
Cover photo © 2025 Roger Stephenson
In This Issue
Ben Levin has our feature interview with Terry “Harmonica” Bean. We have five Blues reviews for you this week including new music from Ed Alstrom, Gretchen Rhodes, Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Parchman Prison Prayer and Mike Hallal. Scroll down and check it out!


Featured Blues Review – 1 of 5
Ed Alstrom – Flee Though None Pursue
Haywire Productions
http://www.edalstrom.com
18 tracks – 78 minutes
Ed started playing organ at age 5. He has performed with a wide range of artists including Chuck Berry, Leonard Bernstein, Herbie Hancock, Steely Dan, Bette Midler and is currently the weekend organist for the New York Yankees. But none of that information will prepare you for the talent unfolding on this eighteen-song album on which Ed plays the Hammond, Farifsa and pipe organ, piano and Fender Rhodes, clavinet, synthesizers, guitars, bass, mandolin, melodica, alto sax, harmonica, accordion, theremin and all vocals. He also demonstrates strong songwriting and wit in his songs.
He is joined by some additional guest performers including Ula Hedwig who provides backing vocals and aided arrangements on seven songs. Instrumentalists include Robert Hill on guitar, Rob Paparozzi on harmonica, Jerry Vivino on tenor and baritone sax, Dan Guinta, Frank Pagano, and Dennis Diken on drums, and Maxine Alstom on acoustic piano on the final track.
Ed opens with a soulful blues as he says the world would be a better place if we would all just “Be Nice” and notes “it’s a mean world we living in / so much drama and disagreement / some folks trying to get us all together, others trying to get even”. An organ fueled “The Blues Is Not Alright” identifies “Nobody’s blues are unimportant” and is perhaps antithetic to Little Milton’s classic “The Blues Is Alright”. Slide guitar leads “Slow Blues” as Ed advises to go hear the slow blues – the only thing that wash your troubles away”.
The title song addresses inner conflict as he is off to “to my crossroads to face that awful day” with vocals that reminds of Dr. John. With a bit of funk “The Truth”, Ed declares,” my mission without fail is helpin’ truth to prevail, got to give truth a fightin’ chance”. Next, he declares he is “Sick” of all this traveling and I’m sick of all these Holiday Inns… livin’ and dyin’ at the same time”, a song following the rhythm of Ray Charles’ “Lonely Avenue”.
He tells her “I’m Always Near” in a slow love song where he tells her to “Hold my memory, make some new ones, take me on where you go”. He says, “The Record People” “are coming, I’m nervous as can be that all these heavy people will be watching little me” and concludes that “the record people came tonight, they came to dig my grave”, a honky-tonk piano driven look at the music business. “Sometimes” features Rob’s harmonica with Ed noting the highs and lows of life citing “Sometimes I’m playing the blues and working the crowd, and the sounds are magic, and the vibe is fast and loud, then some sucker spoils all the fun”.
The humorous “Screwed” gets funky with backing vocals answering his declaration “No more Mr. Nice Guy – Right now I’m outright rude. One way or another – I’m Gonna stop gettin’ screwed.”. That is followed by “H-O-P-E-L-E-S-S” as he explains the acronym followed by an acronym for Trouble and finally for an acronym for Hope as he concludes “It’s the new me – hopeful as can be. “Great Notch” describes a favorite bar “with a friendly bartender and a waitress that’s fine”. He notes that “I heard a band made up of lawyers and brokers. They weren’t too bad, but they were sure mediocre. They tried to play the blues but they were lacking in feel.” That is certainly not a problem with Ed as Rob again adds some dynamic harmonica.
“I call my baby “Fruitcake” coz of the crazy way she do…but I love her like crazy – guess that makes me crazy too”. The song features New Orleans styled piano and Jerry’s sax. He moves back to a smooth love song on “Yours Is a Place” a lovely port I love to call home base”. A rollicking piano backs his determination that “Success (Was Not to Be Had)” as he notes that “Maybe we were never meant for each other” and “Success just can’t be achieved” and again sounds like something Dr. John might have recorded.
