Ingvay – One Magic Mile
Jamtone Records
10 tracks – 43 minutes
Ingvay (no designation of a first or last name) was born in Hanover, Germany. His press release states that he first became enamored with the blues when he heard his father playing JJ Cale records. He convinced his musician uncle to teach him how to play the guitar riffs. As a teen this sets him on a path as a musician playing music across Europe and acting as a sound engineer for many years. As he traveled, he began to write songs about life on the road and explorations of his journey and explorations of his inner self.
This is his third album release. With Ingvay on guitar and vocals, Ulrich Rode on guitar and backing vocals, Uwe Seeman on bass and backing vocals, and Matthias “Maze” Meusel on drums, the group decided they wanted to record a live album exactly as would be heard in concert. They gathered in the studios of Magic Mile Music in Hanover and recorded the entire album in one extensive live session. The album consists of six original songs written by Ingvay, one co-written with Ulrich and four cover songs.
The album opens with “Midnight Journey”. The song rocks out with the dual guitars as Ingvay sings that the journey is “to find myself”. The music is immediately slowed down on “Here We Go”, a moving folksy ballad that identifies ” a road that will lead us into the light”. As might be expected given his previously stated penchant for JJ Cale, his first cover is “Call Me the Breeze”, a song well-connected to Cale. The song identifies that he “must keep movin’ on”, which certainly sounds like it fits Ingvay and one that uses the dual guitars to introduce a sound that makes the song unique to Ingvay.
“Turn Your Life Around” features a driving guitar and advises to “not let anyone bring you down”. “Working Time” gets a boogie going with some slide guitar moving into the groove amid rapid-fire lyrics as he identifies “Working time ain’t easy”. “One More Ticket” quiets things down again as he is “looking for the exit in our soul” and “life is just not what it seems and time flies”.
The album then returns to JJ Cale for another cover, “One Step Ahead of the Blues”, easily attributed to that musician but originally written by Roger Tillison. Ingvay’s vocals are certainly compatible with Cale’s on this song while putting his own touch to the song. “I’m On My Way” opens with an ominous sounding bass run and moves into a steady beat as he moves “through the years with the same old fears”. The third cover, “Machine Gun Kelly” was originally recorded in 1971 by James Taylor and written by Danny Kortchmar. Slide guitar again drives the song and certainly makes it a top selection on the album.
He next advises to just “Walk On By” rather than “take a chance, it’s time to make up your mind”. “With a hurricane of thoughts in your mind, no one can stop you if you want to go.” The album closes with a final cover of Warren Haynes’ “Soulshine”. He moves to an acoustic guitar for his version of the song.
Guitar work on the album is excellent, and Ingvay’s vocals are smooth and pleasant throughout. I would judge the album to be more in vain of an Americana or roots album easily compared to the sound of JJ Cale.
