Steven Courtney is well-known in central/southeastern Pennsylvania for his long-running and acclaimed career making music for kids and families. His strength has long been making music that appealed to his younger audience without boring their parents. Now he has made an album that is geared specifically for those parents.

Slimfit’s The Path was introduced to our household shortly after its December 26, 2009 release. I had missed the CD release party, and I didn’t have their last album, Make It Worse, so much of what I knew of Slimfit was based on how other people had described them.

I was given this five-song demo to listen to by our fearless leader here at Folktowne. The artist is Ben Rothermel. I had heard the name but hadn’t yet heard any of his music. I had no idea what I was missing! By the time I had finished listening I was a fan of this young singer/songwriter. To be honest, it didn’t actually take all five songs. By the end of the second track I was hooked.

This is the first full-length release from the Mark DeRose Band, following their self-titled EP. Although I’m not usually big on live records, the EP left me wanting to hear more from this group and they do not disappoint.