JD Simo - Off At 11 (Album Review)

March 19, 2019 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Blues, Classic Rock, Singer-Songwriter

Nashville-based singer and guitarist JD Simo is currently touring the UK (March 2019) with guitar great Tommy Emmanuel CGP so his credentials as a guitarist will not be in question. I’d incorrectly assumed that JD was a straight-ahead bluesman; an assumption blown out of the water by ‘Off At 11’. The blues play a major part in JD’s sound but jazz fans and psychedelic rockers will find much to enjoy as JD and his terrific band; Adam Abrashoff (drums) and bass player Luke Easterling play up a storm on a freewheeling set that owes as big a debt to Miles Davis and The Grateful Dead as it does the Lightnin’ Hopkins and BB King.

Buckets Rebel Heart - 20 Good Summers (Album Review)

August 28, 2018 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, AOR, Blues, Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Melodic Rock

Dave ‘Bucket’ Colwell might be a new name to some but the guitarist has played with plenty of notable names in a career that dates back to the 80’s. Colwell’s credits include being one of three guitarists in ASAP with Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden fame, key involvement as a songwriter/guitarist in the reformed Humble Pie on the 2002 ‘Back On Track’ album plus stints in many other acts including Samson, Urchin and The Entire Population Of Hackney.

Steve Dawson - Lucky Hand (Album Review)

June 14, 2018 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Americana, Instrumental, Blues, Folk

In our house, space is a very precious commodity. Instrumental guitar records have to work extremely hard to earn their place on the CD shelves (yes, I do know what Sonos and Spotify are, and no, no thank you). No matter how impressive, super-noodling is not enough if there is no musical heart beating beneath. Thankfully, the latest release from celebrated Canadian guitarist Steve Dawson has that beating heart and yes, he has the hands to match.

Althea Grace - Dreamers EP (Album Review)

January 15, 2018 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Blues, Pop, Singer-Songwriter

Chicago based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Althea Grace has packed plenty into her eighteen years. Althea played her first show with the highly respected; Grammy-winning Los Lobos aged eight, an association that continues to this day. More recently there was a debut solo album at fifteen and even more recently touring and recording with Gabe Burdulis in the duo Future Stuff. This would bring her to the attention of guitarist Doyle Bramhall II whose credits include Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and (for those of us with long memories) Arc Angels with Charlie Sexton and the Double Trouble rhythm section.

The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer - Apocalipstick (Album Review)

October 17, 2017 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Alternative, Americana, Blues

Inventively named Canadian act The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer recently visited the UK to play a few shows. The name instantly gets your attention “The who’d a what now” was one version of the name I heard recently. It actually all makes perfect sense as Shawn Hall aka The Harpoonist plays harmonica (actually lots of harmonicas) and Matthew Rogers plays guitar hence The Axe Murderer. The guys were in London to support their latest release ‘Apocalipstick’ and played one of the most inventive and crowd-pleasing shows I’ve seen in quite some time. The duo, with Dawn Pemberton adding some impressively soulful vocals, really is a force of nature in a live setting. Explaining what they do doesn’t seem to do them any justice but I’ll give it a try.

Martin Simpson - Trails & Tribulations (Album Review)

August 31, 2017 by Jon Amer in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Folk, Blues

Martin Simpson, a master of acoustic blues, releases his 20th solo album in 40 years. ‘Trails & Tribulations’ arrives in the wake of a triumphant headline set at the Cambridge Folk Festival and in heated anticipation of his appearance at London’s Kings Place in support of the album launch. The album follows ‘Vagrant Stanzas’ which was warmly received by critics in 2013 and the collaborative ‘Murmurs’ from 2015 which saw Simpson join forces with Andy Cutting and Nancy Kerr to dramatic effect - performances noted for their sense of “majestic, intuitive and joyful playing”.

Little Steven - Soulfire (Album Review)

June 06, 2017 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Classic Rock, Blues, Soul

Steven Van Zandt aka Little Steven aka Miami Steve recently apologised for the gap of nearly twenty years since his last solo release. To be honest this refreshing approach is welcome, but unnecessary, as Steve had hardly been spending his days sipping cocktails, while counting his money, on some far flung beach. In the intervening years Van Zandt has successfully worked as an actor, first catching the attention of the masses in The Sopranos and followed that with the fish-out-of-water gangster tale Lilyhammer. He also found time to turn his hand to radio as a DJ / program director (Underground Garage / Outlaw Country) and launch his own record label (Wicked Cool Records). Then there is the little matter of his day job with the E Street Band. Does this man ever sleep?

