Cover photo © 2024 Marilyn Stringer

 In This Issue 

Jack Austin has our feature interview with Cedric Burnside. We have six Blues reviews for you this week including new music from Anthony Geraci, Big Harp George, JP Soars, Kirk Nelson & Jambalaya West, Consummate Rogues and BLUES People. Scroll down and check it out!

Anthony Geraci – Tears In My Eyes

Blue Heart Records

www.anthonygeraciblue.com

11 tracks/48 minutes

Anthony Geraci has played piano for countless other musicians over the years and his own albums are always a delight to listen to. He surrounds himself with a bevy of fine players and singers and gives us another likely award contender with this release.

Geraci plays piano and sings a bit. Sugar Ray Norcia and Barrett Anderson handle the brunt of the vocal tracks; Anderson also plays lead guitar throughout. Paul Loranger is on on bass and drums are shared by Marty Richards on the first four tracks (recorded in Acton, MA) and Kurt Kalker on the rest (recorded in Prague in the Czech Republic). Drew Davies is on sax except for track five with Mario Perrett on the horn.

“Broken Mirror, Broken Mirror” opens the album. It’s a cool, slow blues with Geraci singing emotively and some stinging guitar work along with Geraci’s stalwart piano playing. Sugar Ray Norcia handles the vocals here. Dirty, sublime and cool stuff! “Owl’s Nest” follows, a jumping and swinging instrumental. The sax and piano work were especially impressive. The title track is next with guitarist Paul Anderson fronting the band. It’s a blues rocker of sorts with pretty piano and guitar along with a nice, driving beat.

Another cool instrumental come up next, “Blues For Willie J,” a cut dedicatd to Willie J. Campbell. A slow. Lamentatious piano drives this slow and thoughtful piece that builds and builds. Some great guitar soloing comes in later to make this even more poignant. Sugar Ray returns to lead “Judge Oh Judge,” some sorrowful and slick slow blues about not getting jailed for a murder he did not commit. Sax and piano add to the mood in this cool number. “Oh No” is a jazzy instrumental featuring sax and piano; well done!

Next is “Ooeee” with Geraci singing and setting a bit of a stride on in piano. The sax wails on a big solo and then Geraci follows up on piano.  He growls the lead out nicely, too. Another nice instrumental is up next and Anne Harris adds her violin to the mix with piano and violin featured. The repetitious and evolving melody slips and slides along as the instruments slip in and out to good effect here in “Memphis Mist.” “Witchy Ways” follows with Anderson again singing and playing some Dickey Betts-esque slide guitar, giving the cut a nice Southern Blues Rock feel. Geraci adds some well done piano licks, too!

“Now What” brings Norcia back in this slow and delightful blues as he and Geraci’s piano trade off. Then the sax comes in for some delicious soloing; a pretty piece. The album concludes with “Lonely Country Road Blues.” The finale is a somber instrumental with piano and acoustic guitar, another thoughtful and expressive cut.

Geraci’s got another winner here. All the songs are originals and well-crafted. He and the crew joining him do a superb job. I foresee future accolades in this album!

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

Big Harp George – Cooking with Gas

Blues Mountain Records BMR CD07

www.bigharpgeorge.com

12 songs – 48 minutes

Serving up a breath of fresh air in a world dominated by harp players cut out of the Little Walter-Sonny Boy Willamson template, Big Harp George has revealed himself to be one of the most imaginative chromatic harp players in the world since making his professional debut a decade ago. And as the title suggests he simply cooks with gas on his latest CD, delivering dazzlingly tasty runs on the reeds and songs that are infused with clever, sometimes humorous, sometimes timely lyrics, too.

A latecomer to the blues, Dr. George Bisharat was a public defender, criminal defense attorney, award-winning professor at the University of California-San Francisco’s Hastings College of the Law and an expert commentator of the legal affairs and politics of the Middle East before shifting to music fulltime a few years ago while winning recognition in the Blues Blast Music Awards and Blues Music Awards throughout.

