Alex Henley – Slow Burning

Self-Released

www.alexhenley.com

10 tracks/41 minutes

Alex Henley is a Texas based musician who appears here with nine originals and one cover song. He wrote the songs over the years, from age 11 to just this year in 2025; they are an expression of his musical journey. His mix of soul, blues, funk and a little rock make his music interesting and enjoyable. This is my first time hearing him and I liked what I heard.

Henley opens with a rousing instrumental entitled “First Sight.” He handles guitar, bass and the drum and horn programming and Vince Wiley is on drums.  It’s kind of like early Chicago meets Austin, Texas.

Greg Butler handles drums and  Hamilton Nabors the bass on “So Excited.” A funky groove and cool guitar works to  help make this cut a winner.

The same crew as the first cut work the next two tracks. “”Nothing To Say” and “Big Talker” are funk filled. The former is a driving tune and the send is a head bopping, soulful  cut. Both are cool!

“Working Sideways” adds Marc Lionetti on guitar, Wiley on organ, Nabors on bass and Jean-Christophe on organ. The guitars and piano really shine as Henley sings for this straight up and romping blues.

Next is “What A Day” with Leonetti again joining on guitar, Yaume Landry on bass, Nora Germain on violin, Wiley on keys and drums are arranged by Henley. The pace slows down here as the violin introduces the cut and Henley croons to us. Jazzy and slick, we see another side of Alex here.  The guitar is laid back, the keys help set and sell the mood, and the violin is really a slickest part of the musical action here, grabbing at the listener’s emotions.

The mix is the same as the starting cut again for “It’s Be All Right.” More funk, more soul and just another great cut. Thoughtful guitar work by Henley is featured here.

The title track has Henley and Ady Hernandez  on guitars and Nabors and Butler return to support. Henley arranges the horn programming. Big guitar solos and nice horn accompanying arrangements make this song special. It’s a dreamy cut with a heady feel to the slow funk delivery.

“Stand” is Henley, Butler and Nabors on this mid-tempo rocking and soulful number.  The guitar solos and work throughout are very nicely done.

The final track is the only one Henley did not pen. “If I Could Only Fly” is a Blaze Foley song that Merle Haggard made famous. Henley goes solo and acoustic and delivers a passionate and moving performance. The hints of added backing accompaniment help set the mood and enhance the overall feeling. Well done!

Austin, Texas is Henley’s base of operations. I hope he goes on the road and offers us opportunities to see him live. His work producing, writing, arranging and performing on his guitar, bass and electronics really interests me and I hope I get a chance to see and hear him on stage. I recommend this album for blues lovers looking for a fresh and cool sound!

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.

Jimmy ‘Duck’ Holmes – Bentonia Blues/Right Now

Crossnote Records -2025

www.facebook.com/jimmyduckholmes

5 tracks; 41 minutes

Jimmy ‘Duck’ Holmes is now 78 years old and known as the last exponent of Bentonia Blues, a style of acoustic blues originally brought to everyone’s awareness by Skip James. He is a former Grammy nominee (for 2019 album Cypress Grove) and has run the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi for many years. This recording was made there on 8 April 2024, live to tape, no overdubs or post-recording ‘fixes’. There is no audience noise, so it appears that this was recorded in the cafe, but not at a live gig. There are just three musicians involved: Jimmy plays guitar and sings, Ryan Lee Crosby plays twelve string guitar and Grant Smith adds calabash and percussion. The five lengthy songs are all credited to Jimmy, though they do recycle blues lyrics we are all familiar with, in the best traditions of the blues!

The two opening tracks both run over ten minutes. Jimmy goes straight into “Devil In The Dark” and the style is immediately clear as Jimmy plays the rhythm, Grant adds percussion effects and Ryan adds some guitar frills between vocal verses. Lyrical references to “black cat crossing my trail” and “must have been the Devil, had a long barbed tail” add to the feel of the song. “Hurry Hurry” finds an impatient Jimmy who is not keen to wait until tomorrow, “tomorrow might be too late”. “Knick Knacks All Day” includes familiar lyrics like “I ain’t never loved but four women in my life – my mama, my sister, sweetheart and should a been wife”; the shortest track here, this one is faded out at just over five minutes. “Hairdresser” starts with a visit to the Ladies’ hairdresser but then digresses into one of those familiar blues tales of infidelity, the girl coming home late looking dishevelled! His suspicions are clearly confirmed by a late night telephone call that claims that “another mule is kicking in your stall”, another familiar line from classic blues tunes. The percussion comes across strongly on this one and Ryan’s twelve string work sits nicely over Jimmy’s steady pulse. The final track is “All Night Long”, Jimmy drinking and failing to find sleep as he awaits the return of his woman.

