Once named one of the "best songwriters of the year" by Rolling Stone magazine, singer/songwriter Kevin Salem has also produced other artist's records (Giant Sand, Chocolate Genius) in addition to issuing his own. Salem released a pair of albums for Roadrunner Records (a record company usually associated with heavy metal) in the mid-'90s, 1994's Soma City and 1996's Glimmer, but kept putting off the release date of his projected third release -- Salem has claimed that a different version of the album has been completed and shelved each year since the release of Glimmer because none were up to par. 2001 finally saw the release of the much-delayed album, entitled Ecstatic, his first for the Future Farmer label. The album featured cameos by a host of other artists, including the Bangles' Vicki Peterson, Donovan Leitch, Alice Temple, Barry Reynolds, Lydia Kavanaugh, and jazz keyboardist Rob Arthur. ~ Greg Prato