As usual, this all-original effort was recorded at Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studios in San Jose, Calif., and features a lineup that includes several of the biggest names in the Bay Area scene. Andersen delivers fluid guitar lines throughout and handles bass on one track with Chris Burns on keys, Derrick “D’Mar” Martin and June Core on drums and Joe Kyle Jr. and Jerry Jemmott on bass.

Featuring horns throughout, Mike Rinta delivers trombone with Michael Peloquin and Doug Rowan laying down sax, augmented by Aaron Lington (baritone sax) and Ed Morrison (trumpet) for one cut each. And the Sons of the Soul Revivers – James, Dwayne and Walter Morgan – provide backing vocals, too.

The disc turns the heat on high with the percussive “Cooking with Gas” to open, Delivered with Latin flair and propelled by a repetitive chorus line, it recounts the necessity of blowing out his kitchen wall and use a crane to have his new stove installed and then having have friends tell him that using it is akin to firing a gun because of the dangers the device presents. George’s harp skills come the fore from the opening of “Cellphone Hater,” a humorous, mid-tempo shuffle that bemoans the necessity to having to be tied to the devise everywhere he goes. The mid-tune break will make you smile – as does his assertion that he thinks often of tossing the phone off of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The minor-key, salsa-flavored “Doom Loop” follows with George watching on helplessly as a friend keeps making blunders on a repeat cycle while the humor returns for “Wine Is My Friend,” a slow shuffle with a ‘50s or early ‘60s feel. The propulsive instrumental, “Maceosity,” is up next as George and the horns pay tribute to Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and the other talents who helped James Brown fashion R&B. Then he turns back the clock with “Awkward Me,” a swing number that would have fit into the setlist of a band in the ‘30s as it describes someone’s problems in building relationships.

“What the Missus Misses” opens with a driving, regimented beat then keeps the swing going as George complains about communication problems with his lady before showing off his harp mastery on the instrumental, “June’s Tune,” which was named after his drummer. Mid-tune solos from several principals shouldn’t be missed. It flows into “DIY Mama,” a rhumba about a woman who refuses help no matter what the situation.

Then things take a serious turn with “Paradise Is Burning,” a simmering slow blues delivered in the first person that addresses the continuing bloodshed and tragedy in the Middle East without ever mentioning Palestine, Israel or Gaza by name. The song also mentions harp player Lazy Lester looking down from heaven and ask him to find out why all of this is transpiring. “The Older We Get” changes the mood from the jump as it bemoans not being famous at an advanced age before the sentimental instrumental ballad, “When I First Held Valerie,” is chockful of unspoken love for his daughter.

Big Harp George has carved out his own special corner in the blues, and he serves up a treasure here. Don’t miss it!

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.

 Blues Blast Music Awards Submissions 

Submissions from artists and labels for the 17th Annual Blues Blast Music Awards are open until May 31st, 2024.

Albums released between June 1. 2023 and May 31, 2024 are eligible this year.

Submit your music now. Click this link:
www.bluesblastmagazine.com/blues-blast-awards-submission-information

JP Soars – Brick by Brick

Little Village Foundation LVF 1062

www.jpsoars.com

11 songs – 46 minutes

A California native who moved to rural Arkansas and then West Palm Beach, Fla., in his youth, JP Soars is basically a self-taught guitarist who grew up enamored by death metal, spending eight years in Raped Ape, a major thrash metal draw in the Southeast. Sitting front center for a B.B. King show forever changed the direction of his life and musical career.

He’s been a major force in the blues world since 2009, when he captured the International Blues Challenge, proving without a doubt that he’d learned his lessons well – and other talents, too. For the first time on disc, he shows off his love for gypsy jazz Django Reinhardt, too, mixing it into a healthy serving of blues, blues-rock and a little country blues, too.

Produced by JP and Jeremy Staska and recorded, mixed and mastered at Staska’s Studio 13 in Fort Lauderdale, Soars handles all vocals, dobro, banjo, lap steel, two-string cigar-box guitar, dulcimer, jaw harp and some bass, too. He’s backed by the cream of the crop of South Florida musicians, a lineup that includes longtime bandmate Chris Peet on drums and bass, Bob Taylor on Hammond B3 organ, Rockin’ Jake Jacobs on harmonica and BMA winner Terry Hanck on sax. The sensational Anne Harris adds fiddle with Paul DesLauriers and wife Annika Chambers adding backing vocals and Raul D. Hernandez and Staska addition percussion.

