Cover photo © 2023 Joseph A. Rosen

 In This Issue 

Bucky O’Hare has our feature interview with Debbie Davies. We have five Blues reviews for you this week including new music from Little Bobby, Selwyn Birchwood, Bai Kamara Jr & The Voodoo Sniffers, Andrew Riverstone and Backtrack Blues Band. Scroll down and check it out!

 From The Editor’s Desk 

Hey Blues Fans,

The nominators have turned in their ballots and we are hard at work tabulating the results. We will announce the 2023 Blues Blast Music Awards nominees in late June.

Tickets for the 2023 Blues Blast Music Awards show on September 23 will go one sale June 15, 2023 on the Blues Blast Music Awards website at http://theBBMAs.com. We will also have a Friday night pre-awards show, announcement soon! .

Our new (Old) venue called the 3300 Event Center in Peoria, IL. was previously a Rock and Roll touring venue in the 1970s called The Second Chance Nightclub. We will have reserved seating tickets available and general admission. So get your tickets early if you want the best reserved seats.

Wishing you health, happiness and lots of Blues music!

Bob Kieser

“I always wanted an electric guitar but you know I came from a different era. Everything was very gender specific. There was no support for girls to play electric guitar. Nobody would buy me one so I had to wait. I went a long time putting that aside because it wasn’t a possibility. When I was trying to put myself through school I was always working too, so I was able to put a little money aside. I finally decided I’m gonna play electric, I still wanted to do it. So in my early 20’s I finally got my first electric guitar and went nuts trying to play it.”

Debbie Davies has been “nuts” for the electric guitar ever since. A determined, endlessly inventive and immediately recognizable practitioner, Davies is one of the most important Blues guitarists of her generation. Famous for being Albert Collins’s rhythm player before his death, Debbie Davies, however is not a household name. After spending a career blasting open doors for female Blues artists and confronting male chauvinism and bias head on, at 70, Debbie Davies still has to grind it out to continue to produce her art. It is this hard work and steadfast commitment to equality and opportunity that have made Debbie such a deep and lasting artist.

Debbie holds a unique style that bridges the gaps between old school emotive power like Collins, Albert King or Buddy Guy and the more modern multi-faceted approach that she and her contemporaries such as Ronnie Earl, Kenny Neal or Duke Robillard created. A road warrior, Debbie has spent much of her career traversing the US and Europe spreading her music while recording a catalog of superb Blues albums. But, it all starts with the guitar. While describing Ronnie Earl, one of your humble interviewer’s heroes, Debbie makes a definitive statement about guitar:

“I think what really makes somebody a great in the guitar world, cause there’s millions of us, right, is when you can just hear a few notes and they have such a strong style and tone you know who it is.”

This describes Debbie’s playing, and I told her as much. Debbie Davies’ guitar playing is simultaneously robust and muscular while being tender and emotive. A master of the Stratocaster, Debbie pays a great deal of attention to her tone.

“At this point in time the Strat is all I play. I’ve been through a lot of guitars and at one point in time I was into having a bunch of ‘em. I’ve ended up with the Stat except that I’ve sort of modified my Strats now. My main one, it has a humbucker in the neck position and a P-90 in the bridge position. They’re both from the 60’s. They’re both really cool pick ups I’ve had for a long time. I’ve moved them around in different guitars. I feel like I can get a lotta tones with those.”

“Basically at one point I was playing a Tele, prior to that, really crappy guitars, nothing name. I finally got a Tele and that was really cool. But at some point I kinda got that Strat fever. As soon as I got a Strat and had that option with that 5 position switch and then also  just the way it sits, I mean the way the weight’s distributed, I fell in love with it.”

This is some high-end guitar-hound tone chasing. Humbuckers and P-90s are used primarily in Les Pauls and other more Rock styled guitars with a heavier thicker sound. The Stratocaster is set up with single coil pickups that sound more icy and bright. Debbie is using the 3 pick up spaces and the possibility of mixing and mashing tones together with the referenced 5 position switch to ring a spectrum of tone out of her guitar.

Yet, Debbie Davies serves the music not her six-string ego. Debbie’s approach to her formidable playing is “play the song.”

“You work really hard on your craft to become the kind of player who doesn’t need to think on stage. I mean improvising is the whole trip with the kind of music I play. It’s mostly stylistic to me, I mean play to the song. When you learn guitar licks, you know there are certain licks that work really well over a Rhumba, say. And other ones that are like strong Shuffle licks. I mean if I’m doin’ a Texas Blues that’s the style I’m gonna be playin’ in. I’m improvising totally but that’s where I’m at, that’s where I’m comin’ from. Slow Blues is like, it’s just like total improvising. But, it comes from learning tons of that kind of stuff. Sitting with all the records for a long time to get that stuff. Then it comes out as your own.”

