Dom Martin – Buried Alive

Forty Below Records – 2024

www.dommart.in

CD1: 9 tracks; 45.49 minutes

CD2: 7 tracks; 51.46 minutes

Northern Ireland’s Dom Martin has had a spectacular rise on the UK and European scene since his debut EP in 2019, consistently winning plaudits (and awards) for his music and garnering a strong reputation for his live shows where he often includes a solo acoustic segment alongside his usual electric show. This two CD set takes the best recordings from the tour that Dom did to promote his 2023 studio album, Buried In The Hail, CD1 being electric, CD2 solo acoustic. On CD1 Dom plays electric guitar/vocals, ably supported by bassist Ben Graham and drummer Aaron McLaughlin; on CD2 Dom plays solo acoustic/vocals, Demi Marriner joining him on one cut on rhythm guitar and vocals. The recordings are drawn from gigs in the UK, Belgium and Germany.

CD1 concentrates on songs from Buried In The Hail, just two coming from Dom’s other albums. Dom makes a relatively quiet start with “Daylight I Will Find”, his dobro giving the tune a slight country blues feel: “It’s been a long old road to ruin, daylight I will find”. “Government” has a folksy feel with rather muddied vocals but “Buried In The Hail” builds well from its gentle slide opening to a dark place, not least due to Dom’s deep, brooding vocals, the rhythm section crashing in at appropriate times to accentuate that feel of foreboding. “Howlin’” sounds like it should be a tribute to Howling Wolf, but, until some uptempo lead guitar mid-tune, it moves along more in a catchy country blues style. “Belfast Blues” is based round Dom’s rolling riff, from which he adds some occasional slide, followed by “Unhinged” which has plenty of screaming, distorted guitar work that fits the title. “Lefty 2 Guns” is the last title drawn from Buried In The Hail and returns to the brooding style that Dom seems to favor (including some bruising riffing) before he revisits two songs from earlier albums, both heavy rocking numbers, “12 Gauge” and “Dixie Black Hand”, the former using lots of slide, the latter having a gentler interlude in which bassist Ben shows his skills, before closing the disc with a blast of really heavy guitar.

CD2 finds Dom in more introspective mood as he opens with the title track of his debut EP “Easy Way Out”, coupled with the autobiographical “Belfast Blues” one of just two tracks from Buried In The Hail that appears in both electric and acoustic sets. You notice immediately that Dom is able to modulate his vocals from his usual gruff tone to a higher register which he deploys well here. As with most of the material here, Dom takes his time, this first track running well over ten minutes. Demi Marriner’s harmony vocal adds to the more optimistic feel of “Daylight I Will Find” on which Dom plays some good slide but the overall feel of these songs is perhaps summed up by lyrics like “I can’t swim, I’m only dragging you down; here comes the river, drown me in it” (“Here Comes The River”). Dom plays beautifully on “Hell For You”, opening with a flourish worthy of flamenco-style playing before settling into quieter mode for the rest of the song and the co-joined “Mercy”, another lengthy track that hits the ten minute mark. The last two tunes here are drawn from Dom’s Spain To Italy album, “Dealer” laying bare Dom’s previous experience of addiction in stark fashion and closing the set in dark and sombre mood.

These two discs encapsulate both faces of Dom Martin’s abilities, equally at home on electric guitar as he is in solo acoustic mode, a man on the rise on the European circuit.

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.

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Christopher Wyze & the Tellers – Live In Clarksdale

Big Radio Records

www.christopherwyze.com

DVD/CD

DVD 41:59 show, 51:29 film

CD 10 tracks/41 minutes

Christopher Wyze began his musical journey after meeting producer Ralph Carter at a blues gathering in Clarksdale in 2012. Carter eventually pushed Wyze into writing songs and leaving his cover band life of over two decades. Carter was co-writer, bass player and tour director for Eddie Money and then later landed gigs with NBC, Showtime and a variety of Los Angeles based recording artists. In 2020 he produced and played with 2020 B.B. King Entertainer of the Year and Grammy-nominated  Sugaray Rayford.

Wyze was an ad man, author, journalist and storytelling writer for over 40 year before embarking on a 20 year cover band career. His hooking up with Carter pushed him to write songs and they formed a band that produced their initial album of all original cuts written in 2022 and recorded in 2023 at Muscle Shoals. They got back together in Clarksdale for this live recording last October.

Wyze handles lead vocals and harp. Carter is backing vocalist on all but one cut. John J.B Boyle is on electric and slide guitars. Gerry Murphy is on electric bass. Mark Yacovone is on keys. Douglas Banks handles the drums. Irene Smits backs vocals on one track.

