Cover photo © 2023 Richard A. Lewis Soulshine Photographix

 In This Issue 

Anita Schlank has our feature interview with Rusty Wright. We have ten Blues reviews for you this week including new music from Joanna Connor, Hudspeth & Taylor, Eric Allen, Dean Zucchero, André Bisson, Cecilya & The Candy Kings, Question Mark & The Mysterians, Peter Storm & The Blues Society, Sam & Dave and Steven Taylor. Scroll down and check it out!

Rusty Wright may be best known as a passionate, acclaimed blues-rocker, but he is also an artist who resists categorization.  He appreciates all kinds of music and makes no apologies for failing to adhere to a classic blues format for his music.

“If you lock the blues in a box, you’ll kill it.  You’ll turn it into something that nobody listens to.  Muddy Waters even said that everyone takes the blues where you find it, but it’s up to you to take it further down the road.  My music can be a gateway to the blues for many people.  Often people will see us play and say later that they didn’t know that music was the blues, and they didn’t know they liked the blues.  If you give it to them in a way that they find appealing, you can get them to become fans.  Some would never, in a million years, have come to a blues festival, but they hear us and it makes them realize that they like it, and it opens their minds to a lot of possibilities.”

Wright also resists categorization as simply a touring musician, since he is also a studio musician, a scorer of movies/TV shows, a painter, and a “celebrity counselor at Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp”.

“The Fantasy Camp is a nationwide thing.  People pay a large sum of money and spend a week with us, and we divvy them up into bands.  My job is to take these people who have never met each other and turn them into a backup band.  At the end of the week, they get the opportunity to perform on stage and be the backup band for three famous musicians. The first camp I attended featured Buddy Guy, Nancy Wilson from Heart, and Chris Layton (the former drummer for Stevie Ray Vaughan, now working with Kenny Wayne Shepherd).  It’s a great experience and I have a great time doing it.”

“As far as the movies and TV shows, I did the soundtrack for some independent films.  One was a comedy spoof called PI Blues, and one was a documentary about a famous comedy club in Detroit.  I also do a lot of track work for people.  I can play pretty much anything with strings, except for a violin.  People from all over the world will send me something saying they need a guitar track or a bass track or a vocal track.  I get session work from all over, Italy, Norway, Germany.”

“For my artwork I like watercolors and pen and ink.  I also use some digital tools.  I usually do landscapes, but tried my hand at drawing some old-school Harleys, castles, and a fantasy tree house.  I also just released a couple of adult coloring books.  Every morning I get up really early, as soon as the sun comes up and the first thing I do is get coffee and sit down in my studio and see what hits me.  It might be writing a song or doing a piece of art.”

Wright was only thirteen when he joined his mother’s touring gospel group as a guitarist.

“I had just gotten a guitar the year before and really took to it.  My mother was adamant that she wasn’t going to let me be a musician, but when she found out there weas no stopping me she figured it was safest to include me in her group.  I was self-taught for a while, but eventually went to Wayne State University because you must learn to read music to be able to sight-read to become a studio musician.”

Wright’s guitar skills quickly became so impressive that when his newly formed band opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd, they received a standing ovation, and members of Lynyrd Skynyrd came out to see who was playing.  Skynyrd guitarist, Rickey Medlock, later approached Wright asking ‘Dude!  Where did you come from?’  Wright appreciated that reaction so much that he named the rest of that tour the “Dude-where did you come from tour”.  Since that memorable gig, Wright has toured not only across the United States, but also in many other countries.  He remembered having one very close call while playing in South Korea.

“We were doing an armed forces tour, playing on all the bases to give them a little entertainment.  In South Korea the whole country’s electrical system is on 220 volts, but American equipment is on 110 volts.  So, they had to have a distribution box to change the voltage from the PA system and the lighting.  We had just finished playing a set and had just all put our instruments down when a bunch of gear started to sizzle, and the transformers just exploded.  Someone had accidentally routed 220 volts to all the stage gear.  The keyboardist’s whole rig got cooked, his keyboards and the amp.  He had to just sit on the side of the stage for the rest of the show because we had no backup gear.”

Like nearly all musicians, Wright struggled to survive the pandemic, which was a time when musicians were being labeled as “non-essential”.  And since the pandemic ended, he has noticed a nationwide change in attitude toward live music.

“In mid-March 2020 we lost an entire year’s worth of bookings in less than a week.  Fortunately, we had clear documentation of all of our cancellations, so we were able to prove our loss of income, and that was a lifesaver.  We were very fortunate during the pandemic because there were many organizations that gave out stipends and relief funds.  We’re especially grateful to the Blues Foundation’s COVID relief efforts which generously helped in covering some of our monthly bills one month.  Also, their HART Fund helped by covering the bills for Laurie’s (Rusty’s wife and fellow band member) hospital stay after she suffered a minor heart attack.  The Village Blues Society here in Florida was also very kind to us, as were many of our fans during that time.  We are so appreciative of the level of support and kindness that we received, and for the rest of our lives, we will try to pay forward that generosity whenever we are able to do so.”