The “Crossfire of Love” is about a failed relationship which he expresses in terms of war, “The Armageddon’s near, is this a battle no one wins? or no one loses?”. His message “I Drunk, You Drive” is evident as he determines “I tried to be cool and stay out of trouble but now the room’s spinnin’ and I’m seein’ double”. He concludes with “Don’t Cry at My Funeral” and says, “Instead of your sadness, I’d rather you party all night” as “I’m happy, I’m free”.
As noted, many of the songs have intricate lyrics, with humor frequently inherent, and demanding your attention to the messages in the songs. The songs display a variety of style, which displays Ed’s wide range and opportunities for success, which seems well deserved.
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.
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Featured Blues Review – 2 of 5
Gretchen Rhodes – Green Shack
Licorice Pizza Records
www.gretchenrhodesmusic.com
LP version
Side A – 3 tracks 14 min
Side B – 3 tracks 11 min
Based on the island of Maui, vocalist Gretchen Rhodes has achieved more than a bit of success during her professional career. She has tour internationally, recorded with country hit-maker Kenny Chesney, joined guitarist Steve Cropper and Dave Mason for several years in the Rock & Soul Revue, and has been the featured singer for the last 18 years for several bands lead by Mick Fleetwood, the co-founder and drummer for Fleetwood Mac.
Her latest release is a limited edition green vinyl album that delves into the legacy of one of the finest British blues bands. The first three tracks are classic Fleetwood Mac songs, written by the group’s legendary guitarist, Peter Green. Rhodes opens with a smoking version of “Oh Well,” her powerful voice injecting plenty of swagger in the tune. It is immediately apparent that over the course of her career, Rhodes has learned the art of singing, eschewing the opportunity to scream and holler at every turn.
Joe Caro, who has backed a wide range of artist from Dr. John to Blue Oyster Cult, has the unenviable task of filling in for Green on guitar, but he is up to the task, paying homage to the legendary figure before offering his own interpretations of Green’s style and distinctive guitar tone. It certainly helps to resurrect these songs when you have Fleetwood on drums, laying down the familiar rhythmic grooves he played on the originals. The bass player, Carmine Rojas, is also a skilled veteran, having backed David Bowie, Rod Stewart, and Joe Bonamassa. On “Rattlesnake Shake,” Tato Melgar adds some potent percussive sounds to the mix.
The final track of the first side has Rhodes flipping the gender on “Black Magic Woman,” proudly declaring that she is woman driving men wild, with a sassy attitude that fits the hard rocking approach the band takes. Caro lays down a guitar solo that hews close to Green’s sound, but when the band kicks it into gear half way through the song, he treats listeners to his take on the Fleetwood Mac magic, cushioned by Mark Johnstone’s keyboard efforts. Rhodes finishes it off with charged vocal turn. Then she offers up a quick shout that makes it clear that she approves of the performance.
The second side has Rhodes backed by her regular band, featuring Ashton Yarbrough on bass, Rick Bodinus on drums, Larry Dvoskin on keyboards, and the twin guitar sounds from Adrian Trevino and Justin Morris. The three songs were penned by Christine McVie, who was a member of the second great edition of Fleetwood Mac along with Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and her husband, bassist John McVie, another founding member of the group. She wrote them when she was known as Christine Perfect, and were recorded during her tenure with the British band Chicken Shack, led by guitarist Stan Webb.
“A Woman Is The Blues” finds Rhodes bemoaning her no-good man, fully aware that she doesn’t have papers on him. She is pleading one minute, then displays a resolute attitude of defiant acceptance. The band settles into a rocking groove for “Get Like You Used To Be,” but Rhodes still has a worried mind over her man troubles, holding out hope for a better outcome. Things are much better on “It’s Ok With Me Baby,” as Rhodes shows compassion for a former lover, yet makes an emphatic declaration that she has moved on, their relationship over. The twin guitar attack serves up plenty of encouragement for her captivating vocal.