I started with the DVD concert, recorded 10/1/25. The concert is pretty much the same as the CD’s 10 cuts. “Three Hours from Memphis” opens the show. It’s a rocking blues. Nice guitar, pretty soloing.  The keyboards are well down.  The vocals are clean and clear in a steady metered delivery. The second track was the top song from their inaugural release Stuck In The Mud. It’s entitled “Back To Clarksdale” and pays homage to the unofficial southern capital of the blues. Wyze continues his deliberate delivery style and the band supports in great form. I like the keys and guitar work and the songs all tell a story. Next is “Money Spent Blues” where Wyze bemoans his relational cash woes with grit.  More nice guitar solo work and tight keys.

Wyze breaks out his harp on “Hard Work Don’t Pay” and sings about his blues over working hard every day in his deep baritone. Selling ones soul and losing one’s sense of right and wrong are the culmination of one’s life working for the man. Boyle gives us some pretty slide to savor and Yacovone continues to shine on organ. Wyze gets emotional over his described job experiences frustrations in his delivery. “Stuck In The Mud” follows, a song about being stuck in the mud after the flood. Irene Smits provides backing vocals on this one and does a good job. Wyze continues to blow dirty harp. The theme here is pretty much a continuation of the prior cut’s downtrodden woes and blues. J.B. continues to shine on guitar.

“Cotton Ain’t King” is the next cut, a cut about the crop that made the South. The slide helps make this one enticing. Wyze sings about how king cotton gave us the blues which is the real king, not the fluffy white stuff that was picked by overworked huma labor. Next is “Looking for My Baby.” He’s searching for his woman, asking for help in finding his baby. By song’s end she‘s still not found, but Wyze seems to have hope.

“Good Friend Gone” is a biographical cut about Wyze’s origins in Indiana near Illinois. His upbringing with his friends apparently didn’t comply with school or parental rules, let alone preachers and the law. They shirked job and hung with the wrong crowd, resulting in what the song title says. There no specificity as to how the good friend was gone, but jail appears to  be the better choice that what his buddy got.  “How Long, How Long Blues” is a tribute to Scrapper Blackwell in this Leroy Carr classic. Nice piano licks abound along with the guitar soloing. Wyze croons on here in te first of two covers. They finish with another Scrapper Blackwell cut, this time a later Jimmie Cox tune “Nobody Knows You when You’re Down and Out.” This slow ballad again features cool piano as it’s just Wyze and Yacovone on stage.  It’s a pretty conclusion to the show.

Also on the DVD is another 51 and a half minutes or so of Wyze taking us in a tour of The Shack Up Inn on the old Hobson Plantation. Inside the Inn is The Juke Joint Chapel, a bar and music venue. Wyze takes of a tour of the joint and notes many of the accoutrements in the facility.

He takes us on a tour of Clarksdale. He stops at the historical marker of the Tutwiler Train Station honoring W.C. Handy. He visits Sonny Boy II’s gravesite before hitting the Coahoma County Tourism Office in Clarksdale, a definite stop if you visit Clarksdale before hitting the Museum and other stops. Wyze talks with Bubba O’Keefe who runs the Office.

Next stop is the cool Cathead Records and interview with owner Roger Stolle telling the story of Clarksdale and music. The Stone Pony Pizza and Restaurant is noted before stopping at Hambone’s Art Gallery and Music venue. On Yazoo Street is the Bluesberry Café and restaurant the Yazoo Pass. The big attraction is Ground Zero Blues Club, Morgan Freeman’s super joint.

He ends day one at the Shack Up In, then starts the next day at the intersections of highways 61 and 49. He goes across the street to Abe’s Barbeque, a famous joint. Red’s Juke Joint/Blues Club is next. Hooker Grocery and Eatery stop follows that before hitting Deak’s Mississippi Saxophone Shop, owned by Deak Harp. He sells, repairs and builds harps. He concludes his tour at the delta Blues Museum, a definite stop for all blues tourists.

It’s an interesting show and Claskdale tour video.  Wyze’s vocals are deep, gritty and have a very matter of fact pacing, The band is tight and the songs are nicely done  blues that tell stories. Wyze and company are devoted to their craft and work hard at doing authentic blues.

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.

John Primer – Grown In Mississippi

Blues House Productions

https://johnprimerblues.com

14 tracks 55 minutes

As the title tells, John Primer was “Grown In Mississippi.” Born and raised in Camden, Mississippi to a sharecropping family, John lived the blues as he grew up. Hearing the blues and Gospel as a kid gave him a true appreciation for the music that he embraced and brought to his new home in Chicago. Primer first played for tips on Maxwell Street and then advanced into Theresa’s Lounge to play with and lead the bands for many a great legend including Magic Slim, Junior Wells, Willie Dixon, and Muddy Waters. He started his own Real Deal Band in 1995 and for over 30 years he’s become a legend himself. He returned to his old home state to produced this album and landed in Gary Vincent’s studio in Clarksdale to make this album.