A driving six-string intro kicks off “Brick by Brick” in which JP announces he hasn’t taken any shortcuts in building up his home – or career – and that he takes plenty of pride in everything he does and that he does it his way. His mid-tune solo comes with a bite and the powerful sound he’s known for. It gives way to “Jezebel,” which comes with a Latin beat and describes a warning from his mother that the girl of his dreams would be trouble. Now, he “walks through the fire everyday…any way.” His solo envelops the sound of the Southwest, and the rhythm section is skintight.

The keys come in to the mix for the first time on the blues-rocker, “Keep Good Company,” which carries religious imagery as it delivers the advice to take care in choosing your business associates and friends or you’ll pay the price. It gives way to the rapid-fire “I Can’t Keep Her Off My Mind,” a country-flavored number on which JP picks up the banjo along with guitar and Harris is high in the mix. The mood changes from the opening notes of the sweet, unhurried and barebones instrumental, “In the Moment,” which introduces jazz elements to the mix and gives Soars space to display his prodigious picking chops.

But blues are back in style with the stop-time pleaser “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” to follow, describing losing control every time JP hears his lady’s name or is at her side. Hanck drives home the message throughout. “The Good Lord Will Provide” delivers a little more country blues and a message to be kind to your neighbors before Rockin’ Jake joins the action for the driving “Honey and Hash” describes having a “ganga woman” who keeps him all night long. It’s a match made in heaven, Soars says, before switching back to banjo for the rollicking instrumental, “Merlin Stomp.”

The uptempo “Things Ain’t Workin’ Out” serves up a complaint about a relationship not working out and includes some mighty fine guitar work before the Latin-flavored “Down by the Water” celebrates life at the ocean’s side to bring the set to a close.

Never boring and ever-changing, this one’s a seamless treat.

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.

Kirk Nelson & Jambalaya West – Savor the Moment

Independent Release

http://www.kirknelsonmusic.com

12 Tracks – 40 minutes

Californian Kirk Nelson has had a long and illustrious career in the music world. His father was a musician in jazz bands. Kirk started learning how to play the piano at age 7 and by age 8 was playing recitals and then some paying gigs for women’s garden clubs and such. At that time, he was playing classical music. But at age 12, he heard a loud garage band playing and decided he wanted to play that kind of music. He started learning to play the guitar but decided to keep his focus on the keyboards. At age 16, he joined a band that played Grateful Dead songs. Over the years, he constantly shifted his focus playing everything from rock to jazz. He worked in the Sound City Studio and for Paramount, which led him to write and perform music for tv shows and movies. He even wrote for the animated series Ren & Stimpy and had a small appearance on the show.

He got married and had three children. He stayed close to home to be with his family but did continue to play in local bands. But as his children grew up, he decided to start playing more. He eventually entered what he calls his “Blues Period”. He joined a band called Blues Gone South and followed that with a gig in Michael John and The Bottom Line. The latter group finished in the top ten at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. He has shared the stage and recorded with Buddy Guy, James Cotton, Bo Diddley, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Robert Cray.

In 2018, he released his first solo album, Collectibles. He then formed his band, Jambalaya West, and released an album, Lagniappe, in 2022. That album was voted the #1 jazzy blues album on the Roots Music Report. This new album is also released under that band name but Kirk who plays piano, organ, guitar, banjo and sings, Mitch Montrose on drums, and Don Weinstein on trumpet, trombone, cornet and tuba are the only three performers on all of the album cuts. They are joined by three different guitarists, four bass players, three horn players, and three backing vocalists that appear on different album cuts.

Kirk describes the music as “funky soul blues with NOLA style arrangements and a little west coast bounce”. In fact, the first song delivers on that description aptly as offered in its title, “Bounce Around”, a very funky song with a jazz pedigree. The horns jump out as he sings everything is going to be okay as there are “Only 12 Bars in a Day”. He kicks into high gear on the organ as he tells you to “Stay in Your Lane”, which might be talking about road rage, or using it as a metaphor for staying out of trouble in life.