“So really,” Debbie sums it up,  “like I’m not a shredder. I’m not playing to like show off all my licks. I’m playing to the song. If the song doesn’t need a big hellacious guitar solo, it’s not gonna get one.”

Debbie matches her guitar refinement with a talent for writing songs. Not just picking excellent material to cover, which she also does very well, Debbie often adds a number of original Blues to her albums. I remarked how Debbie’s 1996 political outrage on “Howling at the Moon” from the album I Got That Feeling still, sadly, feels relevant today.

“It’s a funny thing because the majority of Blues tunes and songwriting in the world in general is kinda about love, loss of love, falling in love, heartbreak, that whole stuff. And that’s fine, that’s what people write about and sing about and feel that. You know when I had the chance to work with John Mayall he’s like notorious for writing political based tunes and topical tunes. So I think I might have got a little bug in my brain to do that maybe from John.”

Debbie goes on to humbly describe her writing process. Not taking credit for being an excellent writer, which she is, Debbie instead shares her varied receipt of songwriting inspiration. At the heart is her consistent hard work and dedication.

“As far as my process goes I don’t consider myself a heavy songwriter,” Debbie demures. “I consider myself more a guitar player singer, you know. But, I can write. So what I’m saying is I don’t write constantly, I’m not like one of those prolific guys. But, there’s no one real exact way. I’ve had a couple of songs that just come to me. You know for whatever reason the words, the chords, the groove, the whole thing it takes not very long to write the whole song. And that’s kinda rare. Occasionally I’d be touring and when it’s not my driving shift just kinda sit and trippin’ on stuff and I’d write a song.”

“More likely I get an idea or a couple of lines and I’d write that down or record or whatever. And then know that I want to make a song out of that. Or I’d come up with some guitar riffs and be like yeah that needs to be a song. And then at that point you’ve gotta get into the craft of songwriting which means you actually set time and sit down and do the work until the song is done.”

“I’ve also written with other people. My drummer for years, Don Castagno, was my songwriting partner. He’s a great songwriter, he would write a lot more often than I. But, you know he would have ideas, I would have ideas and we would come together. That was awesome. Or sometimes he would write lyrics and he would need me to write music to it. There’s also that collaborative thing that can happen which is very cool.”

Debbie grew up in California to musical parents. She got an acoustic guitar at an early age, but as she mentioned, had to wait and find her heart’s sound in the electric guitar on her own. But the influence of the Blues early on was strong.

“Both my folks were musicians.” Debbie remembers, “my dad worked here in the Hollywood recording scene. I grew up hearing a lot of Jazz and Big Band and Swing and all of that kinda stuff. You know there’s like a musical corridor between LA and Texas. So a lot of the Texas Swing and the Texas Blues, that whole sound was always really attractive to me.”

After college and learning the electric guitar, Debbie started to make a name for herself. She became significant enough in the San Francisco scene to draw the attention of the Iceman, the Master of the Telecaster, Mr. Albert Collins. In 2017 Debbie told Blues Blast interviewer Don Wilcox all about her time with Mr. Collins and the many funny and instructional lessons she learned: https://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/featured-interview-debbie-davies/

Debbie left the Collins organization minted as a bankable artist. It was time for Debbie to build her career out. The highs and lows of the industry can be significant for anyone. Through her recording career, Debbie never lost sight of the impact of being a woman who is a badass guitarist. Debbie was able to draw on her experiences as a child and find a new facet of her art in the studio.

“I had the opportunity to be around recording as a kid because that’s where my dad’s job was. So I’ve always kind of loved the process. I had a slight idea and feel for it when I first started. But, the thing is when the record labels were happening, the indie labels were really doing stuff, the artist didn’t have as much say so or control. They wanted to take your publishing, they picked the studio. Like my first record they picked the studio, it was up in San Francisco even though I was in Southern California. They picked the players and (chuckle) I brought the songs.”

“It was kinda like I didn’t really have control practically over the whole thing. But, I worked closely with the engineer who was basically the producer at that time. We worked back and forth and I was certainly learning because it was my first album of my music.”

Many more albums followed. Some Debbie was able to use her touring band and get the kind of sound she wanted, some she wasn’t able to. Working with legendary producers like Jim Gaines and sympathetic colleagues like Duke Robillard. Then everything changed.