The album features an all-star cast. Guest appearances by Bobby Rush, Charlie Musselwhite, Watermelon Slim, Eden Brent, Lightnin’ Malcolm, and Deak Harp help to make this a special tribute to John’s home state. Rickey ’Quicksand” Martin is on drums ecept for a pair of cuts wit Lee Williams,   Harvell Thomas Jr. play bass. Billy Earheart is on piano and keys for a few cuts and Steve Bell is on harp for a couple of tracks.

John kicks off this album with “John’s Blues Holler,” a short acapella cut with crickets accompanying him and the sounds of a tambourine that are like leg chains rattling along with the beat. It’s a beautifully done piece and emotional stuff. Then it’s time for some sweet guitar on “Born In Mississippi.” Done in Elmore James style, Prime plays some meanly cool licks and sings with feeling. It’s just him and his electric guitar and done so well!

Leroy’s Carr’s “Blues Before Sunrise” follows. Deak Harp provides some nice greasy harp and Earheart’s piano work is slick. John sings with passion and picks out some pretty stuff. It’s a great cover and Primer continues to dsipaly his process on guitar. Willie Dixon’s “Down In The Bottom” is next. Primer sings and plays with controlled abandon and Watermelon Slim adds some great dobro; the piano is also a super addition to the cut.

“Walkin’ Blues” is a Muddy Waters song that Primer turns in a sweet performance on. John states, “He feels like going back home,” and gives us something that truly is a Mississippi gem. His guitar along with Lightnin’ Malcom’s resonate with the same feeling as do the well done vocals. Next is “Nothing But A Chicken Wing” with the legendary Bobby Rush on harp. John pays tribute to the Chitterling Circuit with this funky and cool cut. Rush squawks out some neat stuff, Primer plays us a grooving guitar lead and this new track gets you feeling like dancing to the groove. Bobby and Primer show us that two great old bluesmen still have it. Rush at 91 and Primer at 80 are still bringing  it.

“A Better Day” is a great slow blues with more nice piano and organ by Earheart. Primer plays some restrained and outstanding guitar on this one and Steve Bell adds his ever satisfying harp. “When I Met The Blues” is another good little original with John singing with his soulfulness and picking out some fine notes to savor with some sweet help by Lightnin’ Malcom adding his guitar to the mix. The two axe men play off each other here with a nice hill country vibe!

Joe Williams’ “Baby Please Don’t Go” features Charlie Musselwhite trading harp licks with John;s vocals and guitar.  Both guys offer up some delightful solos and instrumental duets. “Let Me Be Your Electrician” is Louisiana Red cut. Watermelon Slim comes back with more dobro and Steve Bell plays some excellent harp to help out. Beautiful slow blues with a soulful vocal performance on John’s Step Father’s favorite song.

“Shame Shame Shame” is an old Jimmy Reed tune Musselwhite lays out many a pretty harp lick and Primer give us some special guitar to enjoy. It’s a jumping number and just a fun cover to enjoy.  The old traditional “Lay My Burdens Down” has John’s daughter Aliya join him for the lead  vocals and Eden Brent on the piano, organ and backing vocals along with John and Gary Vincent. This spiritual is done with deep feeling and is an uplifting performance. Gary Vincent is on bass for this one. Rosalind Wilcox adds tambourine and Aliya sings ethereally in angelic tones on this fine cut.

The last two tracks are a couple of more originals. “Ain’t Kickin’ Up No Dust” features Deak Harp on the Mississippi saxophone and it’s a cool and nicely done song. The final cut with John’s take on an old cut entitled “ John’s Crawdad Song.” It’s the first song John learned to play on his diddley bow. Bassist Gary Vincent adds jaw harp and triangle for a downhome touch. A sweet finale to a great new album!

John’s tribute to Mississippi as his home state is filled with emotion and feeling. Each song is a vibrant call back to the home of his younger days that created one of the last of the old school bluesmen. I have loved his earlier work but this may be John’s finest album. I see it destined to garner notice and consideration for many awards this coming year. He has done s fantastic job creating new songs and covering some amazing cuts to deliver fourteen powerful tracks for blues lovers to enjoy. Go get this album now– you will not regret it!

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.

Jon Cleary – The Bywater Sessions

FHQ Records

www.joncleary.com

10 Tracks – 42 minues

London, England born Jon Cleary made his move to the US prior to his 20th birthday, settling into New Orleans where he quickly absorbed their culture and music. One of his first jobs in the city was to paint the exterior of the Maple Leaf Bar, one of the premiere blues bars in New Orleans. It was not too long after that, he started playing piano in that room. And 35 years later still makes regular gigs at the venue.

