Cover photo © 2023 Laura Carbone

 In This Issue 

Marty Gunther has our feature interview with drummer, song writer and producer Tom Hambridge. We have ten Blues reviews for you this week including a book about the House Of Blues Record Label plus new music from Jimmie Bratcher, Gaye Adegbalola, Nigel Mack, David Deacon, JW-Jones, Tracy Nelson, Tony Holiday, Ally Venable and Big Bill Broonzy. Scroll down and check it out!

The foremost producer in the blues world today, Tom Hambridge possesses a magic touch. Not only have his releases produced six Grammys in the past 12 years – three for Buddy Guy and one each for James Cotton, Keb’ Mo’ and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, but he’s also had a major hand in many of the songs they contain.

As great as those accomplishments are, however, Tom still looks in the mirror and sees himself as a drummer. And for good reason. When Mick Jagger brought the blues to the White House during the Obama administration, Hambridge was on the skins. A two-time Blues Music Association percussionist of the year and seven-time nominee, he also fronts his own band, the Rattlesnakes, from the drum stand when not keeping time for Buddy on tour, too.

He was doing just that a few weeks ago when Blues Blast caught up with him in Syracuse, N.Y., where  — immediately after our chat — he was headed for the Chevy Court stage at the New York State Fair for a soundcheck on the 86-year-old legend’s Damn Right Farewell Tour.

A warm, down-to-earth and soft-spoken presence, Hambridge came into the world on Dec. 20, 1960, in Buffalo, N.Y. “My mom played a little piano, and my older brother played a little guitar,” he says, “but it wasn’t anything like they did it for a living. But there was always music in my house. My older sisters, my brother and parents all had records. And they were playin’ all the time. So my ear got used to hearin’ a lot of stuff.”

For Tom, beating out a rhythm became an instant passion as a toddler, when he started out banging on pots and pans in the kitchen. It didn’t take long, he says, before my parents started saying: ‘Look! He’s pretending he’s drumming!’

“At one point, they got me a toy drum set. And, evidently, I kinda burned through that pretty quick. I broke it, and they said: ‘We need to get him a real drum set.’ Thank God they did! I think I was around five, and it was Christmas. They bought one from a neighbor.”

It proved to be a major cut above the kit most parents would gift a youngster. Manufactured by Kent, a small Upstate New York label founded by former Gretsch employee Bill Kent and his brother Ed, the drum and tom shells were constructed of durable, two-ply maple while the bass drum was six-ply to support the weight.

“I still have that set today,” Hambridge says. It’s something a treasure because he credits using it to play along with records back with his ability to keep time so naturally today – something that, in his case, is as easy as breathing.

“I don’t practice,” he confesses, “and I don’t warm up. Sometimes, other drummers will say: ‘Why don’t you do that (chuckles)?’ But I don’t – and I’m not proud of it…not at all…’cause I love watchin’ drummers that practice, go over rudiments and workout.

“I have drummer friends who practice eight hours a day. But I’m performing every night or playin’ on a record. When I sit on the drums, I feel comfortable and do what I do. It’s like riding a bike or something. It’s wonderful that I’ve won the BMAs, but I don’t think about it very much.

“It’s kinda a tool that I carry in my toolbox.”

A master craftsman at everything he attempts musically, Hambridge credits his father for putting him on the path he walks today, showing him by example how important it is to be a hard worker who sees a job through to the end while always remaining humble and treating people right throughout whatever success might come.

Tom was still in the third grade the first time he played in public, joining forces with his older brother to entertain at a bar mitzvah. “I killed two birds with one stone there,” he jokes, “because I didn’t know what a bar mitzvah (a Jewish coming-of-age celebration) was and I’d never done a gig before.

“My brother was five years older than me, played guitar and started a band. And, for a couple of years, I was his drummer. Back then, I always played with older people. My sisters would tell their friends: ‘If you ever need a drummer, my brother plays.’ They might have gone: ‘Well, he can’t be that good’ or whatever. But they’d try me out and I’d be in the band.”

By the time, Hambridge reached his teens, he’d already acquired an interest  music in everything from jazz to bebob, country to soul and rock to pop thanks to the tunes spinning on the family turntable. While attending Amherst Central High School, he played in several garage bands along with the school’s jazz ensemble and orchestra. And his skill set jumped by leaps and bounds at jam sessions at the Bona Vista, a once-beloved nightspot in downtown Buffalo that faded into history after he’d attained adulthood in the ‘80s.

“Some of the guys from Spyro Gyra would sit in,” he remembers. “We’d play some jazz, some blues. I think that was very helpful because – even then — I wasn’t thinking in ‘genre’ terms. If they played a Latin groove…a bosa nova, I had to play it, too. If it was a swing thing, I had to play swing.

“We could be playing ‘Georgia on My Mind’ and then go into ‘Sweet Home Chicago.’ I had to find a way to play it and make it feel good. It opened me up…I wasn’t thinking ‘oh, this is blues…, this is…whatever.’ But I was listening to it, too. My sisters were listening to the Beatles, but my brother was listening to Muddy Waters, John Mayall, Eric Clapton and the Allman Brothers, too.”

After graduation in 1979, Hambridge earned a scholarship to Boston’s Berklee College of Music – like Julliard in New York City, a leader in the field with alumni that include Gary Burton, Paula Cole, Vanessa Collier, Al Di Meola, Anthony Geraci, Wyclef Jean, Quincy Jones, Branford Marsalis, John Mayer, Steve Vai and a host of others.

“Berklee was great, and it was great to be in Boston,” Hambridge remembers. “There was so much happening musically…there was a club scene — and I started gigging the minute I got there. I immediately started searching want ads for bands looking for a drummer…hopefully…that I could play with and make some money.

“I’d be taking my kit out of my drum locker and my classmates would be goin’: ‘Hey, you’re goin’ the wrong way! The practice rooms are over there.’ And I’d be goin’: ‘No, I’m gonna take ‘em out to Mass(achusetts) Avenue and put ‘em in a cab.’ ‘Where you goin’?’ ‘I’m playin’ a gig tonight at some bar.’

“They couldn’t understand it. They’d come to Berklee to learn how to do that and then go into the world, and I’d been gigging for what seemed like my whole life.”

Long before he graduated four years later, Tom had established himself as a first-call player, working with local promoters in assembling backup bands for major touring artists and laying down rhythm for Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Percy Sledge, Gary Puckett, Little Anthony, Martha & the Vandellas, Sha Na Na and others.

“It was unbelievable! It was such a training ground,” he says. “It was a gas, and a lot of ‘em became my friends. Today, I’ll get a call from Martha Reeves…and Billy J. Kramer of (the Liverpool band) The Dakotas called me this morning!”.

