Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Common Sense , by Gary Nicholson and it's a mix of pop, rock, country and blues. Opening with What A Little Love Will Do , a country rock flavored pop track, Gary Nicholson on vocal and guitars leads the way with vocal backing by Harry Stinson, joined by Kevin McKendree on guitar, Jim Hoke on guitar, Lynn Williams on drums and Mike Joyce on bass. Laid back country shuffle, Make Good Trouble featured some of Nicholson's best vocals on the release and The McCrary Sisters on backing vocals Mike Finnegan on organ and piano, Hutch Hutchison on bass, Tony Braunegal on drums and John Jorgensen on guitar. We Don't Talk About It is a cool track with Nicholson and The McCrary Sisters ramping the vocals up. McKendree on piano really kicks up the juice and Jim Hoke on harmonica gives the track a real zing. Another favorite is Follow The Money with a funky blues feel. Jim Hoke on steel guitar and sax gives this track some...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Franklin Sessions , from Mike Guldin and Rollin' and Tumblin' and it's a solid set of contemporary blues. Opening with The Franklin Shuffle , Mike Guldin leads the way on vocal and guitar, backed by Yates McKendree on drums, James Pennebaker on guitar, and David Santos on bass. With a nice guitar lope and sparkling piano work by Kevin, this track cuts a nice groove. With a nice soulful feel, The Right Thing finds The McCrary Sisters backing Guldin on vocals, Kevin on organ, Yates adding some real nice lap steel, Bill Sharrow on bass, Tim Hooper on piano and Billy Wear on drums. Very cool. Yates really shines on guitar on Blow Wind Blow with a super bass groove by Sharrow, and Wear on drums. Guldin on lead vocal and Kevin really getting the organ going makes this one of my favorites on the release. Smokin' Woman has a deep groove with Sharrow leading the way on bass. Guldin's vocals have just the r...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release,  Tumblin' , by Mike Guldin and it's a cool mix of blues boogie and country. Opening with title track, Tumblin' , Mike Guldin on lead guitar, backed by Billy Ware on drums, CJ Clark on bass and with some great organ by Tim Hooper these guys are jammin. Taj Mahal's She Caught The Katy really sounds great with Guldin on lead vocal and guitar with Hooper on piano and organ, with a great bass line by Bill Sharrow and featuring some real nice slide by Bill Thatcher. Very nice. Two stepping, Raise a Ruckus is a cool country rocker and features James Pennebaker on slide guitar and Kevin McKendree on B3 and Tim Hooper on piano. Another country flavored rocker, You Just Can't Lose , has solid radio appeal with a stomping rhythm and a strong hook. With Guldin on lead vocal and guitar, backed by Sharrow on bass, Hooper on piano and Wear on drums, this is a strong track. Wrapping the release is Waterfall , a quiet ...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release (September 17, 2021), Rose-Colored Glasses Vol. 1 , by Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps and it's a smooth blend of blues, rock and R&B styles. Opening with Show Me How You Do It , Teresa James on keys and lead vocals shows why her newest releases are widely anticipated. With Yates McKendree putting up some real nice lead guitar, and backed by Jay Bellerose on drums, Kevin McKendree on B3, Paulie Cerra on sax,  this is a solid opener. R&B flavored title track, Rose-Colored Glasses , really has a nice feel that I would expect to garner strong airplay with some nice slide guitar work by James Pennebaker. With a cocky strut, Wish It Into The Cornfield features Anson Funderburgh playing up the guitar starch and McKendree's B3 giving flow under the horn work of Cerra. Goes without saying that James has a natural voice for this and she really works it on this track. Really nice. Dean Parks, well known session...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release (August 20, 2021), Mood Swings, from Andy Peake and it's a mixed bag of  rock, blues, reggae and pop. Opening with radio style track, Make Peace With The Blues , Andy Peake, drummer, lead vocalist and songwriter makes his debut. With John Prestia providing shimmery guitars and James Pennebaker with a really hot guitar solo , Al Hill on keys, and Paul Ossola on bass Peake lays down a cool drum line. Two stepper, If the Blues Was Green is a cool, country flavored rocker with Kevin McKendree laying down some real nice piano work, Pennebaker with some tight twangy riffs and cool doubled vocals by Peake. My favorite track on the release is Bob Dylan's I Shall Be released with strong lead vocal shared with John Cowan, Phillip Wolfe providing really nice piano and organ, Will McFarlane and Prestia again with essential guitar riffs, Bob Marinelli on bass and of course Peake on drums. Light islander, Untangle The Line, ...