Cleary started playing guitar at age 5 and started his first band at age 15. It was only upon arriving in New Orleans that he shifted to playing the piano. The house he lived in had a piano and he started practicing every day. His aptitude for the piano was quickly recognized by other New Orleans’ artists, which led him to play with Earl King, Johnny Adams, Snooks Eaglin, and a two- year stint in the Walter “Wolfman” Washington Band. He played with Dr. John as a guitarist. He has also been a session musician for many recording artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur, Taj Mahal, and Eric Clapton.

His solo career started in 1989 with the release of his first solo album. In 2015, Jon received a Grammy Award for best Roots Music Album for his release of Go Go Boots.  After getting his own career started, he formed a supporting band he called The Absolute Monster Gentlemen. Jon Cleary led the band playing bass, guitar and vocals. His bass player Cornell Williams was in the original configuration and is still playing with him presently. The other members of the current band are drummer A.J. Hall, Nigel Hall on organ, Pedro Segundo on percussion, Xavier Lynn on guitar, and the horns of Aaron Narcisse, Charlie Halloran, and Jason Mingledorff.

This album was a live recording session in Jon’s own studio in New Orleans’ Bywater neighborhood. The set mixes several of Jon’s favorite songs with new material. All songs are originals written by Jon. He says that the music was recorded the old-fashioned way of everybody playing in the same room together.

The album opens with “So Damn Good”, a song from his 2002 album, a jazzy rocking up-tempo number kicking off the album in high style and as he cites “I feel so good when I get the blues”.  “Zulu Coconuts” references the Zulu Parade that occurs on Fat Tuesday in New Orleans which finds a Zulu throwing painted coconuts out to the crowd as he tells everyone “you can come to my house, you can bang on my front door, you can drink up all my liquor and pass out on the floor, steal my gas money, have the keys to my car…but keep your dirty hands off my Zulu Coconuts”.  Next, he offers a tribute to the famed late New Orleans pianist, Henry Roland “Professor Longhair” Byrd on “Fessa Longhair Boogie” as he lets the piano rip in a mostly instrumental extravaganza.

“Uptown Downtown” starts with a jazz party mix shifting into an organ and horn led song with Jon citing that being in New Orleans means “a good time” all around town. “Bin A Lil Minit” keeps things jumping as he cites it’s been a while since we “all got up in it”. The funky “Just Kissed My Baby” has nice guitar and percussion driving a feel -good song identifying how he feels after kissing his baby.

A calypso beat leads into Jon declaring he is “Not ready for the “Boneyard” and proceeds to let everything start jumping again to prove his point. Jon keeps the piano spinning again on “Lottie Mo” as he tells her “Don’t leave this town” but “You know you done me wrong”. “Pickle for a Tickle” starts slowly but quickly picks up the tempo as he “tickles the grand piano”. He concludes with “Unnecessarily Mercenary” in which he cites “Only Thing you worry ’bout is having your fun, first sign of trouble baby and it’s understood you’ll get going girl, while the going’s good”.

The whole album is constant, fun and high energy. Jon proves himself as one of the best pianists playing today with vocals certainly reminiscent of Dr. John, without Mac’s growling style. The Absolute Gentlemen, to a man, delivers a constant joy and fervor in their performance that certainly will make every listener wish they could be there for an actual live performance, not just this well-executed recording.

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.

It has been more than four years since senior writer Marty Gunther gave Blues Blast readers an in-depth look at the career of Duke Robillard, one of the blues genre’s most influential guitarists, with a career that spans seven decades during which he founded Roomful of Blues, did stints with the Fabulous Thunderbirds and the Legendary Blues Band in addition to a lengthy discography of outstanding releases under his own name.

During a recent conversation in the aftermath of his appearance at the Winter Blues Festival in Des Moines, Iowa, sponsored by the Central Iowa Blues Society, the guitarist brought us up-to-date on his most recent projects.

“Oh, I had a ball at Winter Blues because, besides the fact that the people there were just so nice, I haven’t really played in Iowa in quite a long time. I used to play Cedar Rapids and Des Moines many, many years ago and forgot how just nice people were there. It also was one of the few blues festivals that I’ve been at where almost all the acts were really blues acts, not blues rock acts. I have nothing against the form of blues rock, but it just seems very rare that you hear that many actual traditional style blues bands under one roof. Plus I got to see so many old friends like Anson Funderburgh and Darrell Nulisch. I hadn’t seen them in years and years, so it was so great to hear them.”

His band for the festival set included his regular drummer Mark Teixeira along with guitarist Doug Deming and Andrew Gohman, a member of Deming’s band the Jewel Tones, on upright and Fender bass.

