Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the newest release from Landslide Records , 40th Anniversary , a two disc compilation celebrating their 40th anniversary and a full house of great artists. Opening with Tinsley Ellis and the Heartfixers and Drivin' Woman . Ellis is a great choice to open this retrospective with his fiery guitar attack and tight rock shuffle beat. Strong opener. The Bluesbusters' track, If The Phone Don't Ring , is up next led by Little feat guitar and vocalist Paul Barrere in collaberation with Dregs keyboardist Lavitz and associated Feat personalities. This is a great track and solid addition to this release. Damon Fowler contributes Make The Best Of Your Time . Fowler was a great addition to Landslides lineup with his rugged vocal, strong rhythm and terrific slide work, I always look forward to his releases. Sean Costello was a unique talent and spectacular blues player. His contribution here is Motor Head Baby with it's slow swagger and Costello...

I just received the new release (released formally on March 26, 2013), Better For You, by Chris Antonik and it's quite interesting. The release opens with Long Way To Go , a funky rock track with some really cool guitar by Antonick and harp work by Steve Marriner. Turn To Shine has the warm feeling of a Delaney and Bonnie track and it really feels like you're taking a bite of the old ATCO/Muscle Shoals/Capricorn stuff. Josh Williams' vocals are great and his guitar playing has the over driven sound of Duane and the rhythmic pacing of Dickey. Very cool! Come From A Good Place is a softer edged song with a lot of airplay potential. Like the song before, sweet horns back the track and in this case, lead vocals are handled by Shakura S'Aida who is obviously solid and Antonik grinds in some really hot guitar riffs. Broken Man features Mike Mattison singing a soulful ballad over a quiet background and light jazz rhythm. Up next is Walter Horton's Have A Good Time , a...