Tom stayed in Beantown following graduation and founded his own group, T.H. and the Wreckage, winning several prestigious Boston Music Awards and recording a series of CDs in the process, most notably Born to Rock, which took home album-of-the-year honors in 1988. During that same period, he also spent three years as lead singer/percussionist in guitar god Roy Buchanan’s road band, not meeting the headliner after winning an audition until a few minutes prior to their first gig.

With the Wreckage in his rear-view mirror, Hambridge recorded the album Still Running under his own name in 1996 and has released six more CDs since. But it’s amazing that he’s done so considering how in-demand he’s become as a record producer – something that came about totally by chance – and came to fruition without any training.

“That wasn’t something I set out to do,” he admits. “T.H. & the Wreckage were pretty successful around New England. But the thing you had to do back then – and kinda have to do now – is to put out a single to get local airplay and help draw people into the clubs.

“We put out four or five albums. When we went into the studio, I kinda became the producer because I was running the band. We didn’t have a budget, so I said I’d schedule the sessions, mixed it and told people what to play. I was writing all the songs and having to stay to sing ‘em. We ended up having five local No. 1 songs on WBCN-FM, the big rock station in Boston.

“The music was being played on other radio stations in New England, and other bands would come to me and say: ‘I love the sound of “Judgement Day,”’ which was a big hit. ‘I love the sound of that. Who wrote that?’ And I said: ‘I wrote it with the guitar player.’ ‘Who produced it?’ ‘I did.’ So then they’d ask me: ‘So, can you do that for our band?’ I said: ‘Well, sure. I can try.’

“My training really was just my ears – listening and just creating stuff that I thought was one-tenth as good as a Beatles’ record (chuckles). I would aspire to that.”

Before he knew what was happening, Hambridge says, “I kinda became ‘producer guy.’ I didn’t set out to do it, but found that I could do it and enjoyed doin’ it, too.”

His big break came when Susan Tedeschi, a Boston native, recorded her debut album, Just Won’t Burn, with Tom at the controls. Released on the Tone-Cool imprint, it exploded to the top of the charts, becoming the best-selling blues CD of the year, achieving platinum-record status with sales exceeding one million copies – a feat almost unheard of in the blues world.

As Tom notes today, back then, Tower Records operated listening booths that allowed potential buyers to screen music before buying it, and if you didn’t grab the listener in the first 30 seconds, you’d lose the sale because the customer would move on to something else. With that in mind, he wanted to open the disc with his original, “Rock Me Right.”

“The first thing you heard is Susan’s voice: ‘You say you haven’t been rocked in a long, long time,’” he says. “They needed to see her picture and immediately hear that voice – and it had to be aggressive – like she was in the middle of a song.

“I wanted to start it on fire. And then within five seconds, her guitar came in…just her guitar and her vocal. And then another five seconds later, the band came in like a powerhouse.”

When Tom suggested the idea, he says he met with initial resistance from the label owner. To his ear, he feared his blues audience would be offended because of the title’s obvious connection to rock-‘n’-roll. But his attitude change after Hambridge pointed out that B.B. King had recorded “Rock Me Baby,” one of the biggest blues tunes ever.

The song became such a success, Tom remembers, “that radio deejays told me that people literally were stopping their cars after hearing it on the air and phoning the station to ask: ‘Who is that – and how can I get it?’”

Not only did the tune launch Tedeschi’s career, it also put Tom’s in orbit, too.

Johnny Winter heard it and loved it, discovered that Hambridge had written and produced it and then reached out with an invitation to contribute to I’m a Bluesman, his next release for Virgin Records. Tom contributed two songs – “Cheatin’ Blues” and “Lone Wolf” — to the disc and played on three of the 13 tracks, and the disc went on to earn a 2005 Grammy nomination for contemporary blues album of the year. Hambridge played drums on both of his originals and a cover of the Michael Burks hit “I Smell Smoke,” too.

In earlier years, bands usually approached Tom with an album’s worth of finished songs in hand, wanting him solely to work his magic in the recording studio. With his growing success, however, things began to change. Artists and labels were now seeking him out in hopes he’d work the same voodoo for them, too.

The requests trickled in slowly in the beginning but quickly became a torrent. Before Hambridge realized what was happening, he admits, he suddenly had “a new thing. A lot of people came to me and asked: ‘We want you to produce, but can you write the songs, too?’

“Fast forward, years down the road, it’s big record companies and big artists calling. Now, it’s became a niche thing for me. On 90 per cent of the records I do, I either co-write with the artist or write songs for them that I think can make a successful album.”

Because of the growing demand for his work, Hambridge relocated from Boston to Nashville in 1998 and immediately fell into the right circles as a songwriter. Thinking he was still in New England, Sha Na Na founding member John “Jocko” Marcellino called wanting to fly him out and back his band in Las Vegas. Instead, he ended up introducing him to MCA Records executive Chip Young, a legendary session guitarist and producer who was working in the publishing department.

Young scheduled a meet-up, telling Tom to bring some tunes with him. Instead, Hambridge handed him one of his solo CDs. Young played it in its entirety, immediately asking: “Okay, how much do you want?”

“I said: ‘For what?’” Hambridge recalls.

“’A publishing deal.’”

In the end, Hambridge made the smart decision. He held on to all of his publishing rights, but his charts were quickly making their way into boardrooms all across Music City. Now an ASCAP Award winner for his work in country music with other honors in blues, rock and more, he’s written so many hits that Buddy Guy and others in the blues world lovingly refer to him as “the white Willie Dixon.”

It’s the highest of praise, considering that Dixon – a giant of a man who stood six-foot-six — was so productive during the golden era of Chess Records that a photo of him with a computer printout of his royalty report appeared in an early pressing of Living Blues magazine. The document was so long that it It wrapped around his neck three times all the way from the floor and back again before disappearing out of camera range.

Among the folks who’ve recorded his 600 or so tunes are Rascal Flatts, Hank Williams Jr., Billy Ray Cyrus, ZZ Top, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Foghat, Steve Cropper, Meat Loaf and a host of blues artists, including Bernard Allison, Ana Popovic, James Cotton, Delbert McClinton, Jimmy Thackery, Shemekia Copeland, Marcia Ball, Joe Bonamassa, Guitar Shorty, Michael Burks, Joe Louis Walker, Quinn Sullivan and many, many more.

More often than not, the songwriting process is a team effort that begins when Hambridge and the artist simply hang out and chat. Sometimes – as in the case of six-time BMA nominee Frank Bey’s autobiographical All My Dues Are Paid, they’re based on discussions about the artist’s life story. Others – like Bonamassa’s “Just ‘Cos You Can Don’t Mean You Should” – come from casual conversations…in this case, a wry comment that Joe made about a TV show he was watching.

