Late bloomers in the contemporary music scene offer the most distinctive works, and there are a lot of them who have become popular. Great music is being made by people of all ages today, and age groups here do not relate since most things are available on YouTube and other sites. Some discovered playing late while others started young, stopped and then rediscovered their playing roots.

One of those who have had the longish journey rediscovered his musician self in an open mic hootenanny. From this, he reaccessed the world and made an album distinguished by mature thought and inspiration in Delphinium CD. People who have discovered Dean Maser will be pleasantly surprised by this CD.

Maser has wandered around a bit, and he is entirely within the tradition of American blues minstrelsy, with many greats coming before him. There are many masters, and Dylan has been lately recognized with a Nobel in literature, a conundrum for all American music makers. Maser, though, has skipped into a unique space with a the visual and rural Gothic perspective in this album.

Delphinium continues his journey into a broad landscape, filled with the sere and open vistas of the Midwest and the spiritual rigors of the American West. The title of this new work was taken from the flower, which is considered a late bloomer, coming round in the high heat of summer. It has a broad geographical range, growing on meadows on the plain as well as alpine valleys.

His family belonged to a church, and it was the kind of music he made with guitars and ukeleles, and Kumbuyah is like a bad dream to him. All the years spent wandering the music world made the affliction apparent, and he has now lived that down and proceeded to discovering real spirituality. He says how high school made him drive for the works with a 3 song record that no one know will ever hear.

The musician is also a blogger, and his blog is entitled The Good Ancestor, which is a rumination about roots ethereal or real. It is about the history of his music. The artist in him has finally taken everything in stride and this shows clearly in this first full length album he has made.

He has also come into his own with the blues, and he and his band of traveling players named SoulShine are readying an eclectic album of this kind. Their influences range from Johnny Cash to ZZ Top, from Hendrix to Clapton, Dylan and BB King. And people should watch for it, because Maser and his group are seasoned musicians playing as a classic trio.

From Minneapolis to Boston, he went into studios with players from as far as North Dakota and Africa. The stand he is making is for all the things he has learned and unlearned which define his auteur. But then, you can see how all things Blues are there in the album, dating to the first time the first Blues song was played to its patron Old Man River.

The titles of songs on the list are Heroes, One Time, Strong Love and Heart Be True, among others. Also included are the title track, Easy to Bleed and Gypsy Woman, songs with strong reminders of blues traditions. Because that is what is all about, of Christians suffering things straight out of Bible history, about things so deep that the thought of them creates a well of tears.