Straddling that territory where blues and rock converge, Rhodes delvers a solid set that might be a bit short on playing time, but her vocal prowess and measured approach combined with two like-minded bands allows this album to stand up to repeated listening experiences.
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!
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Featured Blues Review – 3 of 5
Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band – Honeysuckle
Family Owned Records
www.bigdamnband.com
12 Tracks – 35 minutes
Josh “Reverend” Peyton was born in Eagleton, Indiana. His father gave him his first guitar at age 12. A friend pointed out that his guitar playing had a blues tone to it. That sent him off in exploration of blues artists starting with B.B. King and Muddy Waters and ultimately to the country style blues and the finger-picking style of Charlie Patton. As he graduated high school, he had a severe pain in his left-hand after playing at a party. He found he could not hold his hand in a fretting position, a condition doctors told him could not be cured. He briefly gave up on music, but eventually went to the Indiana Hand Center, which removed a mass of scar tissue which gave him the dexterity and flexibility to continue working on his finger-picking style.
While recovering from his surgery, he met Breezy who also had an interest in the country blues style. She played him an album from Jimbo Mathus and the two were ultimately married in 2003, A trip to Clarksdale, Mississippi encouraged them to play music. Breezy took up playing the washboard. Their early career took off with a two-night gig at Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale and an opening spot for the Derek Trucks Band in California, the twosome were encouraged to pursue a musical career and to tour full-time. That decision has led them to play up to 250 dates a year in 48 states and 38 countries.
With Rev. Peyton on guitar and vocals, Breezy on washboard and vocals and the addition of Jacob “The Snakob” Powell on percussion, the band has gained notoriety as “the greatest front-porch blues band in the world”. Still located in Brown County, Indiana, Peyton decided to record an all-acoustic album in his living room as a throw-back to his roots. Ultimately Jacob encouraged to him to re-record many of the songs with a mix by six-time Grammy Winner Vance Powell. And as the album was being completed, several guests were added to the mix. The album is the twelfth full release from the band. The first album, “The Pork ‘n’ Beans Collection” was released in 2004.
The Rev. Peyton’s unmistakable gruff, growling vocals and his featured National guitar kick off the album with the title song, a reference to a woman he notes as “trouble, trouble but it’s all mine”, “hard to handle, soft to touch, she’s a lot but not too much”. On Robert Johnson’s “If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day”, he declares “I went to the mountain looked far as I could see because a man had my woman, and a lot of blues had me”. The first two songs feature Peyton’s solo guitar and vocals. The first guest appearance is from the gospel group The McCrary Sisters joining on backing vocals on “Looking for a Manger” as he notes “that I am a stranger…and sometimes a stranger is just looking for a manger”.
Breezy joins him on “Like A Treasure” as they sing “we belong together”. ” I want to stay in this forever.” Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “One Dime Blues” brings out the full band as he says, “I don’t have a dime, everybody hits the hard luck sometimes”. Billy Branch adds harmonica on Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “Nell (Prison Cell Blues)” as he cries “I would not be here if it had not been for Nell”.
Michael Cleveland then joins him on fiddle on a rollicking version of Keith Allison’s bluegrass song “Freeborn Man” with the band’s guitar-tech Aaron Ransdell playing an upright bass as Peyton advises, “My home is on my back, I know every inch of highway, every foot of backroad and every mile of railroad track”. He next says, ” I Can’t Sleep” as he heard “a cry down the street”. “Let Me Go” picks up steam again as he declares “my work is at overflow”.
Colton Crawford from The Dead South band joins on banjo on “The Good Die Young” as he is “just waiting on my ship to come…just waiting on my love to finally up and change”. The traditional “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning” follows. He brings the album to a jumping conclusion as he declares “Your daddy don’t like me, but your “Mama Do”.