The music throughout is all very similarly paced, so those who like variety in their music may not enjoy this album. However, fans of Jimmy and the Bentonia school of blues will, and that is probably the main audience for this latest release from a stalwart of the blues traditions.

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’.

Mike Henderson – Last Nite At The Bluebird Live

Qualified Records

www.mikehenderson.com

9 songs – 45 minutes

When Mike Henderson unexpectedly passed away in his sleep in 2023 at the age of 70, the world lost a beloved guitarist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Equally comfortable playing blues, country, bluegrass and rock’n’roll, his songs have been recorded by the likes of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Dixie Chicks, Trisha Yearwood, Kenny Rogers, Soloman Burke and Adele. He was Chris Stapleton’s songwriting partner for years. He played on albums with legends such as Emmylou Harris, Albert King, Mark Knopfler, Waylon Jennings and John Hiatt. He was a Grammy and CMA award winner. He also, starting in 1984, held the Monday-night blues slot at Nashville’s iconic Bluebird Cafe, a fixture only ended by his untimely death.

Last Nite At The BlueBird Live is a collection of nine multitrack recordings captured during Henderson’s residency at the Bluebird and is a glorious celebration of a multi-talented musician.

Henderson is backed by a crack band, featuring Henderson himself on guitar and vocals, Kevin McKendree on piano, Steve Mackey on bass and Pat O’Conner on drums, with fine recording by David Jeffries and mixing and production by McKendree. The set opens with Henderson’s own “Weepin’ & Moanin'”, in which his hilarious spoken-word introduction to the crowd perfectly sets the scene for a Blue Monday in an intimate setting. Blind Lemon’s Jefferson’s “Matchbox” is played à la Carl Perkins and highlight’s McKendree’s fleet-fingered piano playing before Henderson’s ferocious slide guitar playing lights up JB Hutto’s “Too Much Alcohol”. This is dirty, grimy, gritty roadhouse blues, played with the intention to get people dancing and drinking.

“One Room Country Shack” again highlights McKendree’s superb keyboard work and also contains a fine slide solo from Henderson, while Eddie Burns’ “When I Get Drunk” is a rollicking upbeat tune. Henderson whips out his harmonica on Big Walter’s “Have A Good Time” and it is obvious from audience reaction that everyone in the Bluebird is having exactly that.

There is an irresistible drive to “Pay Bo Diddley”, which poses the perfectly reasonable question of whatever happened to the money Bo Diddley earned for various record labels with very little of it ending up with the man himself.  Henderson encourages the audience to join him in demanding that we should pay Bo Diddley. The set closes with a wild version of Hound Dog Taylor’s “Gimme Back My Wig”, which must have left the crowd as exhausted as the band.

Last Nite At The Bluebird Live is an honest recording, probably not originally intended for release. It expertly captures the joy of Henderson and his band playing live, but there are occasional minor flubs and the album may appeal primarily to existing fans as a result of the slightly rough recording quality and the stage  patter (query whether we need the band introduction, for example). That would be a shame, however, because it is also an uplifting celebration of a hugely talented man who threw himself whole-heartedly into his music and who entertained thousands of music lovers over the years. Definitely worth checking out.

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

Mick Simpson – Changing Times

Mad Ears Productions

www.micksimpson.co.uk

10 tracks/47 minutes

Mick Simpson is a great UK session guitarist and musician who went out on his own a decade and a half ago. This is his fifth studio album. Seven original songs and three unique covers are featured here on this CD.

Simpson handles guitar and lead vocals and Andy Littlewood adds backing vocals and plays keyboards. Vic Martin also plays keys and Pete Nelson handles drums and percussion.

The opening song is the great Randy Newman song “Louisiana 1927,” a song many of us remember from Marcia Ball after Hirrican Katrina. Here Simpson turns it into a big guitar cut with stinging guitar and passionate vocals. Great job! “Deeper Than The Blues” follows, a big blues rock guitar cut with big guitar and soulful vocals.

Another original follows, “Fall Back Down,” which again features some big electric guitar licks. We get some dobro and electric guitar from Mick on “Changing Time” with some distortion on the vocals and stomping and clapping to help drive the cut.  It’s all about stamping out the hate in our society, another great piece.

“All Our Tomorrow’s” has an intro to this big instrumental that hearkens to George Harrison’s :While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Big, solid guitar that rings brightly and forthrightly. Rock blues lovers of electric guitar will eat this up. More big guitar is featured on “Now That The Magic Has Gone,” a Joe Cocker tune that Simpson turns into his brand of rock blues.

“Feel Like Going Home” is an old Charlie Rich tune that Simpson turns into a blues rock anthem. Big organ and bigger guitar ring true. The original “These Three Words” is another blues rocker with big guitar anthem like licks and stratospheric sound.  “Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” features acoustic guitar and is a rock blues ballad that Simpson sings with emotion. He adds electric slide to good effect, too. The last cut is “Love Walks Away,” again featuring bug guitar and lots of effects. The organ behind the guitar adds to the guitar anthem theme; it’s an instrumental that will have the rock blues lovers on the edge of their seats.

This album features lots and lots of guitar licks.  Simpson plays with feeling and lays it all out there. It is certainly big time rock blues and gear head guitar lovers will go wild for it.  Mick is a great guitarist, an excellent singer and I think all rock blues lovers will find this to their liking!

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.

Matt Isbell’s story is one of perseverance and belief. His last album with The Ghost Town Blues Band, Shine, reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Blues chart and the top 30 on the Billboard Rock chart. They won the 2020 B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award in Canada, always a stronghold for the band. They have been nominated for multiple Blues Blast Music Awards including Best Blues Band in 2015. They were the 2014 runner-up in the International Blues Challenge competition. All of that provided encouragement, exposure, and touring opportunities, including opening for Steve Miller, John Mayall, Keb’ Mo’, and Jonny Lang. But the pandemic short-circuited touring opportunities after about five months of Shine shows, crushing their main revenue and promotional streams right after they purchased a new van and made other investments in the band.

The group soldiered on when shows could be booked again, but there would be lineup changes, including original members that moved on to other projects or just didn’t want the touring life anymore. Their singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter Matt Isbell continues to carry the torch however, playing the songs, and traveling with Ghost Town around the world. Much of their touring is done like the spokes of a wheel, with Memphis being the hub. Head south for a week or two and then home, head west for a few weeks and then home. It’s become the most reasonable way to tour when some members have wives and children and responsibilities back in Memphis.

“It’s so centrally located. We can get to Toronto in 17 hours, we can get to Orlando in 17 hours, we can get to Denver in 17 hours. I call it the ‘star method’. We hit a major market and then four or five small cities around that big market and then come on back home and regroup. Hit the next weekend, four or five dates. We stay pretty busy,” Isbell said.

“This is one right here is actually one of our longer runs of the year. I try to do a two-week run to get out west at least once a year. We’ve been building markets in the Midwest and Canada has been really good to us. We kind of chase the weather. February we typically find ourselves down in Florida, in the summer we find ourselves out west. It comes in waves. We get out there in a three or four-year cycle of festivals in different parts of the country.”

Isbell seems to still enjoy his time on the road, but it’s not without its travails. The band was recently waylaid due to van trouble, causing emotional and financial distress.

“All of a sudden in Champaign, Illinois, our rear differential went out on us. So, we had to cancel two shows, which doesn’t ever happen. We had the Sprinter shipped back to Memphis and fixed so we could get out to Montana. That’s part of the game.”

Matt Isbell has a voice borne of the South. He developed his style and taste by listening to B.B. King, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Warren Haynes, The Allman Brothers Band, classic rock, and Todd Snider.

“When I was about 13 or 14, I was really listening to this guy named Todd Snider, he’s a singer-songwriter from Oregon. He lives in Nashville now. He’s pretty big. He would join me on stage,” Isbell remembered. “He had an album called Songs for The Daily Planet. The Daily Planet was a small dive bar in Memphis and I used to do open mics there when I was like 13-14 years old. He actually came and sat in with my band at the time, The Blind Venetians, and really was my musical mentor.”

Of course, the Memphis Blues Boy himself was influential on Isbell’s guitar playing. “I was always a big fan of B.B. King. We had a chance to play at B.B.’s celebration of life, his funeral. I got to meet B.B. once. He was really encouraging and signed a book for me.”

Isbell was also schooled in the STAX sound and tradition in Memphis. One can definitely hear that soul influence in Ghost Town’s music.

“I went to the STAX program called SNAP! in 2001,” Isbell said, “I was a valet, parking cars as a job at one of the museums in Memphis and I heard these two black gentlemen wearing suits saying, ‘How come it’s so hard to find a good, white guitar player in Memphis these days?’ I think they were just trying to recreate the whole Booker T. and the M.G.’s kind of vibe. I immediately perked up and gave them my business card and they invited me to be part of the SNAP! program. I ended up making some good friends and great connections over there. We started a band called The South Soul Rhythm Section. It ended up being seven or eight of us. Mono Neon (Prince, Ghost-Note), the bass player, was 12 years old at the time and I was 21. It was kind of strange. The average age of the band was about 16-17 years old. We made an EP…it was a good learning experience for all these guys.”

Besides the geographic aspect, another advantage of being based in Memphis is there are always clubs back home to play and a Beale Street scene that still supports like-minded arts, creating a vibrant community.

“We have a good time playing at Blues City Café, they treat us like family. You’ve the house band with Leroy Hodges playing bass over at B.B. King’s, he’s legend. Bobby “Blue” Bland’s son, Rodd Bland, he’s got a band that’s playing up and down the street. Eric Hughes Band is often at Rum Boogie Café. FreeWorld has been doing their thing for over 35 years. Memphis has still got a pretty good tourist scene. During the wintertime is when we frequent Beale Street the most because the rest of the year, we’re on the road.”

The Ghost Town Blues Band has always been a high-energy mix of blues styles, R & B, and New Orleans funk and jazz. A good example is the band’s rollicking 2018 live album, Backstage Pass. They used to march in from outside the venue, second line style, to start their shows. The shows are lively. They range from almost-novelty songs like “Big Shirley” and “One More Whiskey” to thoughtful blues like “Heading Nowhere Fast” to organ and horn-drenched numbers like “Shine” to strong covers of The Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post” and The Beatles’ “Come Together”. Isbell’s voice is strong and soulful and can cover all those styles. Ghost Town is not a predictable cookie-cutter outfit. That is reflected in the music they listen to traveling from gig to gig.

“My drummer said I want it to be a Beatle Day. We put on Spotify and joined the jam. We listened to other bands do covers of Beatles tunes for about 15 hours. But we listen to everything from jazz to funk to classic rock to blues and everything in between. Just keep the ball rolling and keep everyone entertained. Right now, since we’re out west and we’re driving through southern Montana into Wyoming today, we’re listening to a podcast about Little Big Horn and Custer and kind of getting to know the history of the region. That happens a lot too, trying to familiarize ourselves with where we are and what the history of the area is,” Isbell said.

The multi-talented Tennessee native has also been able to maintain a successful side business, Matt Isbell’s Memphis Cigar Box Guitars. The company has provided needed revenue and contacts outside of Ghost Town. He has made 600 delta blues-style cigar box guitars over the years, including for such luminaries as Eric Schenkman (Spin Doctors), Cyndi Lauper, Joe Bonamassa, Michael Leonhart (Steely Dan), Janiva Magness, JL Fulks, and others. Isbell has also made vintage license plate guitars and thousands of bottlenecks slides for players of all stripes. A documentary about his luthier work, Once There Was a Cigar Box, won many independent film awards. One of the guitars he continues to play live is one that he made out of his grandmother’s silver chest.

“I’m not pushing it as hard I have in the past. Now that my kid’s in middle school, when I’m home I try to focus on family stuff,” he said. “During the pandemic, I was approached by Lucky Strike cigarette company. They were doing this campaign called American Originals and they spotlighted my cigar box guitars. There was a big ad campaign and a sweepstakes for a dozen of my guitars. Then they also had me make ten of those license plate guitars for the states. They recreated my shop within a promotional trailer at ten different Live Nation events, that included AC/DC, The Black Crowes, KISS. They had a big cutout of me holding my guitar. It was pretty cool, kept me busy during the pandemic. The cigar box thing has been a happy accident.”

Isbell came by that mechanical skill set naturally. His father had a woodshop and was an architectural interior designer. When he passed away, Matt inherited all the tools.

“I decided that I really wasn’t a standout guitar on Beale Street and the only way I could stand out was to do something different and make these cigar box guitars. It really caught on and people enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed it. It keeps me busy. I don’t like to be bored during the daytime. It gives me something to do when I’m not traveling.”

The Ghost Town Blues Band started as a trio. They got as large as seven pieces at one point. The band presently consists of Isbell on guitar and vocals, longtime member Matt Karner on bass, Garrett Marshall on drums, Grayson Smith on keys, and local horn players picked up by region, Chuck Berry-style. One upside of that is the variety to their shows.

“Ever since COVID, it’s been hard to keep a band together because a lot of these guys have church gigs. They’ve found out they can get by without having to travel so hard. When COVID shut everybody out, they realized they don’t have to say ‘yes’ all the time, they can get by. It’s been nice to change things up and have a different horn personality join us and give us different musical growth,” Isbell said. “It’s been a trying time, but I feel like we’ve become so much stronger and so much more focused on what our actual goals are, which is creating something new and not playing the same old blues that everybody’s used to. It’s kind of a musical evolution, for our sake. We’ve got a nice unit now that really understands each other musically, on and off stage, and we work together as a team pretty well.”

Ghost Town has done some writing and recording for their sixth album around their touring schedule, but there is no release date yet for the awaited follow-up to Shine. One thing that separates bands is the quality of their songwriting. GTBB won second place in the International Songwriting Competition in 2023 and they won the ISC in 2015. Perhaps Isbell is waiting to accumulate enough great songs and doesn’t want to settle. As they work that part out, one thing seems certain, Isbell and The Ghost Town Blues Band will be out there in the theaters and clubs and festivals, sharing their unique version of the blues. For a guy who went to the University of Memphis for music business and thought he might be a booking agent or a road manager, Isbell has enjoyed a long career in the spotlight, and one gets the feeling that he is only mid-journey.

“I love traveling so much. It’s been really cool to be with a couple of great guys, touring the world, sharing our music with people, and making ‘em happy. I’ve made so many great relationships through blues and these blues societies and through The Blues Foundation. My goal is just to have a bunch of people to show up at my funeral. I’m not out here to win awards or anything like that. I think music should be subjective, it’s just art. I don’t know anything better to do with my life.”

Writer Dave Popkin is a Music News Reporter for WBGO FM in Newark/New York. He is a regional judge for The Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge and is a singer in the NJ-based band, Porch Rockers.

Raphael Wressnig – Committed

Zyx Music

www.raphaelwressnig.com

9 songs time – 40:35

Way Cool Daddio! Maynard G Crebbs would be proud. Austrian Hammond B-3 master Raphael Wressnig revives the beatnik jazz vibe. A real breath of fresh air as he honors the memories of the likes of Jimmy McGriff, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Jack McDuff, Jimmy Smith and the other B-3 greats. He leads an organ-guitar- drum trio that harkens back to a special era of time and they do the genre proud. Enrico Crivellaro on guitar and Hans-Jurgen Bart on drums are in lock step with Raphael as they broaden the soundscape. Five of the songs are from Wressnig’s hand or co-writes.

“Duffin’ ‘Round” is a tribute to Jack McDuff. It maintains a hip beatnik vibe that could fit right into a groovy scene from a sixties spy spoof movie. The mood gets dramatic on the original “Here’s The Thing”, as the enticing melodies draw the listener in. Jimmy Smith is brought to mind in “Southern Fried Chicken”. Enrico lets go with a nice but brief solo on “Soul Ballad aka Soothe the Mind”. The incessant drum figure insures that everything is in place on the funky “Nasty”, that features the words repeated, being the only spoken portion on the recording.

Raphael is intent on proving that the hands are quicker than the ears on the way funky “Shrimp Daddy”, that also gives Enrico time to strut his guitar stuff. “Pilgrimage” possesses a slow and soulful processional quality. Organ and Bart’s drums are locked-in and every turn on the rhythm-fest that is “Brighter Days (Ahead). Enrico gets in an energetic solo, as well as his usual comping. The traditional gospel song “I Shall Not Be Moved” closes things out with an authentic reading.

A welcome revisit and “hats off” to the Hammond B-3 masters, while breathing new life into the genre. This is a refreshing change of pace and a CD that I will derive many hours of pleasure from.

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