“I still really enjoy playing. Whatever instrument you play, it’s especially fun to play with another person who plays the same instrument as you, and plays it well. I thought Doug and I fit together extremely well with literally no rehearsal at all. It was really special. As I get older, I look forward to playing with different people and gaining experiences I haven’t had. Before, when I was younger, I loved to play with different people, but I was very set on making my mark, playing my own music, and doing my own thing. But now that I’m older, I like the chance to get to play with different people. It makes it a lot of fun.”

The guitarist has released a total of five recordings in the last five years, an impressive total under any circumstances. Listening to each of the projects, one quickly begins to appreciate the scope of Robillard’s artistry.

“It’s been not only been a prolific period, but there is plenty of variety from one release to the next. That’s something I always strive for. My quest in music throughout my whole life has been to find music that was rooted in the blues. There are songs where I would go back and find out how it was connected to the blues and what it meant to me, like early jazz, which is very important to me, and it’s very connected to the blues.

“Louis Armstrong was one of the greatest blues players ever, but you don’t hear that mentioned. The song “West End Blues” was recorded in God knows what year, might’ve been 1928 or1929. It was one of the most important things because it was technically unbelievable, yet it was a straight 12 bar blues.

“What he played was so beautiful, and he expressed himself so beautifully through that song. What he played had never been done on any instrument. His trumpet playing was so fluid, so melodic, and so amazingly soulful. Nobody had ever played an improvisation that technically beautiful. I don’t think about time when I think about music, as music is truly timeless, and great music is great forever!”

Robillard’s variety in his musical approach is facilitated by several musicians who have been with him for quite some time. When you have musicians the caliber of Bruce Bears on keyboards, Mark Teixeira on drums, Marty Ballou on acoustic and electric bass, and Doug James on baritone and tenor saxophone, Robillard knows that the quality will be there no matter what direction he takes.

“They bring authenticity to the table. Anybody that plays in my band, if they don’t come in being schooled in all the aspects of the kind of different styles of blues that I play, they need to get into that and learn it. They all came in very well-schooled musicians and certainly have played with amazing people before they played with me. I like to play music while we’re driving when we’re on the road and we all turn each other on to stuff.

“All of those musicians have a real love of all the different genres of black music – jazz, blues, gospel, soul, R& B, even some early rock and roll. Fats Domino, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, those three guys were what started me in music, listening to them along with a few other like Buddy Holly, Elvis, and Jerry Lee Lewis. The power and the fire of it all is really what got me playing guitar in the first place.”

In 2024, Stony Plain Records released Roll With Me, an album that reached back in time.

“That is a funny story because that album was recorded roughly 20 years ago, at least most of it. We recorded nine tracks and then I added more tracks to it. At the time, I had got some ideas for another album. I got kind of inspired to do a different album. So we put the first one aside. I thought I would finish it next after the album that had me all excited. However, it ended up sitting on the shelf because I kept coming up with new ideas every year for another project.

“I knew it was a really strong record and I was very anxious to complete it, but it didn’t get finished until it was time for my final Stony Plain album. Stony Plain sold out their label to a big publishing company. So, it was my time to finish up the album I had in the can. I added some more tracks to it, finishing it up just last year.

“I’m really proud of it. I think it’s one of my best blues albums, kind of an overview of a long period of my career. It’s got a lot of my roots, a lot of my original songs. It features Chris Cote on vocals on two of the tunes. Matt McCabe is a pianist on most of it. The newer stuff has Bruce Bears, but Matt McCabe is a long time friend of mine, a guy that was in my band and several other great. blues bands for many years before that.

“Some of the very first blues I learned were from people like Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Sonny Boy Williamson. people like that. Then Joe Turner came just a little bit later. In fact, Joe Turner is one of the people that inspired me to start Roomful of Blues right after I had got out of high school. The first album I heard of his was The Boss Of The Blues Sings Kansas City Jazz, that album on Atlantic Records just completely floored me, changed my whole mind around as far as blues with a horn section that swung.

“It took a big hold on me and really is still my favorite genre. He’s important as a pioneer of rock and roll as much as he is anything else, Kansas City jazz and blues or anything. His rock and roll records, “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” “Flip, Flop,And Fly,” all of those records he made in the fifties were some of the best of the rock and roll records of that period by a black artist.”

In 2023, Robillard was a key part of a release by MIG Records, an Italian label. Entitled A Smooth One, it featured a 2022 recording session in Italy with the guitarist, Teixiera on drums, and Alberto Marsico on organ.

“That kind of jazz is some of my favorite music, an organ trio or quartet jazz with organ, drums, and guitar, or with a saxophone. A lot of those are my favorite records. I’m a big fan of that sound, people like Jack McDuff on organ with Willis Jackson on tenor saxophone. Jack McDuff is probably my favorite organist in that style because he’s just got that beautiful greasy, bluesy, R& B sound along with jazz elements. Alberto Marsico is another incredible musician.