After hearing the phrase, Tom says, everything — the opening lyric, verses and arrangement — was already taking shape in his head. It’s a blessing, he says, that he actually is able to  write a new tune in the morning shortly after getting out of bed – something he tries to do on a daily basis, providing that life doesn’t get in the way.

“I say to people…whether it’s Tommy Castro or Casey James or Buddy…’if we just get in a room and start talking, I’ll start writing songs that say something – and mean something to you,’” he says proudly.

“When I was sitting with Kingfish, I asked: ‘662, that’s your area code, right? Tell me about the ground…tell me about the smell…tell me about the weather.’ I’m already cultivating a song in my head. And then I go: ‘Okay…I got an idea…it’s called “662.” People get high down there? Alright. That’s a line in the song. People go to church? We’re gonna put it in the song, too.’

“It becomes personal. And they when I hear it on the radio or see him performing, it’s full circle…it’s wonderful!”

No matter the medium or artist, “if I decide to do it, I’m all in,” Hambridge insists. “I want to make the best record the artist will ever have. If they go on to have someone else produce their next one, I still want mine to be the one that folks are talking about. But I’m honored when they call me back and want to do another one.”

That’s exactly what happened with Buddy.

Tom struck up a friendship with him shortly after Hambridge signed his first recording contract and served as the opening act on a Guy tour. Buddy listened to his act one night then sent word he’d like to speak with him in his dressing room. The discussion quickly turned to Hambridge’s setlist, which included tunes Guy identified as belonging to Tedeschi and Thorogood. He expressed surprise when Tom informed  him he’d composed them.

Eight months later, Hambridge got a call from one of Buddy’s representatives, telling him that the master wanted to work with him on his next CD. The end result was 2010’s Grammy-winning Living Proof, which returned Guy to the rock-solid foundation he’d laid for himself at the start of his career in the ‘50s. He was still playing the fiery guitar runs that captivated an entire generation of fret masters in the ‘60s, but also revisited the stinging whole notes upon which he built his early success.

Using the same method described above, Tom penned all 12 of the songs in the set in partnership with Guy, Gary Nicholson and Richard Fleming, all of which were chockful of highly autobiographical material borne in intimate conversations with the master.

Looking back, Buddy made it easy, Tom says because – then and now – he’s so open to suggestion that it’s easy to find common ground.

Almost all of Hambridge’s productions go the way he’s planned. But that’s not always the case. The Steve Cropper-Felix Cavaliere Stax release, Midnight Flyer, is one exception.

“I was such a big Rascals fan and such a big Steve Cropper/Sam & Dave/Otis Redding fan,” he says. “I was thinkin’ like…‘let’s write “Groovin,’” let’s write “C’mon Up” and “I’m a Soul Man!”’ (laughs) “But they’d already done all that stuff.

“We started writing that one in the studio. Felix had this drum machine and was playing these funky loops. They wanted to make some gospel and some pop-flavored stuff.”

Sure, it had a somewhat retro-soul feel, but it went in a completely different direction, and Tom loved the final product, understanding that “they were tryin’ to find a thing together!”

That said, Hambridge truly has a special touch in the studio. Out of the 100 or so CDs he’s produced, 13 have received Grammy consideration. One particular favorite is Cotton Mouth Man, James’ Cotton’s final album, which was recorded after the harmonica giant had lost his voice to throat cancer. Tom called out the big guns — Gregg Allman, Ruthie Foster, Bonamassa and Keb’ Mo’ — to handle vocals on all tracks but “Bonnie Blue,” a number that Mr. Super Harp delivered in a hoarse whisper as he paid tribute to the plantation on which he was raised.

Although Tom’s own albums haven’t received as much notoriety as his work for others, they’re just as special. His most recent effort, 2018’s The NOLA Sessions, was recorded in a five-day span in New Orleans and mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London and released in 2018. It features contributions from Gulf Coast giants Sonny Landreth, Ivan Neville and Allen Toussaint, whose keyboards and vocals on the opening track, “Blues Been Mighty Good to Me,” were his final session.

In a world dominated by his other works – including Tommy Castro’s When a Bluesman Came to Town, Keb’s Good to Be…, Kingfish’s 662 and Buddy’s The Blues Don’t Lie and The Blues Is Alive and Well and other discs currently soaring in the stratosphere – including Ally Venable’s Real Gone and Selwyn Birchwood’s Exorcist, it’s easy to understand how they can be lost in the shuffle.

But he’s definitely worth a listen. And despite currently working on a new Kingfish CD and another with Albert Cummings, he’s got a special serving of his own music on the horizon.

“I just signed a deal with Quarto Valley Records,” he says with a sparkle in his voice, “and I made an album – tentatively titled Blu Ja Vu — that should be coming out by the end of the year,”

“For years, I’ve had all these guys I’ve been opening for – Buddy, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top – sayin’: ‘I loved your last record. When are you gonna make another one? I’ll play on it if you want me to.’

“I’ve finally called in a couple of those favors. One song that’ll be on it is the new single that’s playing on Spotify and other outlets now – ‘Blues Don’t Care’ – a duet with Kingfish. There’s another track on it with Buddy, one with Joe Bonamassa — and even one I recorded with James Cotton before he passed away. It’s his last recording.”

It’s no exaggeration that Hambridge – a huge Beatles fan — has worked with just about everybody through the years. Ask him, though, and there’s still one person on his bucket list to record: Paul McCartney. “But I’ve worked with all my heroes,” he says, “and I pinch myself about it. If it all ended today, I’d be okay!”

Hopefully, that day is a lo-o-ong time coming. In the meantime, Tom says, “find me on Spotify, Apple or wherever. All the music I wrote for ZZ Top, Rascal Flatts and Buddy on there, but you can also find Tom Hambridge’s stuff, too. If you enjoy Kingfish, you might enjoy me!”

Check out what Tom’s been up to and what he’s up to next by visiting his website: www.tomhambridge.com. And while you’re at it, give him a shout-out on social media, too!

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life. Now based out of Mason, Ohio, his first experience with live music came at the feet of the first generation of blues legends at the Newport Folk Festivals in the 1960s. A former member of the Chicago blues community, he’s a professional journalist and blues harmonica player who co-founded the Nucklebusters, one of the hardest working bands in South Florida.

Jimmie Bratcher – Far Enough

Self-release

www.jimmiebratcher.com

11 songs – 54 minutes

The close if sometimes complex relationship between the blues and the Church is well-documented, from the likes of Rev Gary Davis (ordained as a Baptist minister in Washington, North Carolina in 1933), Blind Willie Johnson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, to modern masters such as The Blind Boys of Alabama and Mavis Staples. J. B. Lenoir and Elmore James were itinerant preachers when they were not singing or playing the blues and T-Bone Walker first heard heard boogie-woogie piano in the Holy Ghost Church of Dallas.

