Scott Weiss Band – Raise Your Hand
Independent Release
11 Tracks – 49 minutes
Scott Weis grew up in New Jersey and moved to New York where he became a touring guitarist for many blues and rock artists before deciding to go out on his own. He released his first solo album in 2006 with band members Robert Kopec on bass and Roger Voss on drums and performed as The Scott Weiss Band. In 2011, he shifted to an alternate sound focused on a New Orleans funk and soul. That band is currently referenced as Scott Weiss and Soul Krewe, but initially was also just called the Scott Weis Band. That band features Andy Pace on drums and Todd Lanka on bass. The initial line-up released two albums and the revised line -up released three albums prior to 2020. In 2020, Kopec and Voss rejoined Scott in the Scott Weis Band and released “Simmer Me Down” in that year, while the Soul Krewe also continued to perform. The result from those combinations then saw a Soul Krewe release, “Sugar Shack” in early 2023 and now for Scott’s eighth album, the Scott Weis Band has released “Raise Your Hands“.
In 2011, Scott suffered a broken neck in an accident that left him uncertain of ever being able to perform again. The release of an album “Almost There” occurred prior to that accident and received considerable attention. That gave him the drive to be able to get back to performing. In 2012, he received a call from Dickie Betts to open some upcoming shows for him.
“Raise Your Hands” contains eleven songs written by Scott and two covers. The opening song “Motherless Child” features Scott’s slide guitar work with guests Cindy Mizelle on vocals and John Ginty’s keyboards. Mizelle and Ginty continue on the second track “Shine Down” as Scott sings “after all is said and done, I have to believe my love will shine down on you”. Percussionist Bashiri Johnson, who has recorded with Sting, Aretha Franklin, Steve Winwood and many others, joins Scott for “Judgment Day”, a song that would comfortably fit on a ZZ Top album. Ginty and Johnson again joins on “Raise Your Hands” with Scott shredding the strings on a swampy blues rock number. He says, “Set a course to the bayou, water up to my thighs”.
The first cover is The Beatles “With A Little Help from My Friends” which famously was also a successful recording for Joe Cocker. Here Scott’s gravelly voice more closely approximates the Cocker version of the song with Sarah Smith sharing the vocals and Ginty’s organ sailing under the vocals. On “Mindless”, Scott attacks the vocals in a near speaking tone as he says he is “walking two steps short of insanity” and the band turns up the distortion in reflection of the lyrics. On the funky “Bitch Please”, he declares that he is “under her spell”.
Cindy Mizelle returns to sing alongside of Scott on “Lost Myself”, another blues rocker as he says he is “riding on a shooting star” and “lost myself in loving you, need to find my way back home”. He then begs her to “Stay” “…with me tonight”. The second cover is “Have You Ever Loved a Woman” which was originally written by Billy Myle and first recorded by Freddie King in 1960 and later became a regular part of Eric Clapton’s repertoire here is given a rock version and Scott breaks out his harmonica while again burning up the strings. Scott breaks out the dobro and Robert bringing out the double bass as he takes the music back to a classic blues on “Bring Me Home”.