While the Big Damn Band does briefly surface on a few songs, this is primarily a Rev. Peyton solo album with his added guests and the band joining as sort of a guest slot as well on the album. As usual for any Rev. Peyton album, it is a consistent full-energy blast with him burning up on the guitar strings.
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.
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Featured Blues Review – 4 of 5
Parchman Prison Prayer – Another Mississippi Sunday Morning
Self Released
www.ianbrennan.com
13 tracks
Producer Ian Brennan went to the notorious Parchman Prison Farm in 2022 and produced Parchman Prison Prayer, which received great critical acclaim from the likes of the New York Times, the BBC and The Guardian. Brennan was allowed to return on Superbowl Sunday in 2024 and the men who performed were allowed to sing and play again along with being videoed and having photos taken. A dozen men participated this time, ranging in age from 23 to 77. Three are serving life sentences, one is serving a term that will exceed his lifespan, and 5 were new arrivals since 2022. The delivered to this effort a baker’s dozen songs of their feelings of God’s grace.
“Parchman Prison Blues” starts off the album with harmonized humming by six of the inmates who huddled around and improvised a wordless performance. Their blues showcase the pain and deprivation they have experienced. All those serving life sentences plus a 66 year old who has spent most of his adult life on the farm were part of this group. “Open the Floodgates of Heaven (Let It Rain)” is a moving piece with solo voice and piano. One can feel their pain and emotion in the vocals. The song was recorded as a torrential storm enveloped the prison; J. Hemphill sang with a trembling and emotive voice. He is 67 and serving a life sentence since he was incarcerated when in his 20s. Hemphill is a changed man who should be released.
“Grace Will Lead Me On” opens with organ and is testimony about what grace is. M. Palmer who movingly recalls his Grandmother schooling him on what grace meant. His deep baritone voice touches your soul. He testifies and remembers one day hearing Amazing Grace play on radio as his dad was fixing his car. His father began to explain but broke down in tears, so he asked his Mom what it was about; she was also overcome with emotion, so he went up to see Grandma to find out what grace was. It’s really touching stuff. J. Robinson who sings and L. Stevenson who does percussion are two inmates in their 30’s who present a hip hop tune about “MC Hammer,” a song praising the holy spirit. Their spirits are not broken, they are, “Too legit to quit” having hope. It’s a cool and interesting take on faith, mixing Hammer and the Holy Spirit.
Then it’s 51 year old C. Jackson singing “Po’ Child,” a sad tome followed by testimony on the cycle of life resulting in imprisonment. ”Take Me To The King” is done by D. Justice, a 41 year old inmate. He delivers a whispered testimony with percussion as he asks to be delivered to his savior. Hemphill returns with another cut entitled “Living Testimony,” as he sings how he’s blessed to be alive, fed and clothed. It is hard to imagine that someone experiencing the prison farm can be thankful for their life.
The hymn “ I Shall Not Want” is done by 55 year old M. Kyles. He sings acappella with grace, dignity and feeling for nearly 4 minutes of truly moving music. “I Won’t Complain” by C.S. Deloch, a 75 year old detainee, is more unaccompanied vocals delivered with pain and tinged by the hellish life these men have lived. “God is Keeping Me” features L. Stevenson at 31 years of age and featuring C. Jackson, a 51 year old, who accompanies him. The two do a fantastic duet and play off each other. The younger voice with the older one laid over it present to us some truly deep feelings.
The bright tenor tones of L. Bron (38 years old) on “Talking About My Jesus” is short but quite emotive. Also short is “Stand For You” with 65 year old J. Sherman, whose voice cracks under emotion as he sings that only the Lord can stand for you. The finale is the entire group led by Palmer’s deep baritone voice. They take us to church with their voices and piano as they deliver the biggest and brightest number on the album.
