Dave Thomas – Bridge Street Blues
Blonde On Blonde Direct
10 songs – 39 minutes
Dave Thomas is a Welsh singer, guitarist and songwriter who has had a long and storied career in music, emerging from the same 1960s blues boom in the UK that produced the likes of John Mayall, Eric Clapton and Peter Green (one of his early bands was even supported by Fleetwood Mac). He has been releasing records since then, both in a band setting and solo, and Bridge Street Blues completes his recent trilogy of pure blues albums exploring his roots in the music.
Recorded in at Ar Neamh Studios in County Cork, Ireland, Bridge Street Blues features 10 original tracks, eight written by Thomas himself, and two co-written with Julia Smalley. The songs’ lyrics mine the traditional blues themes of love, loss, travel and music. The album opens with “Go To Legends”, a celebration of the Chicago blues culture, while the aching slow blues of the title track is a heartfelt tribute Newport in South Wales where Thomas was born and grew up. The music is straight-up, primarily mid-paced, modern blues, with an acoustic guitar used to good effect as a subtle rhythm instrument in “City Streets” or as the driving force in “Big Fast Car”. The combination of just two acoustic guitars and a single voice on “Busted” is one of the album highlights.
Thomas handles all the vocals and the majority of the guitars, with all other instruments played or programmed by master producer and multi-instrumentalist, Declan Sinnott, who also mixed and mastered the album.
Thomas sings in a gentle, relaxed, laid-back manner that suits the music nicely, particularly on the charming “Honey”. His guitar playing is quite masterful, reminiscent of JJ Cale in its nonchalant, minimalist melodicism, always leaving the listener wanting more. The slide guitar in “Gone For Good” is beautifully greasy and swampy, meshing nicely with Sinnott’s harp, while the fills in “Mr Moonchild” are a delight. Thomas even adds some wah-wah to tracks like “I Know You Through And Through”, which gives a cool retro vibe to those songs.
Bridge Street Blues is an enjoyable listen with some absolute superb guitar playing. If there is a criticism to be leveled at the album, it’s that the programmed drums can at times lack the subtle variations and variety produced by a human. On the other hand, a track like “All Loved Up” starts with a single acoustic guitar before Thomas and Sinnott build layers of instrumentation as the song progresses, even throwing in some horns in a delightfully swinging number. On balance, this is definitely an album worth investigating.