“But since the pandemic, I do sense a feeling of apathy toward live musicians that is present that I had not seen prior to the pandemic, and it is a little disheartening.  These days tribute acts are cleaning up, but original music acts are definitely facing challenges.  Recently a performing arts center director told us that they have an easy time selling a $50 ticket for a mediocre tribute act but struggle to sell a $20 ticket for a fantastic original music act.  They’re baffled and unhappy about it, but they’re just trying to survive.  I see announcements each week of venues that must shut down because so many people have quit coming out to concerts.  And sometimes when you do play you just see a whole lot of people looking at their phones, seemingly uninterested in the music, or you’ll see some venues that display ten TVs and don’t even turn the TVs off when the musician is playing.”

Wright’s most recent album, Hangin’ at the Deville Lounge, is a concept album.  The album is named after an actual bar that used to be in his hometown of Flint, Michigan.

“The bar catered to auto factory workers, so they took their name from the Cadillac DeVille.  It was one of those places where the front door would be locked at 2 am, but if you knew the right people you could come in the back door and hang out until 4 or 5 in the morning.  On the opposite corner of the street there was this little church and the preacher used to get irritated because sometimes the DeVille lounge would be jumping, and they would party outside and leave cigarette butts and beer cans on the church lot as well.  So, the preacher bought a lighted sign and would put messages on it.  One time he put ‘Sinners welcome here’ on the sign.  So, the owner of the DeVille lounge got an even bigger lighted sign and put it on the top of the roof saying, ‘Sinners welcome here and we have beer!’.  It was that kind of place.  The bar has been closed for quite a few years now, but with the blues legend/mythology of the devil at the crossroads finding its way into quite a few of my songs over the years (and DeVille seeming to be a play on the word devil), plus the memory of the lighted sign feud between the bar and the church, it seemed natural to pull them together.  However, we re-imagined our ‘DeVille’ Lounge as a place down South, perhaps somewhere outside of New Orleans, filled with all the memories, drama, and characters you might encounter should you hang around long enough.”

“There are many different vibes on this album.  It starts out with a cool melodic piano ballad, but one track has a Stevie Ray vibe and there is some Django Reinhart gypsy jazz stuff going on too.  It represents all the different people and personalities that used to show up at the DeVille.  I never want to make a record where you start listening and you get to the last song, and you can’t pick out one thing because all the songs sound the same.  So, I’m going to keep exploring more concept album ideas.  Laurie wants to do a theatrical review.  Maybe we can find a production company to help us finance a theater show.  That might be a cool way to introduce people to different blues styles.”

One of the songs on the album seems to resonate the most with people in the audience, as they often come up after a show and talk to Wright about how it affected them.

“’No Man is an Island’ was inspired by a story I read about a mother who had a son with autism. The woman described how he just couldn’t make connections with people.  And he had to have you in his sight.  If he left the room or you left the room and came back, you would have to reintroduce yourself.  She even had to reintroduce herself every time she came back into the room.  So, through no fault of his own, he is put in this position and will never have that ability to feel connected to people.”

Another track, “No One Cares at All” captures Wright’s shock at the level of apathy in many people, including their apathy about horrific things such as sex trafficking.

“There’s so much villainy in the world.  You look around and you can’t stop it.  There’s a lot of heinous stuff right under your nose.  I guess apathy is one of my pet peeves.  I want people to feel something.”

In addition to seeing how moving his songs can be for the audience, Wright agreed with the premise that songwriting can be therapeutic for the songwriter as well and noted that the most therapeutic song he ever wrote was “Lost Souls”.

“It’s a song that has a lot of deep connotations.  It’s about musicians struggling to figure out the music industry and was my way of expressing the feelings I have about us sometimes seeming like we’re the lost souls in the world. For every performer enjoying their moment in the sun, there are thousands of other performers who are equally deserving of the spotlight, and for whatever reason, they don’t get it.  Maybe their pockets aren’t deep enough to pay for a publicist, or they work a day job and can’t tour, or can’t find a booking agent.  There are a million reasons why, and every career has dips and peaks.  We really have been fortunate to have played a lot of the largest blues festivals in the US and in Europe over the years, and many wonderful concert venues.  But sometimes it feels like there is a ‘club’ and it’s hard to break in.  Plus, I had some additional losses this past year.  I went for my annual flu shot and the technician administered my vaccine too high on my arm, causing a significant injury.  Within 24 hours I couldn’t lift my arm and was in terrible pain for several months.  Guitar playing was excruciating, and I feared I might not ever recover my ability to play like before.  Thankfully it has healed now, but we had stopped trying to book the band since we couldn’t really pitch to promoters in good faith not knowing if I would be able to play properly when the festival season rolled around.  It also made it difficult to promote the album, (although we still managed to make it to #4 on the Billboard Blues chart).  So, we missed many opportunities, but I am hoping that maybe this article will help get the word out about us.”