Brennan is a Grammy winning producer of world and traditional music and is also a renowned author. His 2022 effort at the prison farm was spiritually and emotionally moving, and this reprized effort equals the first production. Having men perform, who have spent various times behind bars in a notorious place with a horrid track record for their treatment of prisoners, who still display the hope they have through their faith in Jesus will even make non-believers get goosebumps from listening to their performances. The grace that the Lord has bestowed on them to move on from what brought them to the prison is displayed by their singing and words. Brennan appreciates the most auspicious and unlikely sources that great music can emanate from. We need to thank him for discovering and delivering this and the prior album to us.
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.
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Featured Interview – Terry “Harmonica” Bean
I had the opportunity to interview Terry “Harmonica” Bean over the phone in December 2024. I had questions prepared so we could discuss his career, but Bean had also prepared his key talking points. He could sense my interest in history and helped fill some gaps in my knowledge. Bean went on to cover diverse topics surrounding blues such as race and religion. This was not a traditional interview, but an invaluable lesson about the history and culture of blues in Mississippi.
Terry “Harmonica” Bean was born and raised in Pontotoc, a small town in Northeast Mississippi with a deep musical legacy. Notable artists who hail from Pontotoc include “Baby Face” Leroy Foster, who was the first drummer to record with Muddy Waters, along with Ruby Elzy. Elzy was a classical vocalist who studied at Julliard and appeared on Broadway in the original version of Porgy and Bess. Bean’s father, Eddie Bean, and grandfather, Rossie Bean, were both active bluesmen. Despite his family’s background in blues, Bean did not always want to be a musician.
Terry Bean was a baseball star in high school and was actively recruited by some of the top teams in the MLB.
“I was going to be drafted by the Cincinnati Reds one time, Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals.”
Bean was in a bad motorcycle accident which cost him his baseball career. His grandfather, Rossi Bean, offered some advice. Bean had 18 brothers and 6 sisters, so his grandfather lovingly referred to all of the grandchildren as John Brown.
“He said, ‘John Brown, that ain’t what the good lord got in plan for you. You can get in the blues. I know you love that baseball, and you good at it. But that blues will do something for you.’”
Young Bean was not ready to take his grandfather’s advice and continued to train for baseball. He recovered and was once again being recruited by the Cincinnati Reds when he was involved in another car wreck.
“Thank the good lord I’m still here. My grandfather come to me again… ‘I told you grandson, that ain’t for you.’”
Bean complained to his grandfather he was raised up around the music and didn’t really like the blues.
“He said, ‘Let me tell you something John Brown, you don’t like the blues? Well, you just do this for me. You just play it and let somebody else like it.’”
Bean listened to the sage advice from his grandfather and it transformed his life.
“It’s been good for me. It’s carried me places I’ve never dreamed I’d be.”
While discussing his career, Bean explained some important history and terminology in Mississippi blues, such as the difference between juke joints and juke houses.
“Juke joints here in Mississippi, was everywhere…Black people could come to town, to the city limits, and do what they called, ‘let your hair down.’”
While the juke joints were in town, the juke houses were located on farms. He explained how the law was different at the juke houses.
“The white man that they were sharecropped from, he handled everything, the police didn’t come there. These people that stayed at the juke house, they couldn’t come to town because they got in some kind of trouble in the city limits… but as long as you stayed at the juke house… you was alright.”
Bean explained that there could’ve been an unfair dispute with a white person in town, and if the black sharecropper went back into town they would be arrested. The juke house had music and, “what went on in the juke house, stayed at the juke house.”
Bean went on to discuss the importance of lyrics in blues, and how messages were hidden in the words sung.
“They couldn’t say what they really wanted to say, so they formed this music…what they were singing about didn’t make sense to them(white listeners), but it made sense to black people…And it would take you somewhere, if you know what the blues is.”
Although some of the messages in blues may not be understood by all listeners, according to Bean, everyone has the blues.
“Even people…that’s got everything they ever need and never use it all. Don’t even realize they got the blues too…Blues don’t care nothing about no color. The blues is like death, everybody got to go.”
Bean explains that the blues is not just in people, but in every living thing.