“I went over to Italy to do a week of workshops for guitarists. And while I was there, we talked a lot about music and what we loved. Alberto expressed an interest in making a record together. So he planned it by the end of the week of the lessons I was giving. We had a little hour long rehearsal in his basement, then went into the studio the next day. I guess in about four hours we cut that album, all material that we both were familiar with.

“I’m very pleased with that record, especially considering how quick we did it. There was no time to practice and work-up any arrangements. Mark Teixeira has been very schooled in that style of music also. So it was extra fun for all three of us to just do that. It flowed so naturally. One of the songs we did, “Body And Fender Man,” is a song that I love that Johnny Adams did. Doc Pomus, the legendary songwriter, and I wrote that song together. He gave me the lyrics and I came up with the arrangement and the melody for it. It was kind of a natural thing for Alberto and me to do in a funk style for the album. It’s a fun song.”

But that wasn’t enough for the intrepid guitar master. The same year saw an album released by M.C. Records entitled Six Strings of Steel, billed as Duke Robillard and his All-Star Band, with Teixeira, Ballou, Bears, James and Cote on vocals

“I certainly think they deserve to be called All -Stars. My guys play with a lot of different people in this area or even not in this area. They are working even when my band is not working. They record, tour, and do local gigs with a lot of different artists. They’re pretty much the go-to guys in this area. They certainly have really good reputations in their own right, that’s for sure.

“Six Strings of Steel came from me wanting to do an album that was really varied in the sense of all the different kinds of styles of music that I play. I feel like we really did well in that regard, going from a Bob Dylan song to all different kind of tunes, original tunes, blues tunes, R& B tunes. We covered an awful lot of things, from Smiley Lewis to Link Wray and everything in between! That might have been the first tune I ever learned to play on guitar, “Rumble” by Link Wray. I was like a seven year old kid when that record came out. I wasn’t allowed to have a guitar, but my brothers both did. So I would sneak their guitars when they weren’t around and teach myself to play those songs that are the beginning of my roots.”

In 2022, the German label MIG released Duke’s Mood – Live In Bremmen1985 & 2008. a three disc set, one featuring a 1985 live show featuring Robillard with his trio, the Pleasure Kings, and the other two capturing a set with his full band.

“The first disc goes back to my earliest days of in Europe. Those tunes and that band were very well received. It showed me off at a time when I was at the top of my game as far as my chops goes, technically speaking. We had such good audiences wherever we went in those days. I’m proud of that record, especially the Pleasure Kings part of it.

“That was a good time in my life, when I was first getting worldwide acceptance. I went to Scandinavia the first time, went to Finland, Sweden, and Norway, sold out every show that we did. It had something to do with the times. It was the mid eighties. My band was getting popular as I was just restarting my career after leaving Roomful of Blues, and I had an entirely different sound, totally guitar oriented because we were a trio.

“That was a very cool period where groups like the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Robert Cray were also getting popular. Things were slow starting here in the US. But once we put that record out, the first album with the Pleasure Kings, and went over to Europe, it was an instant audience for us. That was very gratifying and definitely gave me confidence to keep making music..

Robillard ushered in 2022 with another Stony Plain project, They Called It Rhythm & Blues.

“We started that album right at the beginning of COVID and had to do it quick because things were getting shut down everywhere. The label wanted me to have a lot of guests, so I called out a bunch of my friends and band-mates that I’ve played with over the years, like Kim Wilson, John Hammond, Sue Foley, and Sugar Ray Norcia. Sue and I had known each other for years, but we never had recorded with each other. That’s why I asked her. We also had Michelle Wilson on vocals. Sugar Ray and I play together quite often and he’s been one of my musical friends since the early seventies, or maybe even late sixties. We both started out that long ago.”

Another project in the works is Robillard’s autobiography, filled with personal reminisces about his stellar career. But recent events have temporarily slowed his progress towards completion.

“It’s going slow, honestly, because I have been busy. I recently had my computer hard drive crash and it wasn’t fixable, so I lost everything, but luckily I had printed out the first hundred pages I had written. So I have to kind of start over again. But I’ve got all the pages and I’m going to expound on them as I go along, add things in it. Of course, I’ve got a lot more than a hundred pages worth of material, but it’s a good start. It’s a fine excuse for me to get right back to work on it and try to get it finished off.”

Decades of playing guitar and seemingly endless nights on the road can take a toll on the human body. Robillard has been dealing with a serious injury that almost curtailed his career. He is thankful that a lifetime of musical experiences prepared him for being able to adapt his approach while maintaining his high standards.

“Health-wise, the biggest setback was I completely lost a rotator cuff in my left shoulder by not really understanding what it was and having pain for a long time, just thinking I had a bruise from constant use, because I was playing a lot at that time. I wasn’t really aware of what the rotator cuff was or what it did. I ended up finding out that I had a problem and I needed surgery.

“By the time I got the surgery, it was too late. The cuff had completely let go and was left unfixed for a number of years. It kind of shriveled up and wasn’t able to be reconnected. Atrophied, that’s the word. They went in to fix it, but there was nothing they could do. Other muscles and tendons in my shoulder have learned to do the job of the rotator cuff, but it’s never quite the same. Certain things I can’t do that were a big part of my playing. But life goes on and you find new ways, come up with new things. It hasn’t stopped me from coming up with new things to do and new ways to interpret and play what I used to be able to do.

“Playing music is just being able to express yourself and if you have to change the way you do it, as long as you’re still expressing yourself, you just find a different way to say what you want to say. I’m really blessed because, if I just played one way and wasn’t able to do it, I might have given up by now. I’ve been lucky to be able to play many different styles, so I just go into a different mode if I’m having trouble doing one thing. It’s frustrating sometimes, but in general I feel satisfied when I play.

“Even somebody who has all those chops can still go for something and not quite hit it. If something doesn’t quite happen exactly like you hoped it would, that’s part of what music is, improvising and going for it, making whatever good you can out of it. There’s some people that think blues can be boring. But there’s so much to blues music, and so many ways to play it. I think it’s forever exciting. I’ve never once gotten bored with the idea of playing blues because there’s so many ways you can interpret it. I plan to keep doing that for as long as my hands will work.”

Check out Duke’s website to see when he is playing near you at https://www.dukerobillard.com/

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!

Robert Thurman – Burning Daylight

Self – Released

https://robertthurman.bandcamp.com

17 tracks – 39 minutes

Robert Thurman (a.k.a. Randy Thurman) was born in 1965 in a small rural town in southeast Tennessee. At age 12 he heard Jimi Hendrix, which inspired him to become a vocalist. At age 14, he started working at a local radio station and started his first band as a vocalist. He continued as a vocalist in several subsequent bands. At age 21, he heard Joe Satriani’s Surfing with the Alien album and his interest in the guitar surged. He quickly learned the basics and spent every spare moment practicing.

A sudden health crisis changed the direction of Randy’s life and music forever, leaving him primarily housebound and captive within his own home for three years. Instead of focusing on the things he couldn’t do, he concentrated on the things that had always been his passion and refuge, and one of those things was music. This time of trial ultimately steered Randy’s music towards the blues – one man with one guitar on a journey.

The album consists of 15 original songs and two covers. As stated, the album is a solo effort with Robert on acoustic guitar. The sound certainly reflects a raw, homemade style bouncing back to the old front porch style recordings. The album opens with “American Jesus Blues” telling us to “get happy all night long” and declaring the American Jesus wears ” a suit and an Armani tie… driving a Mercedes…wearing body armor with a gun in his hand…send that money to make a pledge”. Obviously not expected lyrics but certainly pointed words about some religious leaders today. He declares I have the “Blues This Morning” and “will probably have them all today”. On “Burning Daylight” he proclaims “Thunder and lightning mark my path, sure someday I will feel his wrath”. “Ofermod” is a bouncy upbeat instrumental.

“Angel” opens and closes with a recorded news report about disasters and in between Robert sings of an Angel that “rides the ridge of the devil, toxic she rides it for all she is worth”. He then elaborates on many personal and worldly problems but concludes he “Might as Well Say Alright”. Robert tells “Ready for the Fire” “is a song about a woman who found herself in a very difficult situation, this is a story of what might have been” in a story of domestic violence. On “Nervous Blues” he is “praying those old blues go away”. “People that ain’t had it don’t know what it means.” “You get down on your knees and pray for relief.”

On “Never Ending Sky” he states “My daddy was a snakebite …raised on red clay and barbed wire”. “Confinement Blues” reflects “sitting in this small room makes time stand still, it will rob you of everything that you are, rob you of your will”. On “Lump of Clay” he determines “At times I feel like I cannot take no more, just about to lose my mind. Imagining things that heartache brings looking through heavy eyes”. The first cover and the longest song on the album at 3:45 is Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Ground Hog Blues” which seems to have been recorded in an enclosed location incurring a slight distortion or echo in his vocals.