“Back On Up the River” rocks out with a guitar solo and moves into a jazz mode with a muted trumpet. “Must Be a Reason” really gets things jumping again with Kirk’s organ again leading with the trumpets blaring along as he sings “if its heaven on earth, then celebrate the day, join in with the feeling”. “Swingin’ So Low” is a sleepy song for a late night in a bar with an easy piano, a gentle swish on the drums and cymbals, and a smokey trumpet.

“Tamale Man” arrives with an expected Hispanic touch as Kirk dips below the border. The instrumental “Wake Up the Rooster” gets a strut going with some funky guitar, cowbell in the mix, and another organ run. He tells someone to “do us all a favor” and “Turn Yourself In”, a pure New Orleans tune. “Radical” offers a political message with a statement “lead into the left, lead into the right, you’re in for a big surprise, jumpin’ the gun before you thought it out, just ain’t very wise.” “Who’s going to follow all these rules when nobody wants to lead?”

The next two songs “Basin Street Blues” and “I’m Beginning to See the Light” are the only two songs on the album not written by Kirk, but neither’s authorship is attributed to a composer. I associate the first song with Louis Armstrong and the latter with Duke Ellington, both of whom Kirk notes as early influences. If you know these songs, then you have a general sense of the tone of the whole album.

Kirk’s liner notes say, “the album plays out like a sonic crab boil spilled out on a picnic table; layers of flavor reveal themselves the more you dig in, offering – quite literally – more moments to savor”. Not sure exactly what that means, but the sense is that there is a lot going on in each song. The horns are a constant in the album, swelling in and out of every song. Is it jazzy blues or bluesy jazz?  If you like the New Orleans sound, seek out this album.

Reviewer 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.

Northern Mississippi Hill Country Blues runs through the veins of Cedric Burnside. The 45 year-old drummer, guitarist, and songwriter was intimately formed by the sounds he heard growing up of renowned Hill Country blues artists like his grandfather R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, and Jessie Mae Hemphill.

With a musical family, Burnside began playing drums in jukebox joints, at just 10 years old, sometimes needing to hide, being underaged if the police showed up.

Burnside said that it instilled a love of the blues and the music in his blood and heart, but he was introduced to things like people drinking moonshine, smoking joints, and dirty dancing, that he should not have been exposed to at that age. With late shows, sometimes Burnside would make it home at 4:30 am, change clothes, and catch a 6:30 bus to school.

“I think I was born with it (the music). In my blood. I feel like I am Hill Country Blues because I grew up in this music. That’s all I knew my whole life,” Burnside said. “I knew I was destined to play this music. Even as a young kid, you know, I knew I was gonna play this music for the rest of my life.”

Hill Country Love, released in April 2024, marks Burnside’s third solo release and comes across as a love letter to the Mississippi Hill Country. In 2022, Burnside won the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues album with I Be Trying.

Earlier in his career, Cedric Burnside collaborated with R.L. Burnside, Lightnin’ Malcolm, Bernard Allison, and Trenton Ayers (as the Cedric Burnside Project) – putting out 8 albums between 2001-2018.

Burnside said he thinks Hill country Love stands out as his best album to date. Feedback has been positive, and he said some people have told him “they smell another grammy” and that they enjoy the entire, cohesive album– that there are no weak tracks.

“I express myself a little bit more than I normally do on the other albums. I think my word selection is different. My guitar playing is different. It’s just the structure of the songs is different. Which I love,” Burnside said. “This album is raw, but it’s expressive and explosive, all at the same time. And I think it got a little bit of all walks of life in this album.”

The raw nature of the album reflects the raw nature of the genre Burnside is keeping alive. It seems like a personal homage to the specific place and people he grew up around.

“Hill country blues is very raw. It’s very real. The rhythm of hill country blues is different from your normal blues. The rhythm can be quite unorthodox,” Burnside said. “This music makes me who I am today. I feel like I am Hill Country blues.”