“Look at the trees today today…They got the blues… The leaves is falling off of ‘em…even the grass done changed.” He laughs as he talks about the blues in something non-living, “Your car, now you can buy a brand new one, but it’ll die on you too. Everything has the blues, man!”
Bean’s hometown, Pontotoc, is part of the rich hill country blues tradition, and his grandfather told him that this style is where the blues gets its driving energy.
“The hill country guys were the powerhouse in the blues…they had that drive thing in them…people had to get up and start moving.”
Bean’s grandfather told him stories of contests where musicians would compete for a prize which could be a pig or a goat, and that many times the hill country musicians would win. Bean compares this style to the delta blues.
“The delta guys played the laid-back stuff…and people just kind of listen at that.” Bean explains this comparison of the two styles when discussing the impact of “Baby Face” Leroy Foster’s drumming.
When he was approached by the Mississippi Blues Commission about a blues trail marker in Pontotoc, Bean made sure the group recognized Leroy Foster.
“He was the first drummer for Muddy Waters…he was a hill country, singing drummer.”
Bean’s perspective on Mississippi and Chicago blues is unique and fascinating. If the hill country is where the blues gets its power from, and Muddy Waters’ first drummer emulated that style, then one could say that hill country blues had a deep impact on the development of Chicago blues.
Alongside our discussions of blues styles, Bean talked about some of the history of gospel music in Mississippi. He explained how in the beginning, there was no music or instruments in the church and the preacher led the worship only with his voice. Without music, the church struggled to keep a full congregation.
“The juke joints, juke houses, they be packed out…but on Sunday, the preachers didn’t have nobody at church.” Bean states that this is why religious people began referring to blues as devil’s music, to try to scare people away from the juke joints and juke houses and towards the church.
“The black preachers start telling, ‘You’re gonna go to hell for listening to that devil music…that stuff is no good…’Some of those guys that played the blues, quit playing. They started going to church.”
Soon the juke joints and juke houses were losing money as the church became more popular. Bean’s grandfather also felt the financial blow when his moonshine business waned. As the audiences began flocking to the church, the musicians soon followed.
“Coming in there with their guitars… that piano… a blues guy sit down there and play it.” Bean states that the combination of the blues musicians with the preacher’s strong voice created the basis for music in the church today.
“Now he’s got music in the church…but that music can’t be called blues…it’s the same damn music, but it’s called sanctified music now.”
Not only was the music the same but the audience had the same involvement.
“That devil dance that you were throwing down at the juke joint. You’re doing the same dance in the church…now it’s the holy ghost dance.”
Bean drives his point home by stating, “the blues came from the fields and went to the church.”
Terry Bean has a lot of pride in his hometown, and his fellow musicians from around Pontotoc when discussing his preference for blues styles.
“I go in between my blues. I’m doing the hill country, Chicago, because I’m representing these people that people ain’t never heard of. Like my grandfather, Rossie Johnson.”
His grandfather played all of the local juke joints and juke houses and spent time with legendary bluesmen Robert Johnson and Son House. His father, Eddie Bean, was also a musician who played with B.B. King and Little Milton, but never traveled far. Bean also raved about a local bluesman, Alvin Lee Lyons.
“I wish the world could’ve seen this man…that man could do some stuff. He was a dancer, and played while he was dancing and singing, and all of that stuff too.”
Bean said that Lyons was funny about performing and had to be coaxed into playing his guitar.
“He wanted people to beg him to play. Women especially…He’ll wait till he got about 15 or 20 of them women asking him, and then he would do it.”
When talking about local bluesmen, Bean also spoke about Jimmy Willow.
“Goodness gracious. You ought’ve heard it. I used to love trying to get him to go out and let some people see him.”
Willow was a religious man and was afraid of playing blues outside of his home.
“His grandmother, grandfather, them all were telling him, you go to hell for playing that kind of music, son. That’s the devil’s music.”
Willow, Lyons, and Bean’s father and grandfather were all great musicians from Pontotoc that never made it far outside of town with their music. Bean takes the opportunity to showcase the style of these bluesmen on his own gigs, and in doing so preserves a unique style that would otherwise be forgotten.
