Bman's Blues Report

Slide Guitar Maestro Brian Cober Releases "Austin Wired" February 11, 2014             Brian Cober is the best friend that the slide guitar ever had. He has given the slide guitar a voice and range of capabilities and harnessed them to drive his own brand of streetwise, road-wise blues. He has captured the soul that makes one actually enjoy, in a sympathetic way, his songs of heartbreaks and excesses. Cober began playing lap steel at age 8, and invented his "Double Slide" style at age 15 to give him more versatility. With his band The Nationals, Brian Cober released three acclaimed CDs and has played with Bo Diddley, King Biscuit Boy, Long John Baldry, Jeff Healey, and Eugene Smith - he’s also opened for Johnny Winter, James Cotton, Blue Rodeo, John Mayall, Roy Buchanan and many others.   When The Nationals' founding member Paul McNamara passed away in 2008, Cober began his solo career with a new ...

I just received the newest release, Austin Wired (February 11, 2014)from Brian Cober and it is quite different. From uptempo country to blues and Latin, this is a cool release. Opening with country style rocker, What Will Come , Cober leads his trio of mates into a rabel rousing rukus of sliding fun. Robert Johnson's Preachin' The Blues is given the hard driving beat with train like percussion provided by Tom Lewis. Cober isn't shy to show he knows his way around the slide and this is a super track with plenty of action. I'm A Bluesman Baby has an unusual rhythm pattern and a catchy melody making it a good possible for radio play. Clever use of slide against a subdued rhythm is the key to this track. Woulda Coulda Shoulda has a springy pop sound but evolves into a slow blues like interlude with Big Ben Richardson on bass and Cober on slide doing some innovative stuff. Cool. Nuestro Viento is a spanish style track with a haunting melody. With only simple backing...