Bman's Blues Report

I just received the newest release, On Down The Road from JL Fulks and I really like it. Opening with The River , Fulks sets the stage with a meaty double stop sound on his guitar and his own vocals backed by solid backing vocals by Rachel Brown. Driving rock drums work by Ian Jones and tasty bass work by Ken Burgner complimented nicely by Muggie Doo on B3 leads into a well executed guitar solo. Very cool. Snappy drum riffs by Jones opens title track, On Down The Road , a Matt Schofleid compiosition. Fulks has really learned to keep his guitar in check and uses his lead vocals to direct the track, adding really well executed guitar soloing by Schofield and his own to complete his expressions. Excellent! Slow blues number, I Believe In Love , gives Fulks the opportunity to show his metal with his guitar. His phrases are well composed and fluid showing maturity and patience. Very nice! On Honey, Ain't That Love , Fulks backs off to an easy shuffle and more primitive styling. Wit...

I just received two new EP releases, Live in Studio 101 and Heading Back To Memphis from JL Fulks and they are quite good. Live in Studio 101 opens with shuffle track, Before I Go Insane . With it's Freddie King feel and tight riffs, this is a nice opener. Joining Fulks who handily manages guitar and vocals, is Jim Kinder on drums, Chris Reynolds on rhythm guitar and Ron Calese on bass. Twang Thang is a breezy blues rocker instrumental. With just a pinch of country riffs this has style. On slow blues track, I Believe In Love , Fulks really shows his chops on guitar. Clocking in at over 9 minutes, Fulks does an excellent job of making the time fly with inventive riff after inventive riff. Very nice! On instrumental funky/jazz track, Watch Yourself , Fulks and crew get a nice groove going showing another facet of Fulks repertoire.  His second EP, Heading Back To Memphis , shows a bit more maturity with more fully crafted tracks. Opening with title track, Heading Back To Memph...

I just got the new recording, Dixie Highway , by JL Fulks and Patrick Levon Farinas . This recording is a mixture of a lot of different sounds from R&B, deep blues, southern rock, guitar rock, jazz, funk, Nashville ... and much more. The opening track, I Gotta Get It Tonight , takes hints from Humble Pie, Bad Company and Van Halen for a contemporary look at southern blues rock. This track has heavy undertones and speed riffs. My Girl has the construction of a blues standard from the 50's with absolutely screaming guitar riffs. These riffs have the blues quality of BB King and the fluid dexterity of Johnny Winter or Alvin Lee... a really nice combination. Bull In A China Shop starts off in the style of a Buddy Guy track but switches to a Clarence Gatemouth Brown romp and back demonstrating the versatility of the group. Fish in My Own Pond has the distinct sound of Nashville but with a Chicago Mojo. These guys can play! Deep Blue is definitely cut from BB King's cloth bu...

I recently became acquainted with a very talented musician and after some discussions thought that his story may not only help his journey but also may help others who are traveling a similar path. JL Fulks grew up in Greenville , South Carolina and recently relocated to Boca Raton, Florida. Bman: Hi JL. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me. How long have you been playing guitar? JL: Not a problem, I have been playing guitar for about 7 years now Bman: So give me the story. How did this all begin? JL: I joined Unsought Rejection with some friends in high school. We had some minor gigging success, and it was the first time I contributed to writing original music. We also won my high schools battle of the bands. We ended up recording a 5 song demo in a pro studio that came out decent. Everyone in the band stopped playing music shortly after that but me, but it was a good experience for me at that age. Bman: Then about a year later you formed “ Until Next Time ” which won a B...

JL Fulks,(Jeffrey Lynn Fulks Jr.) started playing the guitar at age 13. By the 8th grade he was playing in his schools praise band performing weekly at school, and even traveled with the band to other christian schools to perform. In the 10th grade he joined a rock band called Unsought Rejection. The band played weekly at skate parks, and other local gigs in the Greenville area. They won 1st place in his high schools battle of the bands. At age 15 he had already recorded his first demo track in a professional recording studio. In November of 2008, JL performed in front of more than five thousand people at Brookwood Church in Mauldin South Carolina. In that time he learned how to use professional stage equipment, and how to work with multiple musicians. Then in January of 2009, He formed another band called Until Next Time. UNT was very popular throughout Greenville and won Gorilla Productions battle of the bands for there first performance. Winning the battle of the bands took them to ...