This Week's Reader Favorite Post

Zac Harmon & The Drive - Live - New Release Review

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 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Live , from Zac Harmon & The Drive and it's super! Opening with soulful, NTRO , Nate Robinson on bass and Gino Iglehart on drums set a solid foundation, with Corey Lacy building on keys and lush guitar work by Zac Harmon and Kingston Livingston really setting the bar. Terrific opener. Blue Pill Thrill has super movement and soulful vocals by Harmon. Lacy on keys works the rhythm with Robinson and Iglehart and Livingston and and Harmon play stinging riffs on guitar really giving this track some kick. Deep blues track, Feet Back On The Ground features Albert King like stinging riffs and super soulful vocals by Harmon. Keeping the music floor low allows Harmon plenty of space to go dynamically from soft to wow quickly adding real emotion to the track. Excellent! Boogie Down is a strong jam with a firm piano base by Lacy giving Harmon plenty of headroom for vocal corralling. Lacy lays in some real tasty keyboar...
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I started a quest to find terrific blues music and incredible musicianship when I was just a little kid. I also have a tremendous appreciation of fine musical instruments and equipment. One of my greatest joys all of my life was sharing my finds with my friends. I'm now publishing my journey. I hope that you come along!


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Real Gone Music - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys - Riding Your Way

I just received the newest release from Real Gone Records, Riding Your Way - The Lost Transcriptions For Tiffany Music 1946 - 1947 by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys and it's a real authentic cowboy/big band/Mexican/Hawaiian/bluegrass/swing/jazz fusion collection and a joy to explore. Included are all of the background hoots and hollars, hawaiian steel guitar tuning, big band horn arrangements, yodeling and authentic American music that you could imagine. This 11 or so piece band brought it all and didn't leave any of it when they were done. They went all after it. For two years Wills and the Playboys recorded tracks for about 30 radio stations airings including written dialog for the DJ's to string together the tracks. Originally 220 tracks were compiled for release between 1947 and 49.With the resurgence of interest in Wills music in the 90's and again in 2009 a large set of these recordings were released as a box set. This set, the recordings which are premium quality includes 50 tracks from the original recordings including 20 tracks that have never before been released. I have been sitting listening to this 2 disc set for a number of hours and it draws you in even more as you listen to it. This is genuine good time music and expertly executed. Going through and exploring each track individually in writing would be an enormous track but I will say that there is a variety of music here, all which is extremely enjoyable. Disc 1 opens with Put Another Chair At The Table a classic country styled ballad with big band twists. Brushy Fork is a really cool bluegrass (Irish reel) track with a lot of snap. The instrumental, Paradise Isle has a lot of Hawaiian influence with lap tuned Hawaiian style. Very cool. Brown Skin Gal, another instrumental is pure Texas swing with a capital T. Travelin Blues hits right on target with a country blues track. Excellent! On The Alamo again touches on Hawaiian tuning on the steel but with a touch of big band/jazz arrangement. Another particularly cool track. El Rancho Grande is one of my favorites from disc one with it's TexMex flavor. Ragtime Annie is a springy bluegrass style instrumental and a great track to conclude the 25 track 1st disc.

 Disc 2 opens with Sally Johnson which I think would be a jig or a reel. A very cool instrumental and then into Silver Dew on the Blue Grass Tonight, a traditional country swing track with traditional country steel tuning. Love Letters In The Sand gets a real country swing feel. And My Wild Irish Rose is taken as seriously as when written. Very nice. Another favorites on disc 2 is She's Killing Me, a bluegrass influenced track with a lot of vocal call and response. Bubbles In My Beer should definitely be in the jukebox of my neighborhood tavern. It would get a lot of quarters. I really enjoyed this review of classic Bob Wills music and recommend the release for anyone who likes a little touch of something fun. Included with these special 50 tracks is a large tri fold dvd sized package with photos and track listings as well as a 23 page booklet chocked full of info, poster photos, notes, bios and photos to look at while you listen to this great release.

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