John Hines – Memphis Sun
Independent Release
7 tracks – 24 minutes
Canadian guitarist, harmonica player and vocalist Jon Hines is from Cape Breton, an Island extension from Nova Scotia and located just east of Prince Edward Island. He won the East Coast Blues Society’s “Maritime to Memphis” blues challenge leading him to represent Atlantic Canada at the 2025 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, where he was a semi-finalist. He has released one previous solo cd, Wild Thing. Memphis Sun is his debut band recording. He is joined on this album by Kevin Fletcher on harmonica, Cameron Palmer on drums, and George Wolf on bass. George and Victoria Hines also provide backing vocals on “Me and The Devil”.
The title song opens the album with a song commemorating his trip to Memphis and noting “I went to Clarksdale too”. “Standing on the corner of BB King and Beale, my six-string and I hawking Lucille”. Dynamic slide guitar mixed with Kevin’s harmonica drives the song. “Me and The Devil” is an original song having nothing to do with the similarly titled song by Robert Johnson. The song features Jon’s slide guitar in a more rootsy folk feel with a touch of gospel as he cites, “Me and that devil walk side by side”.
“Until The Wheels” is a smooth, jazzy blues with Jon showing an easy-going vocal approach as he tells her “I will love you baby until the wheels come off”. He jumps into a laid-back boogie on “Holy Ground” with Kevin’s harmonica again sharing the lead as he notes ” I stood on the ground at the foot of the King…way down where the magnolia grows”.
“Pitter Patter” moves into a jazzy swing with the solid drumming and bass lifting the beat. “Looking out this window, train up the tracks, whistling goes by to those days I won’t get back. Pitter Patter falls heavy on my window”. Jon Kicks up the steam again with his guitar roaring along as he tells the story of a “Riverside Gambler” with “Johnny Law hunting me down…wanted dead or alive”. “Working Man” ends the album with Kevin’s harmonica again out front as Jon says “Woke up this morning, guess it’s time to go and make some hay while the sun is shining, while the moonlight fades. Moving on, got to get paid”.
The album shows a lot of promise for Jon and his band and is certainly one to continue to watch for in the future. If there is anything to criticize or maybe just lament, it is the shortness of the album. You come away wanting to hear more.