“Eventually a lot of the little labels went under. The whole landscape toward the latter years of my hard touring, the whole business of the recording industry, everything began to change. That totally affected me and what I do because there’s a particular business model that I operated under. I made a living doing this, you know. So I didn’t have any other job skills (chuckling).

When clubs began to close and CD’s became less popular because all the stuff was digital, and record labels began to go under and consolidate. It got hard for me to keep doing it the way I was doing it. I mean it got to the point where the record labels were like yeah we’ll put your label out but you’ve got to pay to make it. I began to do that but unfortunately it just put me temporarily out of business.”

“Record labels have figured out how to make money (haha), they just have. To the rest of us a lot of it is just mysterious. I entered the music business knowing absolutely nothing about business. My folks were musicians, there was no business goin’ on in my home. As time went on you gradually learn it and you gradually figure it out. You know young people today are all over business. They understand all the social media and this and that. I’m like a late bloomer. I have the iPhone and the computer and I’ve learned how to do certain things but it wasn’t what I was doing for the majority of the time of my career.”

Debbie has had a career at an incredibly dynamic time. After being goaded by a press agent to get a Facebook page, Debbie has made herself available to all of the modern, mostly digital, trappings of the music business and self-promotion. She shares a profound insight into the differences in her generation and the young people she is in the market with.

“Honestly promoting yourself, having to learn how to promote yourself, from where I’m coming from, from my generation, that was just something that was so ugly. If anybody talked about themselves like that, that was a show-biz no no. You had press to do that, you had press agents, and labels and managers. But the artist, you were supposed to be humble and you never said anything like that. So for me, from that generation, trying to transition into the like (with a silly mock self promoting voice): ‘Hey, look at me, look at what I’m doing. Great, look at this picture of me doing that!’ You know what I mean, it took me a while. I think I’ve transitioned now.”

Debbie moved from Connecticut back to California to care for her mom. Both her mother and sister passed away and Debbie was able to be there for them helping them with their transition. Deeply sad and at a time when she was struggling with the financial and artistic realities of the drastically changed music industry.

“Yeah I went through hard times,” Debbie laments. “People go through that, you know.”

Having just gone through the struggles of supporting her family, Debbie was ready to get back at it. Then COVID hit. For an artist who has made their living pretty methodically using a touring business model, COVID seemed like the end. But, Debbie persevered like always, took some time to recuperate and characteristically was thinking of others.

“I had just kinda gotten a band back together and we had stuff on the calendar and getting going and COVID hit (giggles). So then it was COVID and you know I felt so bad for all of the younger people who were out there trying to pound the pavement full time, their careers just getting going. To me it’s like, okay I’ve done that for 30 years. It’s not like really keeping me from my career. I was like okay. I did a lot more resting and healing from a lot of things.”

Debbie Davies is a model for an artistic life well lived. She continues to be as potent and creative as she was when she got that first electric guitar in her early 20’s. A strong willed force, Debbie elevates her sisters such as Sue Foley and Joanna Connor who also blasted through the male dominated Blues world throughout the 90’s. Debbie is a survivor. We are lucky she is still feeling the Blues, still serving that creative spark in her soul. There is more to come from Debbie Davies, she has a lot more to give us.

“Now I’ve got another band together and we’re working again and doing some cool stuff. I’m still playing and I’m starting to write again which is really cool. I’m feeling really good and rejuvenated (laughing).”

Check out Debbie Davies website for her performances all around California and hopefully soon all over the US: https://www.debbiedavies.com/

Writer Bucky O’Hare is a slide guitarist, songwriter and singer. Based out of South Eastern Massachusetts, Bucky plays Slide Guitar Soul Jazz and Funk Blues inspired by the music of the 60’s and 70’s all around New England.

Little Bobby – That Killer B Sting

Untouchable Productions

https://little-bobby-music.company.site

8 tracks

Little Bobby happens to be a third generation Native American who, like his father and grandfather, is a musician. He’s played around the country and world and has recorded and produced albums like Before the Storm (2005), Life of the Blues (2010), Showbiz (2015) and God Made Me Blue (2022). He’s lent a hand in recording albums for many with others like Good Blues (2011) by Nora Jean Bruso and He Digs Me (2014) by Sunday Wilde.

Little Bobby lives in McIntosh, MN, and owns and operates Little Bobby’s Bar and Grill, one of the top blues joints in northern Minnesota. It is also home to the recording studio where he produced this album.

