Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, A Day By The Bay , by Backtrack Blues Band , and its a solid live performance recorded at the Tampa Bay Blues Festival in 2022. Opening with Best Friend's Grave , Sonny Charles on lead vocal and harmonica is in the groove with excellent guitar work by Kid Royal, and supported by Little Johnny Walter on rhythm guitar, Joe Bencomo on drums, Stick Davis on bass, Wayne Sharp on B3 and strong backing vocals by LaTonya Oliver and Dana Merriwether. Solid opener. Dixie Grill is a cool boogie with a great rhythm. Charles, on lead vocal ramps up his harmonica with strong phrasing over the rhythm of Sharp on B3. Times Is Hard is my favorite track on the release featuring Royal on lead vocal. With it's slow, deep blues feel, both Charles and Royal get plenty of time to stretch. Sharp lays in a real nice B3 solo building more tension before Royal comes back with excellent guitar phrasing to sew things up. Wrapping the release ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Your Baby Has Left , from Backtrack Blues Band and it's a solid, straight up blueser. Opening with Best Friend's Grave (Joy, Joy, Joy) Sonny Charles on lead vocal and harmonica steps off this shuffle, with Kid Royal on lead guitar, Little Johnny Walter on rhythm guitar, Joe Bencomo on drums, Stick Davis on bass, Bruce Katz on organ and piano and with backing vocals by Latonya Oliver and Dana Merriwether. Title track, Your Baby Has Left is a great boogie with super harp work by Charles and stinging guitar accents by Royal. With it's low slung lope, Natural Born Lover features Royal on lead vocal and nicely styled guitar riffs and cool piano work by Katz freeing up Charles to lay a little heavier into the harp. Very nice. One of my favorite tracks on the release is up tempo shuffle, You'll Come Back Someday . I particularly like Charles lead vocal on this track and his harp work, punched up by Vinnie Cies...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Make My Home In Florida , from the Backtrack Blues Band and it's quite good. Opening with Checkin' On My Baby , BBB, lead by Sonny Charles on lead vocal and harp gets the show started with a nice easy shuffle, with Kid Royal on lead guitar, Little Johnny Walter on rhythm guitar, Stick Davis on bass and Joe Bencomo on drums. On Woke Up This Morning , Royal steps up on lead vocals and the band is swinging. Royal plays a stinging lower octave solo which has a great feel and the band is tight. Slow blues and title track, Make My Home In Florida , gives the band a nice opportunity to stretch with solid solos from Charles and Royal. Very nice. T-Bone Shuffle has a great feel, crusing along with extended solos from Charles and Royal showing some real nice trem bends. Excellent! Your Funeral and My Trial is a solid showcase for Charles on harp who has real nice tone and phrasing. Winding the band up for the close is H...

I just had the opportunity to review the newest release, Way Back Home , from the Backtrack Blues Band and it's solid. Opening with Going to Eleuthera , a snappy shuffle, Sonny Charles leads the way on lead vocals and Kid Royal is hot on his heels on lead guitar. Rounding out the troupe is Little Johnny Walter on rhythm guitar, Joe Bencomo on drums and Stick Davis on bass. Victor Wainwright is featured on piano and does a real nice job and Charles really makes his harp sing. Nice opener. On Tell Your Daddy , the band sets a funky dance groove with a boogaloo bass line. Breaking into a smooth shuffle Royal plays it like a stud and the deal is on. Breaking back, Charles brings his harp to the forefront with great tone. Shoot My Rooster has a real nice blues lope with Charles' harp on call and Royal's guitar on response. One of my favorite tracks on the release, this track features super piano work by Wainwright in the mix with Royal and Charles. Excellent. Sonny Boy Wi...

Backtrack Blues Band Brings It Way Back Home on New Harpo Records CD Coming on September 2 Special Guests Include 2016 BMA Winner Victor Wainwright ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Tampa Bay-based group Backtrack Blues Band announces a September 2 release date for Way Back Home , on Harpo Records, distributed in the USA by Select-O-Hits and in Canada on Flaming Cheese Records. This is the fifth CD from Backtrack Blues Band, which has won three consecutive Tampa Bay Music Awards for “Best Blues Band.” 2016 Blues Music Award-winner Victor Wainwright adds his major chops on piano throughout the album’s 10 tracks, a perfect blend of Chicago blues (a la Paul Butterfield Blues Band) and the rompin’, stompin’ Texas style of the early Fabulous Thunderbirds. Members of Backtrack Blues Band are Sonny Charles – lead vocals, harmonica; Kid Royal – lead guitar; Little Johnny Walter – rhythm guitar; Joe Bencomo – drums; and Jeff “Stick” Davis – bass.  Founded in 1980, this talented ...