It would certainly seem that adding this multi-talented, outside-the-box musical innovator to a festival would be a very wise plan indeed.  And people deserve to witness the gifts he has to offer.  You can find out more about Rusty Wright’s fusion of Texas-style blues, swinging boogie and Southern rock at RustyWrightBand.com – EPK.  And you can see his artwork by searching for his name at www.redbubble.com

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.

Joanna Connor – Best of Me

Gulf Coast Records

www.joannaconnorwreckingcrew.com

11 songs – 39 minutes

Based out of Chicago since age 17, Joanna Connor hit the top of the Billboard blues-album chart with 4801 Indiana Avenue two years ago and returns in style with this powerful disc, which features contributions from world-class talent across the blues spectrum.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and raised in Worcester, Mass., Joanna hit the street running when she arrived in the Windy City via Greyhound bus in 1979. Shortly thereafter, John Littlejohn — one of the city’s best slide guitarists ever – began mentoring her as a member of his own ensemble before Dion Payton recruited her to join his 43rd Street Blues Band, an act that for years headlined at both the Checkerboard Lounge and the Kingston Mines in addition to backing major talent across the city.

Connor also toured the world behind sax great A.C. Reed for a while before founding her own band in the mid-‘80s at the insistence of Mines owner Doc Pellegrino. Her recording career began with Believe It in 1989, and she’s enjoyed long stints at Blind Pig, Germany’s Ruf – where she was just the second artist signed to the label – and M.C. In 2002, however, as the single mother of two young children, she made the difficult decision to stop touring in order to raise them.

She’s been back in the international spotlight since 2019, when Joe Bonamassa and movie director Adrian Lynne of Flash Dance fame became enthralled with her blazing guitar skills after viewing one of her videos. Not only did Lynne enlist her for a scene in his 2022 release, Deep Water – starring Ben Affleck, but Bonamassa offered her the opportunity to cut 4801 Indiana Avenue for his KTBA Records.

This disc unites Joanna with Mike Zito’s Gulf Coast imprint. It features her regular touring band, the Wrecking Crew: bassist Shaun Gotti Calloway, guitarist/keyboard player Dan Souvigny, keyboard player Curtis Moore Jr. and percussionist Jason J Roc Edwards. The roster’s fleshed out by Bonamassa, Josh Smith, Gary Hoey and Zito on guitars, Jason Ricci on harp and David Abbruzzese on drums along with the Grooveline Horns – Fernando Castillo (trumpet/flugelhorn) and Carlos Sosa (sax/flute), Raul Vallejo (trombone) and Eric Demmer on sax.

A smoking-hot mix of ten blues-drenched soul, rock, funk and country originals penned by Calloway and Connor along with a single cover, the action opens with an introduction emcee Frank Pellegrino in front of an enthusiastic live audience at the Mines before the band explodes into “House Rules,” a driving, horn-fueled shuffle in which Connor’s vocal makes it clear that listeners should be getting their butts on the dance floor instead of standing at the bar or engaged in a side conversation. The action that follows truly drives her message home.

The minor-key “Pain and Pleasure” – aided by Smith — starts slowly but quickly evolves atop a funky Latin beat. It celebrates the dawning of a new romance and the wish for permanency but the realization that everything could end in a heartbeat. The sound sweetens and the guitars give way to horns for the ballad, “Best of Me.” Joanna’s voice soars as she addresses the down side of a broken heart.

Bonamassa’s featured on “Highway Child,” a fiery, country-tinged rocker that celebrates being a road dog, before sweeping six-string flourishes open “I Lost You,” a powerful ballad in which Connor promises to be the last to say goodbye as the relationship draws to a close. Her mid-tune solo bares her pain. The heat’s on high once again for the driving “Two of a Kind,” in which Joanna finds symmetry in romance again, a commemoration that continues in “All I Want Is You.”

Robert Geddins and K.C. Douglas’ country classic, “Mercury Blues,” gets a thoroughly modern makeover before the rocker “Shadow Lover” serves up a request for undercover romance. The sound sweetens dramatically for the passionate ballad “Greatest of These,” a celebration of overcoming troubles, before Hoey and Ricci join the action for the percussive, upbeat rocker, “Shine On,” to close.

Joanna Connor is a force of nature as both a guitarist and vocalist who’s deserved far more attention than she’s received in her career. One listen to this CD should have the spotlight shining on her brightly for years to come.

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.

Hudspeth & Taylor – Ridin’ The Blinds

Hudtone Records

https://www.brandonhudspeth.com

12 songs – 38 minutes

Ridin’ The Blinds is the second album from Brandon Hudspeth and Jaisson Taylor after their 2019 debut, Folie A Deux, and is a highly enjoyable collection of 12 classic acoustic blues songs. Hudspeth is fine guitar player, very much at home recreating sounds from the 1920s and 1930s, while Taylor sings in a joyously traditional manner as well as adding percussion.

