally on "First Breath" by Paul Sprenkle, Jeff Mcmanus & Andrew Hackett. One of the many "hats" Regan wears on the CD (she also created the artwork) is Producer assisted by John Morand and Jeff Mcmanus. The production is very clean throughout the CD and the only time I wanted Regan's voice to stand out a bit more is on parts of "Breathe." If you've seen Regan live recently you know she is continuing to explore many different aspects of her music. "First Breath" provides an excellent view into a point of Regan's musical journey.

Ok, that's really two words, but you get the point. "First Breath" exceeds expectations on all fronts. Regan's absolutely outstanding songwriting and singing come shining through on this CD. Her songs are captivating lullabies of love, loss, love, more loss, and heartbreak - all the elements of the worlds greatest art. Highly listenable and somewhat addictive, I think...no, I *KNOW* listeners will just love Regan and "First Breath." Her CD has been in my changer for some time, and is always a pleasure when her voice oozes from my stereo. "Today" and "Virginze" remain my favorites to this day. I can't wait for the next CD. Jeremiah