Burnside never received formal musical education because when his family wasn’t making music, they were in the fields providing for the family. As such, when relatives got together to play music, Burnside watched attentively and learned by mimicking the way his family played. The first time Burnside got the chance to play snare drums was at periodic house parties, with his “Big Daddy” R.L.

R.L., a legend in his own right, was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2014. While R.L. was Cedric’s grandfather, they had more of a father-son bond, Burnside said, because he grew up with R.L., his “Big Daddy” until he was old enough to move out on his own. Burnside described R.L. as the backbone of the family that would loosen up a bit when they were out on the road. Simply put, Burnside said it was “beautiful” to be a part of a musical family and legacy.

“He (R.L. Burnside) just opened the door for not just the Burnside family but for so many people,” Burnside said. “And so many great musicians who love this style of music. Hill country blues.”

Burnside said he is dedicated to making his own mark in music, but that he feels confident his big daddy would be proud of the music he has produced, and that he has not simply stayed in his grandfather’s shadows.

Acknowledging the roots of blues music, Burnside said he hopes to channel it as a positive force. He said music was a way of escaping the conditions of poverty growing up.

“In a rural area and in a sharecropping environment at the time, this music was just a great way to forget everything, you know,” Burnside said. “Forget all the poverty that was around us and all the poverty that we was living in at the time.”

Burnside holds an optimistic view for the fate of blues in general, and his beloved Hill Country Blues especially. Several people in the younger generations are picking up the music, investing in it, and loving it, he said.

“The blues will never leave because every day, you know, people go through something. Anybody can have the blues these days, and it don’t matter if you poor and it don’t matter if you rich,” Burnside said. “You can still have the blues. Regardless of if they get the recognition or not, it’s going to always be here.”

From Burnside’s perspective, R&B and Rap are modern manifestations of the blues. R.L used to tell Burnside “the blues is the roots of all music.” Burnside said part of his goal in life is to be able to tell his story through the blues, before it’s too late.

Mississippi Fred McDowell, a major influence on Burnside, shot craps and drank moonshine with R.L. In tribute to the close friends, Burnside performs several McDowell covers on the latest record.

Burnside finds inspiration all around him – “every day the universe will throw you something to write about, whether that’s good or bad”, he said.

Oftentimes, Burnside sits on his porch, listening to birds chirp and the wind blow for inspiration. A creative state comes over him, and lyrics or music pour out of him. While not religious, Burnside considers himself spiritual, and the blues is very spiritual for him.

A competent drummer and guitar player, Burnside is seeking to master more instruments for a greater range of sound and more control over his sound. Learning guitar was an empowering process.

“I’m glad to be able to play my music and not sound it out to other guitar players. Because even when I sound it out, they do it their way, which is the way it is more comfortable to them. And so it still wasn’t what I really heard in my head,” Burnside said. “Even though we’ll get close it is not what I heard in my head when it comes down to writing my songs. So I’m happy to be able to play my own music. That’s that’s a beautiful thing for me.”

Burnside, who wants to learn to play every instrument before he dies, said he is playing around with piano and a harmonica in the key of G, mostly to see what sounds he can produce.

Another musical blues force from the Hill Country, the North Mississippi Allstars, composed of Luther and Cody Dickinson, are contemporaries of Burnside. Ever since he was 14, Burnside would play at Junior’s Juke Joint with the brothers, who also collaborated with R.L. Luther, a longtime musical partner, plays bass on Hill Country Love. This marks the second studio album the pair have worked on together.

“When we get into the studio, it’s just a very spiritual thing. I think when it comes down to slide Luther is the guy,” Burnside said. “His slide is just so amazing. I know some great slide guitars out there. But Luther is the one for me.”

In today’s world, the Blues struggles to compete in popularity with other genres.

“The hardest part about being a blues musician is you know, blues don’t really get the recognition that it deserves,” Burnside said. “Other genres out there make a whole lot more money due to you know, the younger generation loving that genre of music. And some young generations haven’t even heard of the blues, don’t even listen to the blues.”