Terry “Harmonica” Bean is an ambassador for Mississippi blues, and has taken the hill country style around the world. He has performed in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Australia. He reflects on his missed opportunities in sports with honesty, but no regrets.
“Baseball would’ve made me the money, but I would’ve just been an American figure…I’m worldwide now. A little old guy from Pontotoc Mississippi.”
Bean maintains a steady touring schedule and will be performing at the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi this upcoming April.
Writer Ben Levin is a pianist/vocalist based in Cincinnati, OH. Ben has released seven albums on the Vizztone Label Group and has three Blues Music Award nominations.
For other interviews on our website CLICK HERE
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Featured Blues Review – 5 of 5
Mike Hallal – Time for a Turnaround
Pi Records
www.mikehallal.com
14 Tracks – 40 minutes
Mike Hallal was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1952. His grandfather gave him his first guitar at age 12 and a year later he wrote his first song, inspired by the music of The Beatles and Rolling Stones. At age 19, he moved to Boston where he recorded solo and played with a number of different bands. After 40 years living in Boston dedicated to making music, he now lives in the mountains of western Maine and still making music.
With this album, Mike returns to recording solo acoustic music. It is his 11th full length album release and first solo album in thirty years. He first decided to record forty songs just to tie up copyrights, but as he recorded, he heard many that he thought was worth gathering for a full album. Mike sings in a pleasant, resonating baritone.
The title song opens the album with as he determines “Blue days / black nights/ truth hurts/it bites/don’t look now/ time for a turnaround” as he namedrops acronyms of groups responsible for the existing despair, including “USA – what the f___”. He then says he is going to you down “Melody Road” noting “Rhythm and blues and a little guitar can warm your heart and set you on fire”. On “Lookin’ Out for Me”, he says “long ago a gypsy told me my destiny, knots and crosses an early decree”.
“Ee Stomp” moves into folk music as Mike warns, “Continuing this agony / we’re taking high inequity / you know what they say about history/ the high an mighty fall repeatedly”. On “Mollyocket Song”, he asks for somebody to “put another nickel in my pocket, tell me everything is going to be all right” and if I die “There will be someone to treat my body right and put my head down, so I face the mornin'”. On “Little Love” he warns “of snakes in the grass everywhere” and advises that “no one is going to break you down”.
Mike moves back into a blues mode as he declares “she is the hottest wheeler dealer the world’s ever seen / pick your mind and pockets clean” “one wrong move, she pays you back “In Spades”. On “Oh My Girl”, Mike says she is a beautiful girl but get too close and you will see she has a “warning scar on one cheek, red lines down both arms, Venus undone”. in a tale of abuse. “You Rolled Me” is another love -related song as he relates ” now we’re old and grey and that’s no shame and thru all of the days I love you the same”.
He asks, “What You Gonna Do” “when your first cheats on you”, when the money runs out on you” or “when the devil comes calling you?”. “It is all right to cry yourself asleep tonight, you will feel better in the mornin’, the sun is going to shine”. He declares that I “Wish You Well” and “you find your peace of mind” but as “I love you, I can’t let you keep troubling me no more”. On “Old Tricks”, Mike advises to “make a list of the things you are proud of, kind and good things that you’ve done, memorize it , maybe alphabetize it for times when you’re feelin’ down”.
Mike provides an allegory about life as he observes the Bluejays in his yard and cites “Yesterday was dark. so dark and dreary” noting how the birds “chatter and carry on just like we do” and they “scatter and flee for their lives from their enemies”. The album concludes an upbeat “Free to Dance” as he tells her to “spin around, I’ll keep watch out, I love to watch you move, you are so beautiful, you trip the light fantastic, yes you do”.
The album delivers a simple, continuous acoustic backing to pleasant vocals by Mike. I would deem the album more clearly to be a folk music album with an occasional touch of blues.
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.
For other reviews on our website CLICK HERE
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