Kansas City blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, Jimmie Bratcher, put his guitar to one side when he was first called to the ministry, only picking it up again 20 years later in the late 1990s. Since then, he has released a dozen albums and two live DVDs. Far Enough is his 13th album, and it’s highly enjoyable collection of 11 self-written compositions, many sitting in the same blues-rock vein that early Eric Clapton (one of Bratcher’s primary influences) occupied in the late 1960s. Bratcher isn’t afraid to stretch the envelope however, employing a variety of unusual (for blues music) instruments to add color and texture to the songs, as well as turning his hand to swinging uptown blues on “Don’t Count Me Out.”

The core band on Far Enough features Bratcher on guitars and vocals; Eric Stark on keyboards, lap steel, and Irish penny whistle; Craig Kew on bass; Brandon Draper on drums and percussion and Aaron Mayfield on organ. Charity Von Mozafari and Charmelle Cofield added backing vocals, Micah Burdick contributed acoustic guitar to two songs, Judah Earl added strings to “When He Dreams” and Rod Lincoln guested on drums on five songs. A horn section of Bob Harvey, Steve Molloy, Mark Cohick and Brett Jackson also pop up, shining particularly on “Memphis Slim”, an upbeat, loving tribute to the much-missed singer/pianist.

The well-written songs (all composed either by Stark or by Stark/Bratcher) hark back to the heyday of early blues-rock, with “My Name Is Sinner” even recalling early Deep Purple. Clapton’s influence can be detected in a number of places, such as the Cream-like pop bridge of “Living Here In Babylon”.  The piano-driven “Chains” builds into a classic power ballad, while the humorous “Why Is It Don’t We Dance Anymore” is a toe-tapping rock’n’roll track that is powered by some punchy horn licks. The primarily acoustic “When He Dreams (The Cowboy Song)” even has hints of “The Streets Of London”. “Don’t Bring That Evil Around Here” features haunting slide guitar.

Lyrically, Bratcher wears his faith on his sleeve, through a series of parables and narratives, never force-feeding the listener, but inviting them to draw their own conclusions.

Bratcher is a fine singer and guitarist (particularly on the album closer, “Save Me, From Myself”) and Stark’s keyboard contributions suit the songs perfectly.

The album was produced by Bratcher and Stark, engineered by Matt Russo and recorded at Covenant Studios in Kansas City, with mastering by Larry Gann at Awestruck Studios in Kansas City.

Far Enough is an impressive release from Jimmie Bratcher. Definitely worth investigating if you like some classic blues-rock.

Reviewer Rhys “Lightnin'” Williams plays guitar in a blues band based in Cambridge, England. He also has a day gig as a lawyer.

Gaye Adegbalola – Satisfied – An Anthology

Vizztone Label Group

https://adegbalola.com

20 Tracks – 77 minutes

Fredericksburg, Virginia native Gaye Adegbalola, born Gaye Todd, has a long history. She graduated from Boston College with a biology major. She initially worked as a biochemical researcher for Rockefeller University and then later as a bacteriologist at a Harlem hospital. She helped organize the Harlem Committee on self-defense and then returned to Frederciksburg to teach science in schools for gifted children. Her father, Clarence Todd, was a jazz musician and her mother, Gladys, was a social activist.

In 1984, she joined with Ann Rabson and Earlene Lewis, to form Saffire—The Uppity Blues Women.  Andra Faye later replaced Earlene.  The group released their first album, “Middle Age Blues” in 1987. as an independent release. In 1990, they became an Alligator Records artist and never looked back. The group broke up in 2009, but Gaye had started a solo career in 1999 with the release of her first album Bitter Sweet Blues and has continued performing and recording to present day.

All songs on the album are written by Gaye except for one cover.  She also is a multi-instrumentalist playing acoustic guitar, acoustic slide guitar, and harmonica on the various tracks and is the sole lead vocalist throughout the album.  Roddy Barnes plays piano on all of the tracks and Jeff Covert plays all electric guitars, bass, drums, banjo and co-produced this album with Gaye.

The album is an anthology of 20 songs from previous albums and individual song releases, including two from that first album.  The album opens with “Big Ovaries, Baby”, which comes from that 1999 album. She declares “she speaks her mind” and her “Big Ovaries” are basically equivalent to “balls of steel”.  “Let Go, Let God”, the second song, “from that album is the 19th track on the CD.  Both are noted as being re-recorded for this anthology.

The second song on this anthology is a new song recorded specifically for this release. “Look at the Forehead, Maury”, a social story pleading to her former lover to recognize her son. Two songs come from her 2004 album Neo-Classic Blues. The first of those two songs is “The Dirty Dozens” featuring Barnes honky-tonk blues piano as she declares her man is a liar and cheater. On the second, she goes out with her women friends because “sure aren’t no men” “…but no one has caught me” and proclaims no one can “Prove it On Me Blues”.

Three songs come from her 2008 album, Gaye Without Shame. On the first “Tippin’ on the Down Low” she declares her man better come clean “your cover is about to be blown”. The sole cover is The Everly Brother’s hit song “Let It Be Me” with Cleome Bova performing a duet with her..  The final song from this album is “Hetero Twinges” which gets to rocking with Bob Margolin playing the guitar and bass while  Gaye expresses a love for a man who “is so sexy, he is built up from the ground.” She “knew it would never work out, but he is just so fine.”

Her 2018 album The Griot is described as topical songs for topical times. Five songs come from this album. The first “3 Hour Shoes (Stylin’ for the Lord)” is a story of her Sunday dress which includes shoes killing her feet after three hours – “her soul was impressed, but her soles were from the devil”. “Tea Cake Kind of Love” features her acoustic slide guitar as she declares Tea Cake is her lover and needs “some tea cake lovin’ to satisfy my mind”. On the “Jelly Bean Blues” she wonders and cries “where has my Jelly Bean gone away?” On “Nothing’s Changed”, she looks at the racism that is still prevalent in our society and looks back to Emmett Till, and then to today with hate crimes increasing. On “Ain’t Technology Grand” she expresses excitement over her use of her phone and all she can accomplish from her hand.

IN 2006, she experimented with synthesizer technology on “These Blues Are Mine”. Juno Todd plays the synthesizer on the track. Her blues remain true even mixed with the more modern sound.

2019’s Blues in All Flavors was written as a rocking blues album for children. “The Cleanest Kid” urges that dirty kid to scrub high and low. On “Blues for the Greens (The Broccoli Song)” she expresses love for all greens, but “Broccoli is number one”.

