Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Lead Me Not Into Temptation (I Can Find It Myself) . by Wildcat O'Halloran Band and it's a strong blues party. Opening with Temptation , a solid, bass driven blues rocker, has a great beat and features Wildcat on lead guitar and vocal, Ottomatic Slim on harmonica, Jerry Jeff Siiru on bass, and Joe Fitzpatrick on drums. On Bo Diddley flavored, Good Thing I Never Got Famous has a strong drum rhythm by Fitzpartick and Wildcat on guitar and Slim both get loose with excellent solos. JL Hooker's My Own Fault gives Wildcat and Slim a real nice opportunity to lay down traditional blues. Wildcat wails the blues and his guitar riffs are raw and stinging and Slim's harmonica work is super. My favorite track on the release. Otis Rush's Homework has a bit of J Geils' spank with Slim ripping the lead vocal and Wildcat's real nice lead guitar and Slim working the Magic Dick lines. I always loved this track....

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, New York City Chill , from The Wildcat O'Halloran Band and it's cool. Opening with jazz/blues rocker, Van Wyck Expressway the band lays down a real nice instrumental groove. Featuring O'Halloran with strong guitar and sax exchanges with Emily Duff over a solid rhythm section of Mark Chouinard and Kathy Peterson, this is a super opener. With a bit of sizzle, Can't Get It Like That is a romping shuffle with fluid guitar riffs and a driving rhythm.  To really get you up and moving, Cookin' Mama has a funky beat and harp by Wally Greeney leading to some fat fat slide work by Wildcat. Very nice. Louis Jordan's classic jump track, Saturday Night Fish Fry is up next and the band is having a blast with nice horn work by Duff. One of my favorite tracks on the release is Dumb with it's funky rhythm, fiery guitar work and peppery harp. On Muddy Waters' Don't Go No Further , Wildcat is alone ...

I have been listening to the new release, Cougar Bait Blues , by the Wildcat O'Halloran Band . This recording has a little bit of something for everyone. First the band is fully loaded with 13 musicians playing drums, horns, guitars and vocals. The recording opens with Too Big To Cry So I Might As Well Laugh , a country cock style track twisted with humor. Bottled Bravery and Canned Courage is a real cool horn track right out of New Orleans. If You Won't Do What I Want gets the funk line going with solid vocals and a slick guitar solo for a very entertaining track. Magic Sam's A ll Your Fault takes a traditional blues line and the horns take the backseat to a more traditional stripped down blues sound. There are particularly nice sax and guitar solos on this track as well. The title track, Cougar Bait Blues , finds a two guitar solo exchange which is pretty tasty. Sam and Dave's Hold On, I'm Coming gets a more traditional blues/rock run (as opposed to the R&...

The Wildcat O’Halloran band has been dazzling New England audiences since way back in 1981, and, with an infusion of new blood, is ready to rock your town. Wildcat, once described as “the Pioneer Valley’s answer to Texas six-string pounder Stevie Ray Vaughn” by the Valley Advocate, has had a storied career including: Honorable Mention, Billboard International Songwriting Contest Stroh’s Superstar Talent Search, second place,NewEngland WRSI Singer –Songwriter Contest Finalist, Seagrams Superstar Talent Search , second place ,New England John Stifler of the Daily Hamp Gazette raved, “ They may not be famous, but they sure are Great!” Coco learned his chops as a member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Albert Collins' Icebreakers. His fiery blues rock has earned him the praise of fans and critics worldwide as well as a W. C. Handy award and numerous nominations. "Blistering contemporary blues...piercing attack, funky, shivery guitar tones and aggressive, so...

These guys were just in the Finals of Boston Blues Challenge despite house-rockin' performance. Here's a new song taken from the 2011 CD release "Drinkin' With The Harp Girls" The Wildcat O’Halloran band has been dazzling New England audiences since way back in 1981, and, with an infusion of new blood, is ready to rock your town. Wildcat, once described as “the Pioneer Valley’s answer to Texas six-string pounder Stevie Ray Vaughn” by the Valley Advocate, has had a storied career including: Honorable Mention, Billboard International Songwriting Contest Stroh’s Superstar Talent Search, second place,NewEngland WRSI Singer –Songwriter Contest Finalist, Seagrams Superstar Talent Search , second place ,New England John Stifler of the Daily Hamp Gazette raved, “ They may not be famous, but they sure are Great!” John Braheny, President of the L.A. Songwriters showcase called Wildcat, “As good a blues lyricist as I’ve heard” Grammy Award-winning drummer Ken Johnson said: ...

The New York City-born Wildcat has been called "the Pioneer valley's answer to Stevie Ray Vaughn" by local media for years, but now has "Lightning Boy" to push the guitar attack even further. We were second in the New England editions of both Stroh's and Seagrams talent searches, honorable mention in Billboard International Songwriting Contest, and have pushed many many headliners into great shows (or cut them). John Braheny of the L.A. Songwriter's Showcase called Wildcat "as good a blues lyricist as I've heard", Living Blues Magazine called us "progressive without being disrespectful; traditional without being moldy'. And we've just added a 2011 "Top Runner-Up (to go with our 2010 "Runner-Up") in Charlie Daniels drummer Gary Allen's "Best Song in the World" contest to our mantle. But the best quote came from the late Kenny Johnson, Grammy-winning drummer who performed with Cotton, Steve Mil...