Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Bulldog , from The CD Woodbury Tri , and it's a solid blues rocker. Opening with Wicked Grin , CD Woodbury sets the pacd with a strong hammer on riff with Robert Baker thumping a single not bass line and Bill Ray on drums. Woodbury tells the story on lead vocals adds in guitar soloing that adds just the right amount of pepper. Solid opener. Doc Pomus' Little Sister stays simple with it's pop roots with Woodbury laying down a guitar riff and including Davis soloing on harmonica. Blues rocker, Gaslight Road , has a deep bass/drums groove and Woodbury, on guitar, creates a Green's Fleetwood Mac feel adding gritty vocals. Very cool. One of my favorite tracks by Jack Bruce , Politician , is up next with Woodbury bringing on the suspenseful melody on guitar. He doesn't have Bruce's voice, but he really does a great job on this track Overdubbing clean chords with eccentric slide riffs and tight picked ...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Devil Won't Get You , from Chad Rupp & The Sugar Roots and it's a solid blues rocker. Opening with funky rocker, Even Money , Chad Rupp on lead vocal and guitar is upfront over a strong bass line by Timmer Blakely and Jimi Bott on drums. Cool organ work by Louis Pain and strong piano work by Brady T Goss really create a pocket for Rupp to solo which has a distinctive Dicky Betts feel. Strong opener. Joe-Mack McCarthy on trumpet and Scott Franklin on sax create a strong intro on this swinging blues with great guitar riffs throughout and highlighting Rupp's vocals. Franklin, McCarthy and Rupp trading riffs makes this track one of my favorites on the release. Leopard For Your Love is a potent shuffle a great start and stop vocal treatment's and stiff call and response vocal with Ruffs guitar. Up tempo shuffle, At The Candlelight Room is driven by aggressive drum rhythms by Bott and Rupp plays off his...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Keep On Pushin' , from Johnny Wheels & The Swamp Donkeys and it's a cool rocker with solid R&B and blues overtones. Opening with On The Run , a poppy R&B track features John "Wheels" Kennicott on lead vocal and harmonica, Brandon Logan on guitar and vocals and Taylor Frazier on bass along with full backing by LaRhonda Steele on vocal, Steve Kerin on keys, Jimi Bott on drums. With it's great melody and overall sound, this could easily pull good radio play. This Time is a cool, bluesy rocker with vocal blending by Kennicott and Kern and horn punctuation. Kennicott's vocals are gritty and Frazier's bass line anchor's the track. Logan lays down some real nice guitar riffs here but Kennicott's harmonica work is notable as well. My favorite track on the release is As Long As You're There with it's memorable melody, solid vocals and balanced guitar work, complimented ni...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, and it's a cool raw edged blues. Opening with Over In The Corner , Schafer on lead vocal and guitar has the feel of Tom Waits. With Jimi Bott on drums, Timmer Blakely on bass, and Willie Scandlyn and JT Thomas on guitars, a cool opener. With broad, shimmery guitar chords Virgin Mary has just the right flavor of country western. Schafer's vocals, worked with the guitar soloing of Scandlyn and Thomas and a warm fiddle solo by Tom Esch makes this my choice track of the release. On Astara a rumbling bass intro by Blakely and tight rhythm by Johnny Moore on drums leads nicely into Schafer's vocal lead and some real nice guitar soloing and clean fiddle work by Esch. Wrapping the release is swampy, Rich Boy , with Schafer shouting the lead and Scandlyn and Thomas pairing with some real nice guitar riffs. Blakley and Moore hold a tight ship and really nice guitar soloing by JT and Willie makes this an excellent closer...