In 2012, she released “The Dog Was Here First”, a song that was nominated for a Blues Music Award and sung with the four-person background group The Wild Rutz. As indicated by the title, she protests that his dog takes precedent over her, and she does not like it as the dog “now has his nose up in my business”.

One song comes from 2021’s Freedom Song Trilogy Volume 1, and two from 2023’s Volume 2.  “Keep The Faith” comes from the first album and starts the first of three songs with a spiritual feel.  “Winona” is noted as written for Fannie Lou Hamer, the 1960’s social activist who ran for Congress as a member of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. It is the first song from the second album. Gaye pulls out the harmonica for this one. She concludes the album with “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and offers a prologue explaining how the song has become the “Negro National Album”. She performs it as a solo artist backing herself on acoustic guitar.

She states in her liner notes ”In the course of my blues journey, I’ve tried to spread the joy, the liberation and the healing power of the blues to various artists.” A well stated mission statement and well accomplished.

Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter.

Nigel Mack – Back In Style

Blues Attack Records

http://www.nigelmack.com

12 Tracks – 47 minutes

Canadian Nigel “Mack” Mackenzie unloads a powerful fourth album of all original contemporary blues. His previous three albums received critical acclaim and his 2012 album Devil’s Secrets was the number one blues album in Canada that year and was the number one album on Galaxy Radio (Canada’s equivalent of Sirius/XM). Nigel is a native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and subsequently moved to Vancouver in 1988. In 2003, he moved to Chicago where he has become a regular in the blues clubs, has appeared six times at the Chicago Blues Festival, and tours regularly throughout the US.

Nigel is the sole vocalist and plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, harmonica, does foot stomps and developed all the horn arrangements for the album. He enlisted a huge array of musicians to assist in his recording featuring eight different keyboard players, six drummers and multiple other instrumentalists.

He opens the album with the rousing “Traveling Heavy” with his harmonica and Daryl Coults’ B3 and piano driving the way. He then pulls out the slide guitar for another tale of “Highway 69”, a well-covered section of roadway pivotal to the Crossroads. He declares he is going to have some fun, pick up a jug of wine and find him a shady spot along the road with his lady. The slide guitar again dominates “Damn You Mr. Bluesman” who “made me fall in love again”. Daryl Coults adds some B3 runs in the song.

He moves to Las Vegas for a love story between a singer in a band for a three week stand and a chorus line dancer who is too enticed by the dice in “Cold Comfort”.  Nigel’s guitar rings out and keyboard great Marty Sammons who passed away last year plays the B3 and piano on the song, which is reportedly Marty’s last song recorded before his passing. Contrary to the title “Graveyard Gate”, the song is another love story gone wrong as he is on the road, and she is out running around. Hee wants to get back together with her before they enter the graveyard gate. Nigel wails on the harmonica while Victor Garcia’s trumpet and Lise Gilly’s sax add to the tune before an actual squeaking gate ends the song.

Nigel’s harmonica and guitar both share the spotlight on “Back in Style” as he says, “I will be a lover man to my dying day.” and loves “the girls shaking to the music and the guys looking”. “Redemption” is an instrumental ballad featuring his guitar with a slow, slightly country feel to it.  He immediately jumps to the horn driven “A Place to Call Home” with his slide guitar again dominant. Nigel then goes solo playing a 1929 acoustic National steel guitar on “Blues Enough for You”, lamenting the times “…on the road paying dues” and “…drinking all the liquor they can serve”.

He turns up the heat as he states that “Shangri-La Girl” “really rocks my world when the moon is high in the southern sky” and notes “that she really caught my eye playing her saxophone”. Lise Gilly on sax and Neal O’Hara on piano drives the sound.  Next he says the woman is “smoking hot wearing that tight red sweater” while eating “Jalapeno Peppers”.  Nigel’s slide guitar gives the song a swampy feel. On the last song he notes “It is 2:00 in the morning and I am just getting my second wind”. “She is moving on over and hot in her high heel shoes” and states he is “Just One Man”.  But “In the morning the party is all over”.

Nigel aptly proves he is a master of all of his instruments. His voice is constantly engaging, and he certainly pulled together some excellent musicians on this fun, friendly album with an easily identifiable theme of chasing women.

Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter.

David Deacon – Four

Slammin’ Media, 2023

www.ddeacon.com

10 Tracks; 46 minutes

Music was not the first career choice for Canadian Blues-Rocker, David Deacon.  His first profession was as an artist, and he had such a successful exhibit of his paintings that he left college without finishing his degree to go to Paris.  However, the difficulty in making a living as an artist pointed him in other directions.  He also had a career racing motorcycles and sports cars; however, a motorcycle crash led to a lengthy period of recovery and left him with a steel plate in his head and many broken bones.  Poetry became his next primary focus, which led to songwriting.  Influenced by many varied artists, including Dire Straits, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen, he initiated a unique sounding musical career, originally only selling CDs at his shows.  Deacon’s latest release, Four, showcases his songwriting talent, and the lyrics for all ten tracks are written by Deacon, with music by Andy Ryan for nine of the ten, and David Shaw for the opening track.

The album opens with “No Never Mind”, a song that has a rolling, carefree-feeling rhythm to it, but with lyrics that portray just the opposite emotion.  “Now you write me a letter.  Trying to make you feel better.  But your words will not suffice.  Cause you took away my nights.  With cold fights, hard lights and highly individual uptights.  I got the no never mind.”  The storytelling ballads continue throughout the album, with some profound poetry about death in “Arc of Life”.  “Do we need forgiveness?  Do we need applause?  Do we need some faint hope life had a greater cause.  It’s the arc of life…for all of us who at the end walk softy to our sleep.  There’s a forgetful sound….it’s the arc of life, leaving something after all.”  Not all of the tracks are heavy; however, and “Rising Up Again” expresses hope.  “I think we travel in circles in life.  Maybe each time getting a little higher.  Understanding something ain’t right….rising up again.”  While the focus is always on Deacon’s poetic lyrics, he does also feature an excellent guitarist, Andy Ryan, although this contribution is, for some reason, not credited on the album.  Ryan’s guitar skills can best be heard on the song “Jane”.

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.

JW-Jones – Everything Now

Solid Blues Records

www.jw-jones.com

11 Tracks – 40 minutes

Canadian blues artist JW-Jones was born in Ottawa in 1981. In 1999, he won the Ottawa Blues Guitar Riff-off, which led to the release of his first album, Defibriallatin in 2000. Over the years he has performed or recorded with numerous blues luminaries including Hubert Sumlin, Charlie Baty, Buddy Guy, Kim Wilson who produced his third album in 2004 and fellow Canadian Colin James among many others. In 2017, his album High Temperature won the Best Self-Produced CD award at the International Blues Challenge and in 2020 he won the Best Guitarist award.

