BB KING’S BLUES SUMMIT 100 Joe Bonamassa & Friends (Keeping The Blues Alive Records) ******
This is THE blues release of the millennium, a total bluesgasm.. Upon discovering that nothing had been planned to mark what would’ve been BB’s 100th birthday, guitarist Joe Bonamassa took it upon himself to assemble this 32 track 2 disc celebration of King’s music. Performances are incendiary with Bonamassa and his band welcoming special guests to virtually every cut.
Produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, Blues Summit 100 sounds terrific as it highlights songs from throughout BB King’s impressive career. As the project unfolded, recordings were released monthly until the record’s February 6th release. Although excited I resisted temptation as I wanted to be hit by the whole thing all at once, and I’ve been listening non-stop since I picked it up on I Tunes. In a video press release Joe said “the album is a tribute to my friend B.B. King, who I knew for 25 years. He was the King of The Blues and also the most gentle, humble soul anyone could ever meet- not just in the music business. He was that nice and genuinely one of the most talented musicians to ever stand on the stage… that’s a simple fact.”
The sound here is impeccable and the list of special guests is a veritable who’s who of the music scene, blues or otherwise. Just some of the names include Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Buddy Guy, Michael McDonald (The Doobie Bros.), Slash, Larkin Poe, George Benson and so many more. I can’t imagine anyone saying “no thanks” when the call came to participate. With Bonamassa and Smith in charge of the sessions there are no problems with varying sound quality and volume that hamper many tributes. Blues Summit 100 sets the gold standard for this kind of thing, and were he alive today to hear this I can imagine the big grin on B.B. King’s face.
There are no radical re-workings or overt tinkering with what are already great songs. With each note played and every lyric sung the affection for King’s music and the man himself is palpable. BB King’s Blues Summit is truly essential listening for every blues fan.
HOT TRACKS: Paying The Cost to Be The Boss (with Christone “Kingfish” Ingram), To Know You Is To Love You (with Michael McDonald), The Thrill Is Gone (with Eric Clapton & Chaka Khan)
FORT DEFIANCE Erik Vincent Huey (Fort Apache Records) ****+
This is the Austin-based Americana singer/ songwriter’s 2nd full length solo record. Fort Defiance has plenty of twang but it rocks too. Dubbed “cowpunk” it’s sort of like a drunk Blue Rodeo or even vintage Steve Earle; catchy, deep, and a whole lot of fun.
Fort Defiance s the follow-up to 2023’s Appalachian Gothic, lauded by critics as “the Appalachian Tommy”, but Huey wasn’t keen to repeat that experience. “I wanted to make a record that was simply a collection of songs without a unifying theme” he says. “This record is about achieving escape velocity out of Appalachia and into the larger world… kinda like my own journey.” Erik is the son of 4 generations of coal miners and grew up in West Virginia before relocating to Texas. Listening to this album you can hear and feel his influences; The Blasters, The Beat Farmers, Jason & The Scorchers and Dwight Yoakam, then up the hillbilly highway to the likes of Johnny Cash and George Jones… it’s all here.
Songs like Jokerman rock out and were built for highway cruisin’ but the song before it, Cutlass Supreme, is a surprising mid-tempo ballad about crossing the line; ‘one night I went down a dark road where there ain’t no lines no more’. Erik has a unique and totally captivating way with words and he sure knows how to hold your interest when he’s telling a story. Earlier I mentioned Huey’s stuff is dubbed ‘cowpunk’ but Fort Defiance is really hard to shove into one lane… it rocks, it twangs, it spits, it snarls, and Erik Huey is definitely serious about his craft.
With the exception of some classic artists I can be pretty snobby about country music, but with a rough-hewn voice, a way with words and a rockin’ twang, Fort Defiance holds my interest and curiosity almost effortlessly. This disc will show you a fine time.
HOT TRACKS: Jokerman, All Out Of Angels, The Hatfield Action
OVER YONDER CJ Hooper (independent) *** ½
A country artist from Washington state? Hey- stranger things have happened. Over Yonder is his second album in about a year. This is darker, more atmospheric than your average country these days, and I find myself strangely attracted to these songs.
Hooper was raised on a steady diet of classic country thanks to his parents’ cassette collection. He says he wore out tapes of Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and The Charlie Daniels Band, artists instrumental in the laying the foundation for the kind of music CJ is making today. He graduated from Texas A&M University where he was immersed in the local music scene, spending several years living and working across multiple states as a maintenance guy on golf courses before settling in western Washington. It was there that songwriting became a serious pursuit, which then turned into a career.
Over Yonder is on the short side at just 7 tracks, but it has that classic country feel that I look for when I check out country stuff. CJ’s sometimes clenched jaw vocals recall Springsteen or Gordon Lightfoot, and I really dig the band swinging madly behind him. My beef with this album is mostly in the production; it comes across kind of muffled at low volume, and Hooper’s vocals feel buried in the mix, which steals considerable power from the songs. A cleaner sound and better vocal mix would have resulted in a better rating. It does sound better when the volume is up but it’s 10 at night and I live in an apartment building, so there’s that. Musically this is a solid album… with a few tweaks it could’ve been kick-ass.
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HOT TRACKS: Burn it Down, Look over Yonder, Damaged Plan
LEGENDS, LOSERS & LIES Dirty Shoes Band (independent) ****+
If a band that uses virtually every genre within the roots world tickles your fancy, Dirty Shoes Band would like to have a word with you. Legends Losers & Lies, their latest, blends country, blues, NOLA, southern rock, Americana and gospel with a side of funk to keep things interesting. Have I got your attention now? Good, because this is a swell time.
“I’ve been influenced by so many things” notes bandleader Doug Krause (vocals, keys, lap steel). “I spent a lot of time as a sideman and played all kinds of music. When I was a kid my dad turned me on to boogie-woogie, then I got into rock, especially The Band- Garth Hudson set me on a different path. (Then) I heard that New Orleans sound, connected with it, and it became another aspect of the way I play and write.” That’s a lot to unpack, but LL&L is one of those albums that keeps moving, keeps you guessing from one groove to another in a cool way.
Back in the 70’s Krause figured he was going to be a pop songwriter but just ended up chasing his tail. “When I picked up songwriting again in the mid-90’s and decided to write what I wanted to write, that was like finding myself” he remembers. “That led to playing the songs and then the creation of the band.” When I interviewed Meat Loaf in 2012 we talked a lot about finding the truth in your art and how if that’s not what you’re after then you’re wasting your time. When Doug Krause decided to pursue the truth in his music that’s when the lights went on and things started to come together for him, resulting in an album as deep and rich as this.
The production here is first rate and the range of influences you find wrapped up in the songs on Legends, Losers & Lies keeps you on your toes. This reminds me of the first time I heard The Band, and I want to hear more.
HOT TRACKS: Long Lost Money, One Foot In Heaven, Funky Butt Hall