Many of the tracks will be familiar to fans of pre-war acoustic blues, with the likes of “Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home”, “Hey Hey”, “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” and “Can’t Be Satisfied” all covered many times before. There are also some lesser known gems, however, such as Otto Virgial’s “Little Girl In Rome” and Willie Borum’s “Lonesome Home Blues.” The majority of the artists covered are Delta blues musicians, but Mance Lipscomb and Blind Blake represent different elements of early blues recordings. And Hudspeth and Taylor throw themselves at all the tracks with raucous enthusiasm, Taylor’s urgent percussion adding real 21st century bite to a traditional number like “Blues In The Bottle” or “Write Me A Few Of Your Lines.”

Produced by Hudspeth and Taylor, Ridin’ The Blinds was engineered, mixed and mastered by Duane Trower at Weights And Measures SoundLab in Kansas  City, MO, and he has captured some crisp, aurally captivating performances that can transport a listener back 100 years in time. The duo benefit from modern recording techniques, with subtle layering of instruments and clever tweaks of arrangement, but the essence of the album is found in Hudspeth and Taylor’s technical virtuosity, deep emotional commitment and obvious love of the genre. Hudspeth’s fingers fly around the fretboard, either finger-picking or playing slide guitar, underlining the complexity of the original recordings. The way everything builds on “You Gotta Walk The Lonesome Valley” is a joy to behold. And Taylor’s voice is a true instrument of beauty. His performance on “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” is particularly compelling.

What is particularly impressive about Ridin’ The Blinds is how Hudspeth and Taylor manage to pay their respects to the original songs, playing the music with deference and great skill, whilst also giving them an elusive, modernizing sheen, through the use of current recording techniques such as multitracking, as well as attacking the songs with energy and aggression.

Hudspeth and Taylor also cleverly tweak the arrangements of a number of tracks, so something like Mance Lipscomb’s “Run Sinner Sun” neatly combines Lipscomb’s original finger-picked lines with slide licks that recall the genius Texas Gospel of Blind Willie Johnson. Muddy Water’s “I Can’t Be Satisfied” is played at a rare lick whilst retaining the curious frustrated joviality of the original.

Ridin’ The Blinds is a very enjoyable release from Hudspeth and Taylor. Highly recommended.

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

Eric Allen – Prowlin’ Lobo Blues

Self-Release – 2022

https://www.facebook.com/ericallen40years/

13 tracks; 56 minutes

Originally from Indiana, Eric Allen has played and lived in New York for over a decade but the music on his second album is rooted in the West, as he explores themes set in the world of railroads and small towns, conjuring up images of hobos, illegal alcohol production, swamps and chain gangs. The music is all original, mainly acoustic, five tunes are solo efforts with Eric on guitar and vocals but the remaining eight tracks add other musicians, such as bassist James Thomason and guitarist Michael Maslennikov who appear on several tracks; there are also appearances by Tom Peng on mandolin, Dadan on banjo, Maikel Liem on electric bass, Noak Hokker on trumpet, Pikar Rozi on double bass, Tamir on fiddle, Greg Luttrell on harmonica, Kenny Leonore on keyboards and Hikmat Yakha on guitar.

Eric has a gruff voice which works well on the material here and helps to evoke the images in the lyrics. The title track opens the album in jaunty style, mandolin, banjo and guitar underpinned by warm double bass as Eric describes the routes taken by the wolf as he roams his domain in the Old West. The fast-paced music allows the players to show their dexterity and Eric’s own ability as an acoustic player can be heard on the following “Itinerant Blues” on which he is accompanied only by double bass on a song about hoboing during the Great Depression. The lyrics also explore what is termed “the poor man’s divorce”, when the man felt too ashamed to return home to his wife (or perhaps that he was actually enjoying his new-found freedom). “Black Water Buff” is a song about taking revenge on an unfaithful partner, in this case shooting the straying woman and then following the lover down to Louisiana to kill him too! Played solo by Eric, it’s a brooding tune with Eric’s semi-spoken lyrics conveying the guy’s rage. A second version of the song entitled “Terrebonne” (the place in Louisiana where the protagonist tracks down his enemy) appears later on the album, same lyrics, but an electric version which gives the tune a little more drive, but perhaps less menace.

The brooding “Penance” is mainly instrumental, the single verse being a dark message about paying for one’s actions and the confessional “Somewhere Beyond” is also played solo, Eric’s gruff tones describing how he feels safe on the stage, singing his songs. “Ball In The Street” looks back at his Indiana home while “Short Line Rag” lives up to its title with the fast-paced rhythm being a ‘rag’ while the lyrics describe the race between two railroad companies to reach Promontory Point, Utah, first, with the novelty that the song is written from the perspective of a short haul train that fears being made obsolete, a clever song.