Everything Now consists of all original songs written or co-written by Jones. Jones plays guitar and plays drums on the second track. Producer Gordie “Big Sugar” Johnson plays the keyboards, bass, drums, rhythm guitar, lead guitar on track 11, and does harmony vocals, Co-producer Eric Eggleston also adds rhythm guitar and percussion and some harmony vocals. Numerous guest performers join in on various songs.

The title track opens the album in rousing fashion with a slightly popish song about seeking a true love.  Stanton Moore, drummer for New Orleans band Galactica, guests on the song.  “Keeping Me Up” finds JW with suspicions when “I hear you talking in your sleep” “You are keeping me up”, another popish rock song. He continues to rock out and notes that “Mama’s off the rails again and “Papa’s in the Pen” in a tale of a kid who grew up with dysfunctional parents.

Jimmie Vaughan and JW’s guitar plays off of each other on “Take Your Time” in the first true rock-blues song on the album. In the confessional “To Tell You The Truth (I  Lied”, Jesse O’Brien, who played with Ronnie Hawkins and Richard “King Biscuit Boy” Newell guests on keyboards as JW admits ” I am a blue-collar guy, but my exaggerations are justified” because “I am tongue tied around you”. Next he says “I always thought I was middle class, but I found out I was poor.” “My Luck” “has got to change”.

JW says he is “not sure what keeps me in this town” and “maybe I will forget about you if I try some place new” finally noting that “It’s Not Raining In L.A.” and proclaiming he is “California Dreaming my troubles away”. The Texas Horns (Kaz Kazanoff, John Mills and Al Gomez) join on a story where he thinks about “When You left”.

He notes that “feeding my lines” “Works Every Time” with some nice jazzy guitar runs somewhat reminiscent of George Benson. “You don’t wear silver, but you still shine.” “You are authentic” so “I Choose You” “to make things right.” As noted above, Gordie Johnson takes the lead guitar as JW sings that it is “Good To Be True” on the final song.

The album is certainly pleasant vocally with some excellent guitar sprinkled in, but as noted at the beginning, the songs come off as more pop than blues. It is worth a listen, but if you are seeking blues or even blues -rock, this does not meet my thoughts of the genres.

Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter.

Tracy Nelson – Life Don’t Miss Nobody

BMG Records

www.tracynelsonmusic.com

13 songs – 47 minutes

A key component of the blues and roots since she made her debut with the Deep Are the Roots LP in 1965 with Charlie Musselwhite serving as a backing musician, Tracy Nelson hasn’t been in the studio often in recent years. But each time she makes a visit, it’s special – and she’s at the absolute top of her game with this star-studded effort – her first solo release in more than decade.

The Wisconsin native rocked to worldwide acclaim in the late ‘60s when she co-founded the seminal blues-rock band, Mother Earth, in San Francisco, becoming a regular fixture at both the Fillmore Auditorium and Avalon Ballroom, where they shared billing with Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.

When Mother Earth laid new roots in Nashville, she enjoyed a successful foray into country music for a spell, but the blues have always dominated her career, which has included stops at several labels — Atlantic, Mercury, Adelphi, Flying Fish, Rounder, Delta Groove and Memphis International included. Back on the West Coast in recent years, she’s worked alongside Angela Strehli, Dorothy Morrison and Annie Simpson as a member of the Blues Broads and has appeared intermittently with the Missouri-based band, the Bel-Airs, and as part of Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues, which fuses roots and classical music.

This disc truly has been a blessing for Nelson because – as she states in the liner notes – it’s helped her fulfill several items on her bucket list…musical reunions with Willie Nelson, Marcia Ball, Irma Thomas and Musselwhite. But the lineup also includes several other treasures, too: three-time Blues Music Award winning horn player of the year Terry Hanck, the sensational Jontavious Willis and Willie’s harp player, Mickey Raphael, too.

Engineered, mixed and co-produced by Roger Alan Nichols at Bell Tone Recording in Nashville with additional, tracking at eight other studios scattered across the U.S., Tracy powerful pipes resonate beautifully on all 13 tracks. And she adds Wurlitzer piano and acoustic and 12-string guitar, too. The extensive lineup includes Larry Cheney, Mike Henderson, Mike Johnson, Nichols and Willis on guitars, Kevin McKendree, Steve Conn and Jim Pugh on keys with John Gardner on drums and Byron House on bass.

They’re augmented by a horn section composed of Jack Warner, Dominique Caster, Chase Carpenter and Gabriel Collins with Doug Mosher sitting in on clarinet and Mike Dysinger on percussion. And the Angelics, Dianne Davidson, Vickie Carrico, Reba Russell and Isaac Ferguson Dillard contribute backing vocals. A percussive keyboard run from McKendree kicks off a rousing take of the take of the traditional “Strange Things Happening Every Day,”  but it only takes a heartbeat until Tracy shows off her vocal prowess in a rendition that comes with full-on gospel call-and-response.

The action slows for a cover of  Doc Pomus’ “There’s Always One More Time” but retains the spiritual feel thanks to the chorus and sweet harp runs from Raphael before shifting into a minor-key blues for Nelson’s original, “Life Don’t Miss Nobody,” which features a lush arrangement and cautions that no matter how successful and happy you might be, never underestimate the world’s ability for “takin’ back its toys.” Willis joins the action on resonator guitar and shares vocals for a rock-steady take on Sonny Boy Williamson II’s “Your Funeral and My Trial” before Tracy turns back the clock even farther for a traditional hokum take on Ma Rainey’s “Yonder Comes the Blues” and then joins forces with Ball and turns on the heat for “I Did My Part,” a Big Easy pleaser written by Allen Toussaint under the pseudonym Naomi Neville.

Tracy’s on 12-string for an interesting reworking of the Stephen Foster-penned traditional, “Hard Times.” But there’s joy in every note as Nelson reunites with Willie and trades verses with him on Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonkin’” aided by lilting runs from Raphael and Johnson on pedal steel. Nashville yields for Chicago and Musselwhite for Nelson for a slow-and-deliberate version of Willie Dixon’s plea for peace, “It Don’t Make Sense,” before things get funky with Hanck on horn for “Compared to What,” which was a monster hit for Roberta Flack in 1969.

The cautionary ballad, “Where Do You Go (When You Can’t Go Home),” was co-written with Ball but features Nelson in full partnership with her choir throughout before Marcia, Irma, Reba, Dianne and Vickie all take turns on verses of Chuck Berry’s “Brown Eyed Handsome Man.” Tracy takes listeners to church with a solo version of “Hard Times” to close.