Burnside constantly centers Mississippi, and the musicians that live there, as inspirational.

Ever since he was a child, Burnside said he was mesmerized, in a spiritual way with the natural wonders of Mississippi.

“Mississippi just inspires me so much. I really don’t have the words to explain how much it means to me. When I walk through the woods. I get inspired,” Burnside said. I’m sitting on the porch and I hear birds chirping, I get inspired. It’s just something really special about Mississippi to me, and nothing has made me want to leave Mississippi.”

Burnside had the opportunity to play with Jessie Mae Hemphill, one of the best blues musicians of all time, and a leading female guitar and drum player, another character from Northern Mississippi.

Hemphill was a kind soul, but fierce, and would not let anyone screw with her, or those she cared about, according to Burnside. She carried a 38 special in her purse.

“She would just be the sweetest lady, she will always say, I would give anybody the shirt off my back. But you know, I’m not to be effed with neither,” Burnside said. “So she’ll show that 38 special, and let me know that she got it in her purse and she got my back and she got her back all at the same time. So that was Miss Jessie.”

Winning the blues Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2022, signified not only a personal achievement, but a recognition of the Hill Country Blues in general– a point of pride for Burnside’s friends and family, particularly musicians in Northern Mississippi.

“It made me feel really good to bring a Grammy home to this area, to the Hill Country. That’s never been done before. So that was really really beautiful,” Burnside said. “Bringing it home to celebrate (was) about all the cats that showed me the ropes and how proud they would be that I finally did it. And not just for myself but for everybody.”

Burnside said that he has been around the blues his whole life– from a baby, to a toddler, to a teenager, to a grown man. He said he believes blues is the roots of all music and that he understands the history of blues as a tool to deal with emotional pain for Black people.

While respecting this past, Burnside said he wants to think positively and not dwell on the past. He added he wants to create new hill country blues.

“I hear that raw sound in my mind, in my head, it’s in my body. That’s all I heard my whole life. People tell me that it sounds modern and old at the same time. I’m a younger generation and music moves with the time,” Burnside said. “But that old raw sound, that’s in me as well. It’s not that I’m trying to keep it alive for my Big Daddy, but it’s just who I am. Even if I wanted to stop it, I don’t think I could, it’s just what comes out of me. Because I am a part of that music.”

Writer Jack Austin, also known by his radio DJ name, Electric Chicken (y Pollo Electrico en Espanol), is a vinyl collector, music journalist, and musician originally from Pittsburgh.

Consummate Rogues – Live in Bucharest

Self-Release – 2023

www.consummaterogues.com

10 tracks; 62 minutes

Live in Bucharest (2023), the first release for British blues group the Consummate Rogues, emerges as a polished live recording spanning blues, rock, jam band, and New Orleans funk. The group, composed of London studio musicians, deliver a high energy, versatile effort as their recording debut.

The album, largely driven by covers of popular songs, shows clear technical precision and chops on every instrument. The piano, played by Chris Rand, and the guitar, played by Leo Appleyard, dominate the often rootsy blues-rock sound. The band shows they can not only play in the studio; they can play for a live audience.

Rand dances over the keys, with spicy piano work, on “Alright, Okay, You Win”, and pleads for his lover to take him, singing “Baby let me be your man.” An interplay of solos between saxophone (Rand again) and guitar (Appleyard) shows the intensity of a man with the blues, pouring out his soul – howling notes from the saxophone while the guitar shreds everything in its path.

While perhaps not up to the admittedly high standards of the good Dr. John, the Rogues perform a solid cover of “Such a Night”, beginning with groovy, New Orleans style piano keys. Rand’s voice comes across as softer and more romantic than the Doctor, and the band stretches the song out, jamming throughout, to 7 minutes.

“Across the Year” features spaced out grooves and political messaging: “It’s our civil liberty. When’s enough, enough.” The tune, with just a tinge of blues, hosts delightfully mean electric guitar.

The band finished their Bucharest concert with three covers they handled quite well – a soulful, energetic take on “Rag Mama Rag”, a sad rendition of “You’re Going To Make Me Lonesome When You Go”, and a cover of“I’m A Believer”spotlighting phenomenal guitar play.