Little Bobby handles the vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, and bass guitar along with drums, piano, and organ. He’s a busy man and all the main instrumentation was done by him. Sarah Munson adds her vocals on “Mercy.” “Cactus”- handles the rhythm guitar on “Mississippi Kind.” Mike Brouse is on harmonica for “Weed Blues.” Randy Keonen adds some pretty pedal steel on both “Heavens Cottonfield” and “How Long.”

“Keep It Real” is the opener. Gritty, grungy blues rock is the order of the day here. Stinging guitar, a driving midtempo beat, organ pushing the cut along, too. Blues rockers will be in heaven. A slow, blues rock anthem follows entitled “Heavens Cotton Field.” Big, strident guitar, pedal steel and it’s just a dreamy flowing rocker. The title cut follows. The organ gets a little upfront with the guitar as Bobby growls/sings and solos his way through this jumping cut.

Up next is “How Long,” with more dramatic guitar licks in this slow and somber blues rock cut. He gives another big guitar solo for blues rock fans to savor. “Mississippi Kind” is another gritty cut with some more stinging guitar and  pungent vocals. The organ is again a little more upfront in the mix as is the piano and makes for a fun ride. “Bad Girl” is a deep blues rocker with poignant guitar work that carries the cut.

“Mercy” changes things up with Munson fronting the band along with Bobby. The guitar does not slack off as Bobby wails as Sarah delivers a nice duet with Bobby. Did I mention there is another huge guitar solo? “Weed Blues” is a down home cut with pretty harp and some nice sliding acoustic guitar work. Bobby sings about his various cannabis pleasures.

There’s a lot of big and over the top guitar work here that blues rock lovers will truly enjoy.  He shows his chops on the six string guitar (among all the other instruments he plays here) and has produced quite the bad and bold album for us to enjoy.

Reviewer Steve Jones is president of the Crossroads Blues Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In addition to working in his civilian career since 1996, he writes for and publishes the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival and works with their Blues In The Schools program. He resides in Byron, IL.

Selwyn Birchwood – Exorcist

Alligator Records – 2023

www.selwynbirchwood.com

13 Tracks; 58 minutes

Florida native, Selwyn Birchwood, has a reputation for putting his unique spin on the blues, blending funk and jazz sounds into his melodies, (which are frequently more complex than is usually found in the genre).  He is also known for clever and observant lyrics, which often reveal his dry sense of humor.  It appears that he has lived up to all aspects of his reputation with his latest release, Exorcist, which is expertly produced by the highly sought-after Tom Hambridge.  It opens with a catchy, rock-blues track entitled “Done Cryin’”, and the remaining tracks offer an interesting variety of rhythms and tempos.  Birchwood surrounds himself with exceptional musicians, including Regi Oliver on saxophones, Donald “Huff” Wright on Bass guitar, Byron “Bizzy” Garner on drums, and Ed Krout on keyboards.  The beautiful tone of Oliver’s saxophone can best be heard on the gospel-influenced track, “Lazarus”.  Birchwood also has several guest artists perform on two songs, including Jim McKaba on piano and Andrew Gohman, (whose contribution with upright bass is outstanding).  Birchwood strays slightly from his contemporary sound, as they offer an intriguing and slightly retro feel to the track entitled “Call Me What You Want To”.

Birchwood’s most recent observations about life are reflected lyrically on Exorcist, which contains all original songs.  People have sometimes joked that “all the nuts must roll down to Florida,” and Birchwood illustrates that there may be some grain of truth to that overgeneralization by pointing out the bizarre headlines that have involved Floridians. “Florida Man” reminds us of the news stories that left us shaking our heads, noting, “Florida Man gets drunk and shoot guns at hurricanes.  Florida man gets high on bath salts and eats your face.  Florida Man reports a burglary to authorities ‘cause you stole his stash”.  And he asks, “is there something in the water that makes them act that way?”

Even when he tackles a love song, Birchwood’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics can bring a smile. “I love you like the church loves money…like an albino loves the shade”.  Additionally, the audience will likely strongly relate to his lyrics as he pokes fun at the negative self-talk that plague the majority of us in “My Own Worst Enemy”:  “I got a voice inside that only serves to criticize…read myself the riot act…it’s like self-esteem is too much to ask.”   And in “Hopeless Romantic” he laments that he never turns his back on love, but “I can’t seem to see that love has turned its back on me.”  The one serious and uplifting song is an inspiring track entitled “Plenty More to be Grateful For”, which notes, “you might feel stressed…you might feel hopeless—downright depressed…you can’t ignore there’s more to be grateful for.”