The remaining songs add more musicians and instruments. “Workin’ On The Blues” is a change of style with trumpet adding a jazzy feel to the choppy rhythms created by two guitars and bass, the lyrics describing the life of the working musician. There is a story that Al Capone’s mafia transported alcohol from Canada to Chicago by train, using border town “Moose Jaw” as their base of operations and Eric has written a song about that and adds harmonica and washboard to his acoustic guitar while double bassist Pikar Rozi creates a driving rhythm that evokes the trains. “Fire In The Canyon” starts with lugubrious fiddle and builds in pace and intensity to create a real feel of threat from the fire, though Eric’s notes suggest that the song may be more about us being manipulated to fear certain groups of people. “Tomcat Stroll” is the closest we get to the blues here, piano and harp certainly giving the song a familiar feel to blues fans and Eric closes the album with a lighter, folky feel on “Free Blue”.

Eric has written some impressive songs here and conveys them well with his gruff vocal style and adept acoustic guitar, ably aided by other musicians on some songs. The music is mainly in the Americana style, but there are occasional elements of blues. Those readers who enjoy acoustic music with strong lyrics may well want to hear this one.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues.

Dean Zucchero – Electric Church for the Spiritually Misguided

Pugnacious Records, 2023

www.deanzucchero.com

11 Tracks, 43 minutes

You can tell that bassist/songwriter/producer Dean Zucchero is highly respected by his fellow musicians by the caliber of those willing to be guest artists on his latest album, Electric Church for the Spiritually Misguided.  Some of the finest singers in the blues join him, including Johnny Rawls, Johnny Sansone and Jonathan “Boogie” Long, as well as a long list of excellent New Orleans-based musicians, (including Jason Ricci, Waylon Thibodeaux, Terence Higgins, John Fohl, Joe Krown, Johnny Burgin, and Ghalia Volt).  With that high-powered list, it is a given that there will be much to love about this album, with all tracks written or co-written by Zucchero.  He also produced and arranged the album.  And, of course, his expert bass provides the rhythmic foundation for every song.

The album begins with the smooth, soulful sound of Johnny Rawls, cautioning a woman to “step down from your high hopes babe—this rich boy ain’t so dumb…you’re out there shoppin’ for a future but baby you ain’t the one.”  The guest musicians combine for an unbeatable sound on many of the tracks, and on this song, Johnny Burgin adds guitar and Terence Higgins adds drums, with backing vocals by Ghalia Volt, Tiffany Pollack and Whitney Alouiscious Sanders.  Later in the album, a humorous track sings the praises of getting drunk on stout, warning “craft beer don’t count” and describing how “getting drunk on stout enhances my clout.  Or so it seems, just before blackout”.

Zucchero co-wrote an additional humorous song for this album with Ghalia Volt about procrastination.  “I’m a last-minute packer.  I wait ‘til the morning after.”  This song has a country-blues feel to it and Volt’s vocals and cigar-box guitar pair extremely well with the Cajun sound of Waylon Thibodeaux’s fiddle.

After delving into soul-blues and country blues, the album features a classic blues number entitled “Empty Postbox”, with vocals and harmonica contributed by Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes.”  The album also includes two instrumental tracks, with the amazing Joe Krown playing organ with John Fohl on guitar for “La Belle Poursuite” and the extraordinary Jason Ricci playing harmonica (along with Krown on Organ) in “DBA”.

It’s hard to find a weakness in this album.  The only slight disappointment is that the song sung by Jonathan “Boogie” Long doesn’t showcase his outstanding vocal talent, as much of the song is spoken word. Luckily, he cuts loose and belts out some of the lyrics near the end of the song.  Blues lovers will definitely want to add this star-studded album 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.

André Bisson – The Ballad Of Lucy Stone

Self-release

www.andrebisson.ca

10 songs – 41 minutes

André Bisson is a Canadian singer, musician and songwriter and The Ballad Of Lucy Stone is his ninth album, serving up a tasty mix of retro R’n’B, soul and blues.

Lucy Stone was a leading suffragist and abolitionist in the mid-19th century, who dedicated her life to battling inequality on all fronts. She was also, for trivia fans, the first Massachusetts woman to earn a college degree.  And her story reflects the overarching lyrical theme of the album: that we cannot avoid obstacles and difficulties in life, but we can decide how we are going to face them and how they affect us.

The gritty, bluesy title track kicks the album off in fine style, with Bisson’s overdriven guitar giving the song a classic blues-rock feel, but the massed backing vocals of Theresa Hale-Charters, Quisha Wint and Selena Evangeline and the strings and horns added to the middle section suddenly dragging the song into 1960s-R’n’B/soul territory, but with modern musical muscle.

