I'm going to be honest with you...I don't particular care for "Urban Music." I'm not saying that this cd should be classified as such, but let us all be quite frank, when we see the cover of this cd and begin to embrace our perceptions of people who appear to be "urban" in nature, then we logically take the next step and assume that that is exactly what we are about to hear. I stuck this cd in my cd player at the behest of my wife, whose advice or requests I normally pay very little attention to. This particular instance though, much like our 3rd anniversary, was surprisingly and unexpectedly rewarding. As I stuck this cd in, instead of being greeted with "thumping hip hop beats," profane utterances, and inappropriate if not enticing sexual references (the things I have become accustomed to hearing when listening to compositions by artists of shall we say, a darker hue)...I was instead delightfully immersed in flute solos...melodic intervals remniscint of early Kool & the gang, and lyrics that evoke the power of Al B sure yet the spirit of early Ready for the World. All in all, this cd defies most of my preconceptions of about urban artists. If the world were treated to more ensembles such as The Water Seed, well quite frankly, I may have to reassess my opinions about urban music and those who compose it.

Mr. Gilmer, you have hit the nail on the head. I am MORE THAN CONFIDENT that the words of Mr. Kettloe are 100% FABRICATIONS. Let me share something with you about the real Jared Kettloe... A man who cheated his way through the music program at Broward Community College in Tennessee, a man who has never held a job for any stitch of time longer than it took for him to embezzel resources, insult customers, and betray what little trust the few who would dared grant him...a man who toured the southeast playing in a Young MC cover band using a stolen lute...a man who undoubtedly has no legitimate claim to any composition by anyone, as his entire musical repertoire consists of little more than stolen riffs and jethro tull samples run through a processor...and lastly and most shamefully, a man who I can only describe as the best thing that ever happened to me. Honestly, I listen to this cd, and I can only think of Jared. It reminds me of the time we spent together on his boat, before and after it capsized in the filthy cess pool streets that New Orleans was raped into becoming by the hand of an angry tide. THe music takes me to a place where I was baptised by a selfish love that held me accountable for my own inaccountability, and it was at this place, in Kettloe's arms, where I understood that every cruel deed that happens to a woman by the brow of a man, is as much a blessing as it is a punishment. Water Seed's music provides a fitting soundtrack to the series of poorly reviwed stage plays that is life. It creeps upon you like a wanton intruder, seeking his worth in your hue, and yet leaves you with far more dignity than you possessed before being tempted or touched. I take my hat off to this band, and this music...but in no way should that be interpreted as an endorsement or acknowlegdment of Kettloe's claims. He is a the type of person who takes great pride in being nothing more than a 21st century minstrel...long after the black face paint has been washed away to expose an even darker person both in appearance, and in character. Bravo to Water Seed, and Shame on you Jared Kettloe, not just for what you have done to me, but what you have attempted to do to all of us as patrons of the arts.

Soulful, funky, evocative, energizing, lots of fun...all that! With the artistic sublimity of this band being self-evident, I just want to add that if there is one iota of truth to the statement by Mr. Kettloe about his lute riffs being jacked, you should hire the brother and let the people be the judge of lute vs. flute...fair enough.

Before I get into talking about the music on this cd, I would first like to talk about my own predicament. I am a musician from New Orleans. I was not displaced by Hurricane Katrina, but instead, I was moving to New Orleans when it struck. It was actually a fortunate conincidence because prior to living there, all of my possessions were on a house boat on the docks of South Carolina. I basically was trying to find a way to move my house boat to New Orleans, as due to the fact that I violated the 3 strikes law for water-born illegal trade practices, I was denied a sailing permit onto the Mississippi river. I rented a U-haul, attaching my boat to the back, vowing to drive as far as I could towards New Orleans, and then planning to wait until the cover of darkness to slink it's rotting anchor onto the soft coral bed of the Mississippi river. I would sail by night until I reached the New Orleans port. When the hurricane set in, my Uhaul was destroyed, and I climbed onto my house boat, hoping to ride the unwelcome filthy tide into the New Orleans peer. Unfortunately, the violent tide capsized my vessel, and like the socialist Obama, "redistributed my wealth and possessions" amidst the flooded streets of Louisiana. I lost close to everything I had for daring to have the audacity to attempt towards a hurricane,during a hurricane. Everything I had was destroyed or displaced...outside of one possession. A small sony walkman, and my Water Seed cd. I listened to it...I wept....I laughed aloud, I cursed angrily at an angry moon...I ran the cornucopia of emotions to the soundtrack that this band provided, and honestly...I was a better man for it. I was a better man until one day....almost a year to the date where my boat had capsized beneath an angry tide in the gay of night....I attempted to contact Water Seed to offer my services in their band. I am an accomplished lute player, and I felt that the combination of my lute and the flautist's flute would be an unstopppable artistic tour de force. Sadly, the powers that be in Water Seed did not share in my vision. Further, I had submitted several cds of lute solos I had written for many of their pieces. At the time, I simply received a letter, saying that they had listened, but had no place in their music for my work. I, a gentleman and a scholar, took their words at face value. Then one day I saw Water Seed was doing a show in town. I attended reluctantly with some local strumpet whose name escapes me, and I was horrified to hear that every solo their flutist played was plaguerized from the lute solos I had sent in months ago. It is not my intent to damage this bands' reputation. I do believe that replacing a lute solo with a flute solo is just about one of the most hurtful and pointless things you can do as a musician; particularly because of the inescapable cadence of a lute compared to the inferior tone of a flute. In spite of this sordid and painful history, I still enjoy this cd to this very day. I suppose I should.... What man wouldn't enjoy listening to his own work...blasphemized by a dissonant instrument floating on a melodic sea of pernicious theivery. I would like to encourage others to purchase this cd in spite of my quarrel with the band's sense of integrity. It is a somewhat refreshing vibe in a world of pain and humiliation.