There’s no other way to describe it…listening to a new album from Tracy Nelson is like opening a new bottle of perfectly aged wine. Every sip’s better than the last. Drink deep, and enjoy!

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life. Now based out of Mason, Ohio, his first experience with live music came at the feet of the first generation of blues legends at the Newport Folk Festivals in the 1960s. A former member of the Chicago blues community, he’s a professional journalist and blues harmonica player who co-founded the Nucklebusters, one of the hardest working bands in South Florida.

Tony Holiday – Motel Mississippi

Forty Below Records

http://www.tonyholidaymusic.com

8 Tracks – 25 minutes

Tony Holiday moved from his hometown of Salt Lake City to Memphis in 2017 and immediately became entrenched in that cities’ resurrection of soul blues. He gathered a number of artists around him including John Primer, Bob Corritore, John Nemeth, Charlie Musselwhite and many others for a 2019 album he referenced as Porch Sessions, an obvious reference to old blues recordings that were made on the porches of musicians. Here he captured musicians on their porches as well as rowdy night spots and juke joints. A follow-up album in 2021, Porch Sessions, Vol. 2 added Victor Wainwright, Kim Wilson, Bobby Rush, Dennis Gruenling and a continued vast array of other similar artists.

In between, in 2020 he released his first actual solo album, Soul Service. 2023 features a release of his second solo album, which at 25 minutes is probably considered something close to an EP. Like his porch sessions, the album is a true collaboration with the other performers on the album.  A.J. Fullerton wrote or co-wrote six of the eight songs on the album and co-produced the album with Dave Gross. Fullerton also plays guitar and banjo on the album. Tony cowrote two songs with Fullerton and one also added Victor Wainwright as a cowriter. Tony plays the harmonica and adds soulful vocals, Victor does show up on keyboards.  Dave Gross fills on guitar, accordion, keyboards, Moog synthesizer, percussion and backing vocals. Other musicians on the album include Audrey McCrady on guitar, Terence Grayson on bass, Lee Williams, Jr. on drums, Jake Friel on harmonica and Mikey Junior providing backing vocals.  The album was recorded at Zebra Ranch in Coldwater, Mississippi, the studio founded by the late Jim Dickinson.

A cover of Paul Wine Jones “Rob and Steal” opens the album with a swampy tale with some funky guitar work from Dave Gross and some underlying organ playing in for a unique sound for a roots recording. Holiday’s harmonica leads the next song as Tony sings “I Just need a little bit to “Get By””.  Gross again delivers some fine guitar into the mix.

Victor Wainwright pulls out his clavinet to join Tony’s harmonica as Tony sings “I have been here before.” and begs “Trouble” “…don’t come here no more”.  A bouncy more straight-forward blues song comes next with “She’s So Cold” but she “has me under her spell.”

On “Just As Gone”, Tony picks up the speed with a train beat rhythm. Aubrey McGrady inserts some slide guitar work. Tony next sings that there is “Nobody but You” but “I love you pretty girl…even though you done me wrong”.

“You Know Who I Am” definitely comes from the swamp and a rhythmic drumbeat is the driving force. He asks her to “ignore what everyone is saying” about him. The album closes with a moving instrumental trip up the “Yazoo River”.

The album is completely a Delta driven concoction but with fresh, unexpected sounds outside of the normal approach to such songs. Tony’s vocals are appealing and his harmonica, although sometimes spare in the short length of the songs, still captures attention.

Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter.

Tom Tourville – The House Of Blues Records Story And Discography

Midwest Publications

100 pages Softcover Edition

Billed on the cover as “The Holy Grail of Blues Music Labels,” this book is the work of a devoted fan of the House of Blues Record label. By author Tom Tourville’s count, the label released more than 230 CDs over the seven years of it’s existence. Certainly one could argue that other record companies like Chess and Alligator have a much stronger case for the “Holy Grail” designation. Still, the author makes a viable case that, if nothing else, will get readers to pay far more attention to the HOB releases when they can find a copy.

Starting out with a two page introduction from the author, who has more than 30 books to his credit, many of which dig into various venues and bands from the Midwest region, readers are regaled with his passion for all recordings from the HOB label. He also dedicates the book to his son Bill, a drummer who has played with the Lamont Cranston band and Bernard Allison. That is followed by a foreword from James Solberg, who spent years playing guitar with Luther Allison. He relates a story about a musician friend giving him a tip which led to Solberg’s version of Bob Dylan’s “Ballad Of A Thin Man” being included on a HOB tribute album to Dylan, but not without unintended consequences.

Next up is a five page history of the label, starting with Issac Tigrett creating the Hard Rock Cafe chain. Almost 20 years later, he sold off his shares to pursue plans to create a new music-based company, the House of Blues, which included a record label. He soon partnered with Steve Devick, who owned the River North Recording Studio in Chicago, plus a music development firm entitled Platinum Entertainment. Things were rolling along until 2000, when Devick decided to pursue other interests. The repercussions of his decision quickly brought an end to the label.

The main part of the book examines the various releases under the HOB label, including promotional discs as well as overseas releases. The discography first tackles the “Essential Blues” series, with single or double disc sets of previously released material that featured a treasure trove of blues legends, from Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. After five releases, the focus shifted to double disc sets organized around a singular theme including Southern Rock, Chicago blues, Texas blues and sets devoted to guitar, harmonica, piano and Women in the blues. The book has a track listing with release year, song title and artist plus the cover art for each album. A quick scan of these pages confirms that many of the selections were indeed essential listening.

Next up is a section on various artist releases, again often centered on themes like Barbeque Blues, Defiance Blues, and Road Trip Blues. The label also delved into the Gospel field, releasing a number of fine recordings from top-notch artists including the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Dixie Hummingbirds, and Cissy Houston, and several sets that mixed blues, soul, and gospel songs centered on Christmas.

As you read through the pages dedicated to the labels release from individual artists, you are quickly struck by the level of talent the label worked with. The list goes from Billy Branch & the Sons Of The Blues to Roger Daltry, lead singer for the Who, but not before titles from the Gales Brothers, including Eric on guitar, Larry McCray, Big Daddy Kinsey & the Kinsey Report, the Jerry Garcia Band, John Mooney, Phoebe Snow, Angela Strehli, the Derek Trucks Band, and the Grammy Award winning album Any Place I’m Going from blues legend Otis Rush. An album by Paul Black & the Flip Kings, King Dollar, features Black’s haunting slide guitar as well as some exceptional harmonica from Westside Andy Linderman, now a member of Rev. Raven & the Chain Smokin’ Altar Boys. Chances are that you will soon be fighting the urge to track down a copy of some of these titles.