Rand’s voice fit perfectly to “You’re going To Make Me Lonesome When You Go”, dark, sad, and nostalgic, as Appleyard delivers slow burning, deep hitting guitar notes with impeccable technique. This song, the best on the album, is one to have tea with– one to sip and savor in. It’s about lingering in a heartbreak that is sure to come.

At various times, the band sounds like Phish, CSN, and Paul Butterfield.

“I’m A Believer” is one of the tracks that strays from the blues, and while a fun cover, cannot stack up to the original. Even with that said, the frenzy of piano and the guitar solos are commendable.

The album pushes in many directions, no doubt a result of the experience of the talented studio musicians. While Rand and Appleyard dominate the sound, Geoff Threadgold on bass and Will Chism on drums provide a steady, reliable core to the band on every track.

Perhaps the effort could benefit from a more cohesive sound or focus– say, more of a straight blues or more of a straight rock sound–, but the eclecticism seems to hit both ways.

The Consummate Rogues, on this release, portray themselves as masters of many styles of music. A few tracks fall short, but on the whole, it’s good fun to listen to.

Writer Jack Austin, also known by his radio DJ name, Electric Chicken (y Pollo Electrico en Espanol), is a vinyl collector, music journalist, and musician originally from Pittsburgh.

BLUES People – The Skin I’m In

Self Released

www.bluespeepz.com

9 tracks/39 minutes

BLUES People are a New Jersey/NYC band with a ton of musical experience who produced their first album here. I saw then at the International Blues Challenge and was impressed by their soulful  blues. They are the real deal. They’ve backed and supported many a fine artist, including, among others, Sue Foley, Josh Smith, Kool & the Gang, Ruf’s Blues Caravan, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Bo Diddley, Jr. and Michael Hill’s Blues Mob, an impressive list!

The band takes it’s name from the book Blues People: Negro Music in White America. This book is a highly-regarded study of African-American music and culture by Amiri Baraka. He published the book as LeRoi Jones in 1963. A couple of long time friends who spent the pandemic developing their music and sound to the eventual result of this fine band.

The players in the band are Kelton Cooper on vocals and guitar, Mike Griot on bass, Ron Thompson on keys and Gene Lake on drums. Cooper is a powerful and soul tinged singer who plays some wickedly great guitar.  Thompson’s keys are really good and the backline provides a solid and impressive groove throughout.

The album begins with ringing guitar supported by heavy organ. Cooper comes in with his impassioned vocals and the listener is grabbed into their spider’s web that won’t let go. It’s soul blues done right. It’s a great start and leads into the title track. It has a funky groove with nice organ (featuring guest Victor Burks) and guitar. The solos on organ and guitar are both exceptional as are the vocals. “Hey Joe (Revisited)” takes the song Hendrix made famous and rearranges the lyrics to a more modern racial profiling theme. The guitar rings, the piano and organ add depth.

“I Was Always There” is a straight blues with a cool vibe. The vocals, organ and guitar are superb. Then it’s “Troubled Times,” a slow and deeper blues cut.  It’s a nice transition and another excellent song. Burks also appears here on piano. “Blues Interlude” is next and is just a short transition from a live set and has two guests, Eric Brown and Alex T.

“Smoke & Mirrors” is a heavy, rocking blues with a soulful twist. Heavy guitar and keys and a big overall sound make this different and cool. “Nuthin’ Really” follows, mixing a cool groove and a narrative done in the studio as the band has fun just messing around. They end with “Knee Off My Neck,” a song about brutality and lack of respect. Funky and soulful, the song sends a message with it’s rousing performance.

They made the semi-finals at the IBC. I really enjoyed their set. Perhaps the reworked “Hey Joe” was their downfall; they reworked and modernized the lyrics but it’s basically mostly a straight up cover (with organ added). Despite that, I loved their set and love this album. There is a little heavy reverb echo on some of the vocals, a minor flaw in an otherwise superb soul blues debut album. I can’t wait to see them live again; these guys are a really amazing band!

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