TWISTED EP Mark Thackway (independent) *****
This gorgeous piece of work is Thackway’s sophomore release. Twisted is finger-picking guitar at its best as Mark meditates on freedom, the passage of time, fate, mortality, relationships and even the art of songwriting. Mark’s acoustic guitar playing, while not as lightning quick as Tommy Emmanuel, is equally stunning in its expressiveness.
Twisted is driven mainly by Thackway’s guitar playing along with mandolin accents and the bottom end provided by upright bassist John McEleny. Produced by Andrew Collins, the EP has a warm and spacious sound that feels good on contact. There are 6 songs in all, and Mark is as mesmerizing on mandolin (see the title track) as he is on guitar. Time To Go is a bluesy, funky number that echoes Willie Nelson’s immortal “funny how time slips away” with the line “the moment is quicker than you’ll never know”, the title song is a folky toe-tapper, and Fly contemplates mortality and the fleeting nature of life.
Thackway, from Toronto, has been recording and touring for almost 4 decades now and is well-known within Canada’s jam band community. As a session guitarist he’s worked with producers like Nick Blagona (Deep Purple, Cat Stevens, Kim Mitchell) and Karen Kane (Big Sugar) but only stepped out on his own with his first solo EP in 2023. Twisted isn’t just good, it’s medicine for the soul.
HOT TRACKS: Liberty, Twisted
LIGHT IT UP Long Tall Deb & Colin John (VizzTone) ****
Talk about blues that rocks! Deb has a gritty, powerful voice and with British/ American guitarist Colin John’s muscular guitar playing, Light It Up makes an immediate and indelible impression. Soulful and insistent, this is one record you won’t soon forget.
Light It Up is 10 songs including covers of Willie Dixon’s Spoonful and The Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams. Of the latter Deb says “we had an idea to take an 80’s pop song and turn it into a gritty blues. We thought of Sweet Dreams and presented it to our co-producer Chris Butler, who dug the idea and suggested we turn it into a Texas-style shuffle.” It works like a hot-damn, not sure if I even want to hear the original again- there was smoke coming out of my speakers.
Light It Up is a rowdy, scrappy album with miles and miles of heart and an equal amount of groove. The band includes co-producer Chris Butler on bass and Jason Edwards on drums, and includes guests like Steve Marriner on harp, Jennifer Milligan on bg vocals, plus guitarists Alastair Greene and Pascal Fouquet. Sound-wise the disc is ragged around the edges, which is tres cool when you’re playing blues/rock. Marriner’s harmonica on Spoonful is positively righteous, and as a guitar player Colin John along with Greene and Fouquet aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. As I listen I get a very clear idea that, if he were still around, SRV would love Light It Up and it would be a highlight of his own record collection.
Long Tall Deb is a powerhouse vocalist, cultivated in church choirs and shaped by her Texas/ Mexico border heritage sounding not unlike Angel Forrest, and Colin John is a blues guitar player that knows when to rock hard and when to lay back. Their sound has been described as “an echo of the Delta wrapped in the rhythm of the world”, and that’s exactly what Light It Up is. Turn up your stereo, it’s about to get dangerous in here…
HOT TRACKS: Sweet Dreams, Black Light, Out For A Rip
KEEP ON PUSHING Kirk Fletcher (VizzTone) ****+
This disc marks the triumphant return of a bluesman Joe Bonamassa calls “one of the greatest traditional blues players of all time.” Keep On Pushing is a stone groove, a deep and rich vein of blues driven by Fletcher’s unhurried guitar playing and captivating baritone voice. Traditional sounding or otherwise, this guy and this album are the real deal.
It was just two summers ago that Fletcher suffered a stroke onstage in Tennessee, so the fact that he’s back at all is in itself a miracle. “My record is called Keep On Pushing, which I feel is a positive message in these uncertain time” he says, “and for me a personal message to myself suffering a stroke just a couple of years ago. I’m grateful to share this album with you.” The intimate Nashville sessions for this disc included co-producer/ guitarist JD Simo, bassist Ron Eoff and drummer Jason Smay, plus engineers Glenn Nashida and Joe McMahon. There’s a live in the studio immediacy to this album as the band takes on classic songs by Big Bill Broonzy, Arthur Crudup, Ruth Brown, Percy Mayfield and more along with 3 originals, including a tribute co-written with Simo called Blues For Robert Nighthawk.
From the up-tempo stuff like It’s Love Baby or his nod to West Coast jump blues in the instrumental Croke to a mesmerizing cover of Percy Mayfield’s Lost Love, Keep On Pushing wanders all over the blues roadmap with satisfying results. As a guitar player Fletcher reminds me a lot of BB King, his solos and bent notes have the same kind of soul. He’s not a shouter like BB at all, but there’s something about his low register and ease of expression that just draws you in and has you thinking “please tell me more.”
Born and raised in California, Kirk cut his teeth playing guitar in the Compton church where his dad served as pastor. He’s been a deeply respected player on the international blues scene since his 1999 debut, and Keep On Pushing will further cement the goodwill and respect his gifts command. If you like traditional blues you’re going to love this captivating and moving disc.
HOT TRACKS: It’s Love Baby, Lost Love, Think Twice Before You Speak, Croke
GHOSTS Der Traumer (Not On Label) ***
In the nearly 36 years I’ve been writing album reviews this may be the most unusual release yet. While scrolling through my “John The Rock Doctor” email account I came across this, and that little voice in my head said “What the hell? Give it a shot” so I did. If you enjoy ambient sound textures and the chill out vibe of Jean Michel Jarre, Ghosts is in your wheelhouse.
Der Traumer is sound designer, film composer and multi-instrumentalist Peter Phillipe (Pitt) Weiss. He uses his 30+ years of musical experience on Ghosts to play with your head, drawing on various styles like dark ambient, electronic, industrial, neo-classical, jazz and film score. The disc plays like a delirious fever dream as he whispers over tracks, it almost feels like the depths of a serious bout with the flu where you wonder what’s happening, what’s real and what isn’t.
Der Traumer has been touring Ghosts since last November, performing in cinemas, concert halls, clubs, fantasy, comic and film festivals as well as art events using a 4-channel surround sound system to deliver a fully immersive experience. Ghosts is not an album of hummable, snappy tunes that you’ll be playing at parties to pack the dance floor. There’s no way for me to accurately describe what I’m listening to right now… but if you feel like taking a trip, roll a fat one, turn the lights down low and let this carry you away. I realize that’s a hard sell in today’s ADHD society that demands constant stimulation, but give it a shot; it’s a fascinating journey.
HOT TRACKS: Purple Clouds, The Living Mandalas, Reaching Out