Other sections cover promo and sampler releases, the “Hotel” series of discs that were handed to guests at check-in at participating hotels. The “This Ain’t No Tribute” boxset found blues artists covering songs from the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, and Eric Clapton. For the author, this collection is high point for the HOB label, with fine music and outstanding packaging. He also has a listing for a volume dedicated to Aerosmith that is similar in all respects, but was issued on another label after the demise of the HOB label. Tourville also highlights “The Essential Shoebox Full Of Blues” box set containing nine previously released double disc albums with more than 330 songs total. For the author, this set is indeed essential.

Added features include a section on several “live” recordings of questionable origin with the HOB label on the cover, a two page feature on guitarist Long John Hunter, the author’s list of his “Top Fifteen” release on the label, and a cool section of special photos and album covers with autographs that Tourville has collected over the years.

This book is certainly a labor of love. Tourville had to have spent many hours tracking down the various pieces of the HOB discography, particularly when it came to the promotional discs, the overseas titles, and the hotel series. While House Of Blues Records may not truly be the “Holy Grail,” Tourville certainly gives the label plenty of respect throughout this book that has much to offer blues fans.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Mark Thompson lives in Florida, where he is enjoying the sun and retirement. He is the past President of the Board of Directors for the Suncoast Blues Society and a former member of the Board of Directors for the Blues Foundation. Music has been a huge part of his life for the past fifty years – just ask his wife!

Ally Venable – Real Gone

Ruf Records

www.allyvenableband.com

12 songs – 42 minutes

It’s hard to believe that Ally Venable is still only 23. Real Gone is the Texas singer/guitarist/songwriter’s fifth CD. She released her first album, No Glass Shoes, aged just 16, since then she has toured relentlessly and garnered a wealth of accolades from other musicians, fans and guitar magazines as well as recording and releasing her other albums. She and her crack band are currently supporting Buddy Guy on his farewell tour and her latest release clearly demonstrates why. Produced by Grammy award winning Tom Hambridge, Real Gone is a raucous collection of guitar-fueled blues and blues-rock  that is impossible to listen to without a huge smile and a foot tapping in time to a series of relentless grooves.

Venable sets out her stall in the classic blues-rock of the opening title track with its over-driven guitar riff that sounds like something Girlschool would have wanted to write in the 1980s. Venable’s wah-wah lead guitar only adds to the retro feel to the song while Hambridge’s drum pattern would beat down a brick wall. The pace doesn’t let up in “Going Home”, despite its extended introduction, before leading into the riff-driven “Justifyin'”.  Special guest, Joe Bonamassa, contributes a stellar guitar solo to the slow blues of “Broken And Blue”. The funky “Don’t Lose Me” has an insatiable groove, while the swamp pop of “Any Fool Should Know”showcases Venable’s superb voice.

The stomping duet with Buddy Guy on “Texas Louisiana”, with its intertwining vocals and dueling guitars  is a particular highlight of the album, while “Kick Your Ass” has a single note riff straight out of the Led Zeppelin songbook, nicely segueing into a quieter verse section. “Blues Is My Best Friend” starts out as a finger-picked acoustic country blues straight out of Mississippi before the band kicks in with a classic grinder. There is a hint of Bonnie Raitt in Venable’s vocal line here. The haunting “Gone So Long” displays great restraint and a lovely vocal melody.  The album finishes as it starts, with the full bore blues-rock of “Two Wrongs”.

Venable’s band offer top drawer support throughout. In addition to Hambridge on drums, percussion and backing vocals, the record also features Kenny Greenberg on guitars, Tommy McDonald on bass, Moke Rojas on keyboards, Rachel Hambridge and Sarah Hambridge on backing vocals, Max Abrams on saxophone and Steve Patrick on trumpet.

Superbly recorded by Zach Allen at Nashville’s Sound Stage studio, Real Gone has a rare vitality and dynamism. It is probably fair to say that, in places, it slips over the line from blues-rock to classic rock, but if you like your blues with a healthy dose of “in your face” attitude and lashings and lashings of electric guitar, you will love this album.

Reviewer Rhys “Lightnin'” Williams plays guitar in a blues band based in Cambridge, England. He also has a day gig as a lawyer.

Big Bill Broonzy – Live In Amsterdam 1953

Liberation Hall

LP release

Side A- 5 tracks/20:21

Side B – 5 tracks/20:23

Another Record Store Day vinyl release, one of many blues albums from Liberation Hall, this one is a real gem. It features one of the giants in the history of blues music. Born in Mississippi and raised in Arkansas, Big Bill Broonzy (Lee Conley Bradley) started out playing country blues, then as he migrated north, his music became more sophisticated, helping pave the way for the blues to go electric. At the height of his career, he toured internationally, renown for his powerful vocals, refined guitar style, and songwriting that expertly melded his country and big city influences.

Recorded at The Concertgebouw hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands, just a few years before his untimely passing, Broonzy sounds relaxed in front of an appreciative audience. The sound quality of the recording makes it sound like he is right there in the room with you, especially when he talks to the audience in between songs. His guitar rings out, especially on an extended, moving version of “When The Sun Goes Down.” He introduces “Goin’ Down The Road, Feelin’ Bad” as a song about not getting paid for the work you did, and having no real course of action.

Explaining that a friend had asked him if he played songs without singing, Broonzy admits that he is not the best guitar player around before entertaining the audience with a sprightly take on his tune, “House Rent Stomp,” picking the guitar with relative ease. He delves into the issue of racism on the original, “Black, Brown, And White,” the somewhat bouncy tune contrasting with his cutting descriptions of unfair treatment.

Another instrumental, “Caribbean Rag,” is a short burst of fine guitar picking, followed by a touch of gospel as Broonzy delivers a resolute treatment of “Down By The Riverside.” He switches to a different approach on “Mindin’ My Own Business,” relating a story about a family squabble that lead him to pen a deep Mississippi blues tune on the old axiom about reaping what you sow. Equally touching is “Just A Dream,” an original that finds the singer yearning for fame, fortune, love, and respect, yet always waking to a totally different reality.

Finishing on a high note, Broonzy shares the “Glory Of Love,” not before telling the audience that if they want to play the blues, go to a good teacher and learn how to play it right. Then when you are done, walk away and start playing everything the wrong way, as that is where the “blue” notes can be found. It reminds listeners that despite all of world’s troubles, love remains a powerful force for change.

Acoustic blues lovers will no doubt want to have this excellent recording in their collection. Blues fans of all types should check it out. Big Bill just might win you over with his outstanding performance on this fine sounding recording.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Mark Thompson lives in Florida, where he is enjoying the sun and retirement. He is the past President of the Board of Directors for the Suncoast Blues Society and a former member of the Board of Directors for the Blues Foundation. Music has been a huge part of his life for the past fifty years – just ask his wife!