“Missing You” stays squarely in the Stax/Motown groove, with superb horns from Pat Carey, Gordon Aeichele, Loretta Hale, Shawn Moody and Rob Somerville, while the ballad, “Release Me” with its glorious vocal harmonies, could have been written for Bobby Blue Bland. Things get funkier with “Golden Handcuffs”, albeit still within the same classic soul style, calling to mind Sam & Dave’s “Hold On (I’m Coming)”.  By contrast, the acoustic “Dancing With Ghosts” starts out with what sounds like a nod to “Stairway To Heaven” with its acoustic finger-picked guitar and Lizuarte de Sousa’s flute, but almost immediately goes off on a frolic of its own with a variety of instruments adding different different tones and timbres.

Bisson has an excellent, emotionally vivid voice and he is a more than solid guitarist. This is not an album packed with guitar solos, however and it is all the better for that. Bisson’s focus is very much on the song and the message and he is a very, very good songwriter. He also contributes mandolin, tambourine and backing vocals and he is ably supported by a fantastic band, comprising Jesse O’Brien on piano, organ and keyboards, Mike Rowell on bass and Keagan Early on drums and percussion. In addition, Dan Rodrigues adds Dobro, piano and accordion, while Paul Barna adds violin and viola.

“Caught!” leans into a blues-rock sound with a great vocal from Bisson and another excellent horn arrangement and unexpected middle-eight that elevates the track above being a simple blues-rock number. Bisson is always trying something novel or different. The minor key blues ballad features some lovely clarinet from Kevin Matthews on its introduction and another excellent vocal performance from Bisson and an off-the-wall solo from Moody.

“Sounds Of Redemption” starts out as an acoustic country blues track with just Bisson’s voice and acoustic guitar, before other instruments gradually join (particular kudos to Rodrigues’ subtle Dobro), creating a roaring whirlwind of music. It’s a masterclass in how to use dynamics effectively.

The Latin-tinged “The Greatest Mistake” precedes the closing upbeat country blues of “Down The Line” with Early capturing an irresistible rhythm that drives the song like a speeding train on the edge of control.

Bisson wrote all 10 songs on the album, as well as producing it (with expert engineering and mixing by Wayne Cochrane and mastering by Chris Crerar), and everyone involved deserves credit for capturing a fabulous sound.

The Ballad of Lucy Stone is a very impressive release that bears repeated listening. It probably sits more in the soul/R’n’B camp than the pure blues camp, but there are more than enough blues influences here for any fan of someone like Bobby Blue Bland, Little Milton or Johnny Adams to enjoy.

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

Cecilya & The Candy Kings – Back In 1955

Meseta Records

http://www.cecilyamestres.com

8 Tracks – 29 minutes

Cecilya Mestres was born in Barcelona in 1992. According to her mother, she came home from school at age 3 with a brochure from a music school and announced she wanted to sing. After much insistence, she attended numerous music classes and piano lessons and never stopped singing even while in school. She trained in musical theater and complemented her efforts with vocal training teachers in Barcelona and London. In 2015, she moved to Mallorca and started busking in the streets, which allowed her then to move into indoor venues. She fronted two bands – one doing R&B and the other country style blues.

In 2017, she appeared on a television show. That led to the attention of the Buenos Aires Blues School and the Blues in Movement Association and a subsequent tour in Argentina. From there she lived and toured in Austria and Germany starting in 2019 and ultimately decided to move to Paris and start a rock & roll band. In 2021, she released her first solo record. Which leads to the release of this new album containing eight original songs written in the style of 1950’s R&B.

The band consists of Cecilya on vocals, Rudolphe Dumont on guitar, Paul San Martin on piano, Jorge “Jafo” Otero on double bass, Adrian Carrer on drums and percussion, and Sax Gordon Beadle on tenor and baritone sax.

The opening song identifies the things that “kept people smiling” “Back in 1955”, a bopping tune with guitar and piano runs that will also make you smile.  Cecilya’s voice is certainly in tune with the era with an occasional growl. Next up she has the place jumping as she announces “I’ll Take You to the Party” with the sax getting everyone bouncing around.

A swaying mambo identifies that she is “From Barcelona”, which “feels like paradise” as she identifies all of the wonderful things she loves about the city. She moves into a deeply sultry mood as the sax whines with some excellent moody guitar and piano on the atmospheric jazz tune “Evening” where she cries “my baby’s gone”.  “Wild Souls” brings the energy to an all-out rocker where she identifies herself as a “wild child”.

Dumont’s guitar leads a slow blues shuffle as she pleas “Don’t Leave Me in the Darkness”. She gets things rocking again as Cecilya begs for him to “Gimme One Night” with the baritone sax blending with Dumont’s guitar. The album closes with a funky “What About Love” and a bouncing piano and another nice guitar run rounding out the album.

Cecilya’s vocals are always appealing.  Her band delivers an album that is certainly nestled in the 1950’s but speaks to you in modern terms. It is a fun and pleasant album that leads one to hope for more.

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.

Question Mark & The Mysterians – Cavestomp Presents: Are You For Real?