These phenomenal lyrics are all delivered by Birchwood’s deep and soulful voice.  And, although he may not have the widest range to his vocal ability, it seems a perfect match for expressing the emotions of these stories.  There is no doubt that fans of unique and imaginative contemporary blues will want to add Exorcist to their collection.

Writer Anita Schlank lives in Virginia, and is on the Board of Directors for the River City Blues Society. She has been a fan of the blues since the 1980s. She and Tab Benoit co-authored the book “Blues Therapy,” with all proceeds from sales going to the HART Fund.

Bai Kamara Jr & The Voodoo Sniffers – Traveling Medicine Man

MIG Music

www.baikamara.com

13 tracks

Bai Kamara is an African bluesman who is working to internalize his life living in both Europe and Africa. He was educated by Protestant missionaries in Sierra Leone and travelled with them tending to the health needs of the people in his country. He recalls his grandfather who he admires as he was able to reconcile his Christian beliefs with African customs and beliefs. His mother was ambassador to Belgium. Kamara grew up in the United Kingdom and also lived in Brussels for two and a half decades.

Kamara’s last album Salone was released three years ago and I enjoyed that, too. This one shows his growth in his musical journey and features his  touring band that he brought into the studio with him. Kamare handles the guitars and bass along with vocals. Tom Beardslee and Julien Tassin are also on electric guitar. Boris Tchango is on drums and percussion. Désiré Somé is also on bass.

“Shake It, Shake It, Shake It” opens the album, a jumping and fun cut with some sly innuendos. Kamara sings with conviction. “Surrounded” blends African musical sounds and features a cool groove. It’s a song of someone mired in the circle of friends that prevents others from coming in and the encircled one from getting out. Some pretty acoustic guitar work is featured in “Good, Good Man.” Kamara sings he’s a good man but he has a bad rep. He has to clear his name before it’s too late. Bai sings with feeling and passion as he picks out some great stuff.

Next is “If You Go” where Kamara tells us if his woman leaves his house will be nothing.  It’s a sad song that amply emotes that feeling. “Miranda Blue” follows, with Kamara looking over his shoulder for a jealous suitor. It’s another cut with a great groove and just a nice flow to the music. The electric guitar here is nicely done. More sweet percussive work is featured in “Money Ain’t Everything.” Kamara bemoans the evils of money in life as he explains to his woman that he’s doing the best he can without it. There’s some pretty guitar picking here, too.

“Enemies” is a well done acoustic cut with layers of equally well done electric guitar. Kamara sings of no longer fearing his enemies as they are no longer awake, a dark theme and a moving cut. “Star Angel” is some deeper electric blues with a Delta feel to them. Well done! “Mister President” offers up more of the African/Caribbean styled rhythms as Kamara tells the story of a president who sold out his nation. The lyrics are not happy but they are countered with a lilting and jumping rhythm that perhaps offers hope.

“I Don’t Roll With Snakes” is a story about the type of people Kamara doesn’t want to associate with. A medium tempo and great groove make this one interesting. Up next is “I’m A Grown Man” where Kamara explains the benefits of his love interests to his woman. It’s bouncy and slick with some interpretive guitar. “It Ain’t Easy” is a slow and dark piece about the tough life in the sub-Sahara. Corruption abounds and he sings to get people to recognize the problems with their leaders. Haunting electric guitar is nice touch here. Kamara concludes with “If I Could Walk on Water.” This piece describes how many who left to escape his country via the sea never have been seen again. It’s a touching cut with nice guitar and percussive work.

I really enjoyed this album, Kamara sings and plays seemingly without effort. He sings of social issues in the land of his birth right and of relationships both gone bad and going strong.  His songs are all originals and are interesting and evocative. The musicianship is fantastic. I Highly recommend this one for blues fans in search of new ways the blues are evolving– you won’t be disappointed.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Steve Jones is president of the Crossroads Blues Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In addition to working in his civilian career since 1996, he writes for and publishes the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival and works with their Blues In The Schools program. He resides in Byron, IL.

Andrew Riverstone – Pushing Against The Flow

Atlantic Highway Records

www.andrewriverstone.com

10 songs time – 39:47

Seasoned British session guitarist-singer-songwriter Andrew Riverstone manages to play everything but the proverbial kitchen sink, save for an additional vocalist on one song. The thrust of his musicianship is mainly his electric guitar, but he also fleshes out the sound quite nicely with keyboards, bass, garden spade(?), drums, percussion and his own backing vocals. If that isn’t enough, he is a good hand at crafting creative songs and producing them. I wouldn’t doubt that he makes nifty cup of tea as well. His credits include working with record producers Gus Dudgeon and John Burns.

The one thing that I thoroughly enjoy is electric guitar playing and tone. It rivetingly shoots through the songs seemingly effortlessly. The title song “Pushing Against The Flow” speaks to his aversion to following musical trends. He chooses to let his own muse lead him. A few Who-like acoustic guitar power chords lead right into his burning guitar licks propping up his forceful lyrics. A ringing guitar riff heralds the arrival of “White Flag Burning”, a song full of earnest lyrical content.

“He’s The Richest Man” bares a similarity to Simon And Garfunkel’s “Richard Cory”. “The richest man in the graveyard”. He does one of his influences Peter Green proud with his majestic electric guitar intro on “Into The Storm(Beaches Of Pentewan)”, a saga of the sinking of the ship The Darlwyne in 1966. Sprightly electric slide guitar carries the groove in “Back In The Cool House”, another term for “The Doghouse”. “Here Comes The Shakerman” is a tribute to music superfan Jesus Jellet, who famously appeared in “The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus” performing his hypnotic maraca dance, as well as supposedly jamming with Jimi Hendrix and The Who. Claire Lucas contributes additional vocals. Of course, there is plenty of maracas on this one.

Andrew pays tribute to one of his favorite sites in North Devon and Peter Green in the haunting instrumental “Ancient Valley Of The Rocks”. The gist of “Dust Left Behind” is “Eat my dust”. Seminal bassist Busta Jones lays down a beautifully heavy bass line from an archival jam audio against rumbling percussion on “Out On The Money Go Round”. “No more working, working for the man”. Scurrying guitar lines bounce all around “Shades Of Blue(Highwire)”.

Wow! The man just does it well and so spectacularly. His guitar steals the show and although his drumming and percussion work isn’t virtuosic, it surely gets the job done. Considering all the overdubbing required with such an undertaking, the sound is seamless and not stiff at all. This record is great and I really can’t get enough of his guitar tone.

Reviewer Greg “Bluesdog” Szalony hails from the New Jersey Delta.

Backtrack Blues Band – A Day By The Bay

Gulf Coast Records

www.backtrackbluesband.com

9 tracks/56 minutes

Recorded live at the Tampa Bay Blues Festival, the album features Tampa Bay area locals The Back Track Blues Band, a band with 42 years time together. Sonny Charles is lead vocalist and harmonica player. Kid Royal plays guitar and sings on three cuts. Little John Walter handles rhythm guitar and some backing vocals. The backline is Joe Bencomo on drums and Stick Davis on bass. The B3 organ player is Wayne Sharp. Latonya Oliver and Dana Merriweather offer up backing vocals, too. All the songs were penned by Charles except two; Royal wrote the seventh track and there is one cover tune.

“Best Friend’s Grave” opens the album. Royal offers some cool licks on his guitar and Charles blows some nice harp and both offer some good solo work. The next cut is ”Make My Home In Florida” and it’s the farthest thing from blues;  not musically, but singing about how good it is in Florida just ain’t the blues, that’s just bragging! Seriously though, it’s a cool slow blues with more killer harp and guitar. “Help Me Just This Time” is a mid tempo shuffle with more of the same harp and guitar licks.

“Dixie Grill” continues with slick guitar and harp. The organ is more forward in the mix and adds to the sound. The lone cover on the album is Jimmy Reed’s “Natural Born Lover” with Royal fronting the group for a change of pace. We get more harp and guitar to appreciate and here we get our first organ solo, too! “Rich Man Blues” continues to offer well done harp and guitar.

“She Might Get Mad” is Royals song and he front’s the group for it. The harp and guitar get their turns soloing this jumping cut. “Times Is Hard” follows, a slow and thoughtful blues with some nice finger picking on guitar. Royal sings and plays, and the harp and organ gets some time leading the charge. Pretty, slow blues. The final track is ‘You’ll Come Back Someday,” another cool shuffle with harp, organ and guitar taking turns excelling.

These guys are a solid group of  Sarasota musicians who can play with the best of them. They write some good original cuts and put out some great tunes!

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Steve Jones is president of the Crossroads Blues Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In addition to working in his civilian career since 1996, he writes for and publishes the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival and works with their Blues In The Schools program. He resides in Byron, IL.