“Time and Again” addresses “how everyone said the world is going to change. From where I sit it stays the same”. He is “So Far from Home” as he says he is “in a place where no one will mourn my death, not a single soul to cry”. Bo Diddly’s “Who Do You Love” is the second cover on the album. But Robert’s version with growling vocals and driving guitar while carrying the same lyrics, leaves it virtually unrecognizable from the original. In “Small Town Blues”, “nothing every changes here dreaming the same old dreams”. He ends the album with “One Last Breath” with the sounds of a storm rolling in with a spoken story of the history of his family and of himself.

The album’s 17 songs in 39 minutes clearly demonstrate that many of the songs are shorter than two minutes. But Robert makes do with the structure of well thought out and complex lyrics in every song. His vocals are somewhat gruff but nonetheless enticing, dragging you into every thought that he fires out. Foremost he is a folk style storyteller flashing back to similar acoustic guitar artists from the 60’s, but the stories do cross over into the blues frequently. Perhaps the modern references to Americana music best fits the album. It is an interesting listen worth your time. However, I do not know how to tell you to seek it out. He has no website, nor can I find any social presence or opportunities to buy the album from traditional sources. His album might be on streaming services, but as I do not subscribe to any, I cannot confirm or deny that possibility.

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.

Early James – Medium Raw

Easy Eye Sound

www.earlyjames.com

12 Tracks – 47 minutes

Early James, nee Fredrick James Mullis Jr, was born in Troy, Alabama. He started playing guitar at age 16 and quickly became an opening act for a local band. He started writing his own music for those performances.

At age 21, he moved to Birmingham and started playing gigs with his own band. Dan Auerbach, the co-founder of The Black Keys and owner of the Easy Eye Sound heard James playing, liked his style, and asked if he could produce James’ debut album. That album, Singing for My Supper, was released in 2020. A second album, Strange Time to Be Alive.  followed in 2022. Additional singles and EPs were released along the way leading to the current album.

Auerbach produced this album but felt that the album should be recorded in an old house similar to old Arhoolie Records recordings. A house in Nashville that was over 100 years old owned by Buddy Jackson, a photographer and artist, fit the bill. Using vintage equipment with each of the performers set up in separate rooms, the recordings were made “au naturel“, rather exactly as you hear them.

With James on vocals and guitar, Adrian Marmolejo on bass, Jeffrey Clemens on drums and Sam Bacco on percussion, the band recorded six previously unrecorded songs written by James, and one previously released song, “Dig To China” from an early EP.  In addition, four top Nashville writers contributed additional songs to complete the album

The album kicks off in high style with “Steely Knives” with James wailing vocals backed by his acoustic guitar as he concludes “it’s all over now, I’m a dead man walking”. Next he says. “Nothing Surprises Me Anymore” “Lightning better strike me twice, that’s all I’m asking for”. Next in a slight country swing with a “Tin Foil Hat” in place, he determines “the man’s gotta another way just to bring us down. It’s an electric sleuth for to pry the truth. Lying, lying, lying just ain’t no use”

He then questions “Did I fall in love with the villain? Someone who’d kill to make a living? Well, I’ll never die the hero, so let me “Go Down Swinging”. On “Rag Doll” he declares “So I had to cut my strings, Maybe lose the cape, make my escape, felt like cutting a vein, but to her I was cutting the reins.” In a bouncy country sounding song, he declares “one day we’ll ride that “Gravy Train”.

He then states in a rocking “I Could Just Die Right Now”, “I don’t mind if I do. It gets worse ‘fore it gets better, I’m pretty good at singing the blues”.  He expresses a concern for the future on “Unspeakable Thing” citing “Seems like we are all sinking, we’ll die like dogs, in the maw of an unspeakable thing”. On “Beauty Queen” he advises her to “learn to keep your nose clean. Don’t ya settle on someone else’s dreams.”

“Dig to China” encourages the effort to keep working at a task no matter how hard, noting “Some folks got it so easy, some folks don’t”. “Upside Down Umbrella” perhaps offers some positive hope as he tells “If life gives ya lemons, just give ’em to me, I’m the upside-down umbrella man. Lordy let me give ’em a squeeze”.  The album concludes with ” I Got This Problem” “when I’m reading a book, know there’s an ending, so I can’t help but look, steal from the future. Enjoy the fire ‘fore we all turn to ash”.

It is hard to put a label on James’ music. His lyrics are dark and frequently nebulous to the point that I tried to refrain myself from my trying to give them definition as my likely interpretations would flitter away among the determinations of others digging through the words. Just listening to the songs without a plunge through the full lyrics would not do them justice.

Do I think the album is blues or even rock blues? Probably not, although there might be touches mixed in there. His music is unique and undefinable in the same manner as his lyrics. His singing is a wail sometimes coming across as a slightly smoother Reverend Peyton or with the rockier tones of Tom Waits. All that said, Auerbach has identified the aspects of James’ approach that leaves an awe in the listener that drags you into the raw depths of James’ work.

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.