Cavestomp Records

www.liberationhall.com

LP Release

Side A – 8 Tracks/22:21

Side B – 7 Tracks/20:48

Anyone fortunate enough to have seen the quintessential garage band, Question Mark & the Mysterians, especially with the original members, undoubtedly walked away proclaiming the band was part of rock ‘n’ roll royalty. Their shows inevitably turned into wild dance parties, lead by the lead singer, the man of intrigue behind the ever-present sunglasses, the wild man himself, Question Mark.

For many, the band faded into the mists of time in the aftermath of their classic hit, “96 Tears,” a staple of oldies radio. But the band continued on, with several career revivals that in one case occurred around to appearances in consecutive years at the then annual Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans. The first year the crowd refused to let them leave the stage, at 4 am.! They did ’96 Tears” three times, twice as encores.

Another memorable show took place in October, 1997 at the first annual Cavestomp, billed as a “Garage Rock Festacular”. As detailed in the extensive liner notes by Miriam Lianna, it was the first show with the original band in more than a decade. Their made such a strong impression that plans were quickly formulated to get the band into the studio to cut new versions of some of their classic material, giving new generations of listeners the opportunity to bask in the magic created by Question Mark, Robert Lee Balderrama on guitar and backing vocals, Big Frank Lugo on bass, Little Frankie Rodriguez Jr. on keyboards and backing vocals, and Robert Martinez, the younger brother of Question Mark, on drums.

The album rocks from the start, with the familiar organ sound over a super-charged beat on “Feel It,” featuring some high octane guitar licks from Balderrama. Question Mark sounds right home delivering a dynamic performance. On “Hanging On A String,” he shows off his tender side to great effect. The remake of “96 Tears” lacks some of the grit of the original, but who can resist the sound of Rodriquez pumping out the chords on the organ. The band goes for a psychedelic rave-up on ‘Girl (You Captivate Me)” before rocking their way through a love song, a new take on their single :Can’t Get enough Of You Baby”. ‘Ain’t It A Shame” has a more modern sound, with fine harmony vocals and strong guitar parts.

Another surprising performance is the band’s reworking of “Cheeree,” from the punk rock band Suicide. Question Mark’s vocal mixes love and lust in equal measure over restrained backing from the band. The instrumental “Beachcomber” was an early career release featuring the band, sans their lead singer, billed as The Semi-Colons. It is two minutes of musical fun in the sun. Question Mark gives it his all on the soul classic, “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” while “Love Me Baby (Cherry July)” veers into 1960s pop music territory with an arrangement featured on the organ and chopped guitar chords.

“Don’t Hold It Against Me” fails to impress but the band rebounds for a revved-up take of “Do You Feel It,” with Question Mark making a late entry  and immediately taking over, exhorting listeners to connect with the sounds the band is laying down. “Don’t Give It Up Now” is another rousing groovathon with all of the hallmarks of the bands classic sound. To finish the album, listeners are treated a blast from the past, a 1966 demo recording of the band doing ”Are You For Real,” used to audition for an independent record label. It features Question Mark’s energetic vocal along with a guitar-driven sound that the fell by the wayside with the success of “96 Tears.”

While there is not much in the way of blues content on this release, there are probably plenty of Blues Blast readers like this reviewer who revere ’96 Tears” as one of the anthems of their younger days. For those listeners, and for anyone looking for an album that provides a strong dose of music for fun, music that favors grooves over instrumental prowess, this record may be exactly whet you need!

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!

Peter Storm & The Blues Society – Second

Naked – 2023

https://www.facebook.com/peterstormtbs

10 tracks; 46 minutes

As the title suggests, this is the second album release from Portugal’s leading blues band who have represented their country in the European Blues Challenge. Despite the name, there is no Peter Storm here, the members of the band being Bino Ribeiro (guitar, harp, vocals), João Belchior (vocals, guitar), José Reis (bass) and Jorge ‘Mr Shuffle’ Oliveira (drums, percussion); all four provide backing vocals and Sam Silva guests on sax on one track. There are eight originals here, writing credits shared between Jorge, João and Bino, plus two covers.

First and foremost one should note that the vocals are good, little or no trace of accent, so even on quieter tunes like “Meditation Blues” the listener is not struggling to understand the lyrics. Another slow blues, “I Told You (Not To Treat Me Wrong)” is one of the best tracks here, very reminiscent of early Fleetwood Mac, the lyrics conjuring up the heartache of a relationship going wrong, the guitar work delicately matching the angst of the lyrics and the harp sitting the tune out. “Blame” has a snaky rhythm with lots of percussion, over which another moody break-up lyric emerges, Bino plays effective unamplified harp and João plays some nicely poised guitar, another strong track. “52nd Avenue” has a spoken vocal over a rocking beat and some high register harp but “Go Down And Play” and “Write Down The Blues” are marred, for this reviewer, by discordant harp and guitar. “Black Hole” is more of a Rock tune with aggressive wah-wah and album closer “Show Me Your Love” is a full-blooded rocker that undoubtedly works well live with its pounding beat and singalong chorus.

“Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” is often covered, including a very good version on The Ozdemirs’ recent debut album (reviewed in these pages), so perhaps the Europeans are particularly fond of the song! This version is OK, apart from a very weird guitar solo that sounds like the voice box trick so beloved of 70’s acts. Sax is added to “Beatrice”, a song by Phillip Walker and Larry Garner, helping the tune to rock along well, as well as providing a soulful solo.

Peter Storm & The Blues Society’s second release demonstrates that the blues (and blues-rock) are alive and well in Portugal.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues.

Sam & Dave – Soul Man Explosion: The Nashville Sessions

Goldenlane Records

13 songs time – 34:47

Billed as a collection of revamped classics from the legendary soul greats Sam & Dave, it is a bit misleading. It isn’t of their original recordings; it is a revamping of re-recorded classics and cover songs that were recorded in Nashville in 1978. Hence their vocal delivery isn’t as tight and they utter various asides from time to time that can be a bit distracting. It seems like a licensing agreement couldn’t be reached to use the original recordings. There are a few interesting moments here, but I would rather listen to the originals. Long time fans might enjoy it.

I am not familiar with The Nashville Sessions, but it contains a few interesting cover songs and a few guest artists appear on this re-worked version. Steve Cropper re-creates his signature riff on “Soul Man” and on an instrumental version of it. British rock-jazz veteran Brian Auger adds what is listed as organ, but sounds like another keyboard instrument, to little effect on “I Thank You”. The two member band The Courettes add guitars, bass, various percussion, piano and vocals to “Hold On, I’m Comin'”. They end up just cluttering up the song, similar to having two different songs overlapping on bad radio reception from two stations.

As far as the cover songs go, they qualify as ok. They do a commendable take on Sam Cooke’s “(What A) Wonderful World”, but they should have lost the female backing vocals that add no energy. They commit a passable “Another Saturday Night”, but you can’t keep from sorely missing Sam Cooke’s deeply soulful vocal. A similar sentiment for their cover of The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin'”. They are no match for Steve Winwood’s soul-drenched vocal on the original. They do “Summertime” justice except for just dropping off at the song’s conclusion.

Sam & Dave fans ‘s will want this, but as for me I would prefer a collection of the original hits. I hate to say it, but this pretty much looks like a money grab. I do have to admit though, each time I here the signature riff of “Soul Man”, I can’t get the image of John Belushi and Dan Akroyd doing their lumbering crazy white boy dance out of my head.

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

Steven Taylor – Touch & Go

Self-Release – 2022

www.steventaylorblues.org

10 tracks; 30 minutes

Steven Taylor is the son of Greg ‘Fingers’ Taylor and stepson of Kim Wilson, so has been surrounded by blues music all his life. Although both father and step-father are harp players, Steven is a guitarist and singer and this is his third album release. Steven wrote seven songs and covers one of his father’s tunes, plus two other covers. The core band is Steven on guitar/vocals, Zander Griffith on bass and either Marty Dodson or Boyce Hartsell on drums. In addition a host of mainly West Coast musicians make guest appearances: guitarists Tommy Harkenrider and Kid Ramos, drummer Shane Diamond, bassist Hunter Taylor harp player Vincent Bury and an appearance by Fingers himself; backing vocals on two tracks are by Maria Macias and Johnny Ramos.

The CD opens with the title track, Steven’s echoey guitar well supported by the rhythm section as Steven worries about how long this relationship may last. “Say What You Will” adds Tommy Harkenrider’s guitar, a bright, upbeat tune which quickly sets the toes tapping as the two guitarists play well together, each comping behind the other’s solos to provide an excellent cut. A brooding riff underpins the next tune, in which Steven describes the girl as “Timeless”, immediately followed by “How I Feel About You”, a thumping shuffle given additional Chicago feel by the addition of Vincent’s harmonica.

The first cover is “Shim Sham Shimmy”, a Champion Jack Dupree tune which Jack once recorded with a young Eric Clapton (at the time a Bluesbreaker) on guitar. Steven’s version has more of a rockabilly feel with plenty of rocking guitar. Steven wrote “You’ll Live On” about his father and found a recording of him playing harp on the song, so we are able to hear Fingers here: “You’ll live on through your music. You’ll never be replaced and that’s what makes you great”, sings Steven in a touching tribute.

“Conditional Love” has a jagged stop/start rhythm and a fine solo from Steven before he and Kid Ramos go head to head on a pounding, rapid-fire instrumental with a distinctive border feel, a hot tune that fits its title, “Cholula”. A cover of Willie Cobbs’ “You Don’t Love Me” bounces along in familiar style and the album closes with Steven’s interpretation of his father’s tune “Extra Mile” which has an attractive core riff, choral backing vocals and harp player Vincent switching to slide guitar, making the track a little rockier than most of the album.

A little short in length by contemporary standards, this is, nevertheless, a thoroughly enjoyable album and should appeal to a broad swathe of blues fans.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues.