DEEP MUD Mud Morganfield (Nola Blue) *****
Talk about a chip off the old block. Deep Mud is the son of Muddy Waters’ first album on Nola Blue, his 6th overall, and it’s a thing of Chicago blues beauty. The vocal resemblance to his famous dad (Pops, he calls him) is striking as he hits deep, hard and often with his lyrics over a band that delivers the epitome of that Chicago blues sound… it’s a beautiful thing.
“I’m always writing and thinking about music” Mud says. “The songs on this album are from the past year, which was really hard for me. My life changed forever when the doctor told us they couldn’t do anything else for my mother. We lost her in March…. She was my biggest supporter from day one, her love is the music in my heart.” That woman was Mildred McGhee, who was Muddy’s mistress during his glory years at Chess Records.
There are 14 songs on Deep Mud including covers of 2 of his father’s songs; Strange Woman and Country Boy. I’m not immediately familiar with the people in his band here but they sure have an old-school Chicago feel to every note they play. There are no attempts to modernize or fancy up what’s going on here, making the album feel like a blues time capsule. There are no attempts to reinvent the wheel nor are they required to make this work. Even a funk workout like She’s Getting Her Groove On has a beautiful structural simplicity that you can’t help but respond to.
Mud started out as a drummer, first getting paper kits from his father. When he quickly destroyed those Muddy got him a proper drum set. When Mud was 16 he took in an Earth, Wind & Fire concert and after watching Verdine White playing bass, he put the drums away and picked that up. When was 23 he tried singing Tyrone Davis and Johnny Taylor songs, but it kept sounding like Muddy Waters. “I couldn’t run no more, I had to get in where I fit in” he says. “I have to do what God put me here to do.”
Look, I’ll make this easy for you; if you love Muddy Waters, you’ll really dig Deep Mud- I promise you. Mud really is a chip off the old blues block.
HOT TRACKS: Bring Me My Whiskey, Country Boy, She’s Getting Her Groove On
THE WAY THE WEST WAS WON Dallas Burrow (Forty Below) *****+
If there’s one thing that gets me where I live regardless of musical genre, it’s good storytellin’ songs, and that’s exactly what’s happening on Dallas Burrow’s new disc. The Way The West Was Won, recorded entirely in 2 inspired days, is a sparse country flavored album full of stories where it feels like he’s talking just to you.
Dallas’s father Mike Burrow was a talented songwriter in his own right and a literal blood brother to Townes Van Zandt. Dallas got his first guitar at age 10 and starting writing his own songs soon after. The Way the West Was Won comes 12 years or so into Burrow’s career and he carries his influences proudly on his sleeve; Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson and Marty Robbins, to which I would add fellow Texans Steve Earle and Ray Wylie Hubbard, the latter of which appears on the opening track Read ‘Em and Weep. Hubbard, an artist who I greatly admire, respect and enjoy, says this about Burrow; “In this modern time of pissant singers and so-called songwriters, Dallas Burrow is one of the very few artists who rips off pieces of his soul, turns those pieces intro lyrics, puts them to a haunting cool melody or a rocking groove and will stand back to back with you daring the devil to show up. His integrity ain’t for sale.”
Beyond appreciating the beauty and simplicity of The Way the West Was Won- mostly vocals, acoustic guitar and fiddle- for me the draw is it’s like reading a really good book; you’re so into it the world around you just disappears while you read. This album is the very best form of escapism available to any of us, and for that Dallas Burrow I thank you… this is easily one of the best albums I’ve heard in the last decade, maybe even two. “I’m staying true to myself, traveling town to town, sleeping in motels, playing songs every night” he says. “That’s all I know.”
HOT TRACKS: Read ‘Em & Weep (with Ray Wylie Hubbard), Black Rock Desert Blues, Justice In The West
WITHIN TENSION Ross Neilsen (Independent/ Bandcamp) ****
This is the first album in 9 years for this Saskatoon blues rocker. Within Tension was recorded at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis with a seasoned crew of local musicians. The disc is described as “capturing Neilsen’s gritty, soulful Northern blues through a new lens” using these Memphis vets- not a bad way to end up.
All tracks were written or co-written by Ross, with Eddie Hinton’s Something Heavy being the sole exception. His overall style and delivery is earthier than Saskatchewan’s other major blues export Colin James, no doubt a combination of playing fingerstyle guitar, a voice that sounds like Murray McLachlan plus songwriting style. When Neilsen rocks out on a song like Devil’s Picasso it’s more like early Thin Lizzy than blues, which makes for an intriguing listening mix when held up against more traditional stuff on the record
Ross Neislen has an impressive track recording leading him into Within Tension; he’s won best blues awards for his 2010 album Redemption and 2013’ The Shack Up Sessions and has also been a two-time semi-finalist at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis- not too shabby for a guitar player from Saskatchewan. After several years off to focus on his family back in Saskatoon, a trip to Ireland in 2023 inspired him to return to music . During that trip to Memphis he holed up at Sam Phillips’ studio with Memphis session greats and, 4 days later, came out with the disc that’ playing on my stereo right now. WT is a powerful blast of blues, a blend of various vibes with some tracks veering close to dangerous sounding rock & roll.
Produced by Kevin Houston who plays percussion along with bassist John C. Stubblefield (also on the album), Within Tension has a loose, live feel- not overly shiny, more raw and real. The constantly shifting variety of blues-driven styles make for an engaging and satisfying listen. I am at heart a rock guy but I love the blues too, and this album scratches both itches quite well.
HOT TRACKS: Devil’s Picasso, Rock Ranger, Bold & Beaten
HARD ROAD Christone “Kingfish” Ingram (Red Zero Records) *****
After 3 albums for Alligator Records Kingfish started his own label to issue his latest record. The 26 year old Mississippi native is the best, hottest thing to happen to the blues since Stevie Ray and Hard Road proves that he is one of the artists to keep moving the blues forward.
Although labelled a blues artist Ingram’s music, particularly on Hard Road, largely defies genres. Oh sure he leans in hard and plays some wicked blues as he knows what sells tickets, but a soulful ballad like Nothin’ But Your Love is sure to become a belly-rubbin’ classic as my dad might have said. At just 26 leaving arguably the world’s premiere blues label and going it alone is a bold move, but as bluesrockreview.com notes “all great artists follow their own muse but few come to this realization at such a young age.” Of the move to release his own stuff that website quotes Christone as saying about the new album “These songs are about owning my own story. They’re about learning to see myself clearly and seeing others with more compassion. That’s changed the way I write, the way I play and the way I live.”
Producer Tom Hambridge was in the studio with Kingfish once again after 662 and Kingfish, and that’s a winning combination. I was initially attracted to Ingram’s fierce guitar playing on his debut along with that wonderful baritone voice, but as he matures he has more considered control over his gifts. Still a stunningly brilliant and emotional guitar player, combining that with the autobiographical lyrics at the center of Hard Road it seems that Christone Ingram’s future has just become even brighter… if that’s even possible.
His debut Kingfish came out in 2019 when he was 20 and stunned the blues world and Hard Road is a wonderful piece of work that widens his future. His musical interest extends beyond the blues and that is reflected here. While the blues remains central to his music, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is more than just that. You gotta love a musically curious spirit.
www.christonekingfishingram.com
HOT TRACKS: Truth, Nothing But Love, Clearly