Scott H. Biram - The Bad Testament (Album Review)

February 23, 2017 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Americana, Blues

‘The Bad Testament’…there it is. Right in front of your eyes in the title to his latest album Scott H. Biram lays it out for all to see. Biram is on a mission to tell it like it is, take no prisoners and bring his testament to the people. It won’t be an easy ride, people who can’t handle a little profanity better look away now, or wait for the ‘Clean’ version, but I very much doubt that’ll be coming along anytime soon as Biram doesn’t strike me as someone who likes to compromise.

Brigitte DeMeyer & Will Kimbrough - Mockingbird Soul (Album Review)

February 10, 2017 by Jon Amer in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Americana, Country, Blues

Brigitte DeMeyer & Will Kimbrough’s first collaborations began some 6 years ago (first on DeMeyer’s 2011 release, Rose of Jericho and Savannah Road in 2014), while continuing to forge successful solo careers themselves. Brigitte DeMeyer’s work has received very favourable reviews comparing her blues-folk-rock to early Bonnie Raitt and Sheryl Crow with the gutsiness of Little Feat’s initial outings. She has opened for Bob Dylan and toured with John Mayall. Similarly, Will Kimbrough’s solo and band work has been championed by critics both sides of the Atlantic with vocal, lyrical and style comparisons to John Lennon, Billy Joel, George Harrison and Neil Flynn to mention just a few. He has toured and collaborated with the likes of Todd Snider and Emmylou Harris. DeMeyer and Kimbrough’s career path together has seen them hone their song-crafting skills, showcasing their talents across North America and Europe. Based in Nashville, this is their first album as an official duo and brings their love of, and influences from blues, gospel, early jazz and country music together; “the good stuff” as Kimbrough calls it. DeMeyer characterises their seamless blend as acoustic soul.

Billy Hector - Old School Thang (Album Review)

October 18, 2015 by David Vousden in Blues

2015 finds New Jersey blues guitarist Billy Hector on top of his game. Hector has been plying his trade since the 70’s and it shows on a fine set that displays his undoubted abilities as a singer-songwriter-guitarist. The Hector story starts in the 70’s in a band called The Shots that became the house band at the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park, where Springsteen and Southside Johnny started out, before a stint as guitarist for Hot Romance would lead to The Fairlanes and eventually he formed the Billy Hector Band in 1993. Musically Hector had found himself at ease with a range of styles from horn-driven R&B to bluesy rock and all of these influences are still recognisable on ‘Old School Thang’.

Kamchatka - Long Road Made Of Gold (Album Review)

July 30, 2015 by David Vousden in Blues, Classic Rock, Rock

Some albums are immediate while others take a little longer to work their way into your subconscious. Blues rockers Kamchatka fell into the later category as, on first listen, I enjoyed ‘Long Road Made Of Gold’ but it was in a pile of stuff (If you can have such a thing as a digital pile) that was competing for my attention. I’ve learnt over the years that the immediate album can burn out and fade away very quickly while the slow grower can stay with you for many years. This may well turn out to be the case as I find myself returning to the album on a regular basis, hence this belated review

Fuzzbee - Dreams And Other Living Things (Album Review)

February 20, 2015 by David Vousden in Blues, Classic Rock, Instrumental, Rock, Soul

One from a number of unexpected pleasant surprises that recently arrived at Red Guitar Music is the first solo album from Fuzzbee Morse a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, producer, raconteur and film/TV composer. Fuzzbee has worked with many of the best in the business including Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Bono, Pink, Ric Ocasek (The Cars) and Frank Zappa. I should add that his quite stunning band on this album features Jerry Marotta (Orleans / Peter Gabriel / Indigo Girls) on drums, Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel / King Crimson) on bass and David Sancious (Sting / Peter Gabriel / Bruce Springsteen) on keys. The sort of players that can afford to be very picky regarding the work they undertake.

Luke Daniels - What's Here What's Gone (Album Review)

September 30, 2014 by David Vousden in Folk, Blues, Album Reviews, Singer-Songwriter

It really is quite hard to believe that ‘What’s Here What’s Gone’ sees the emergence of Luke Daniels the singer-songwriter. Daniels has, for two decades, been an in demand folk multi-instrumentalist. His work, primarily on the Melodeon, has graced releases by Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) and on the scores to the recent ‘Hobbit’ films from composer Howard Shore. He is currently dividing his time between solo shows and as a member of the Cara Dillon band.

Bernie Marsden - Shine.

August 21, 2014 by David Vousden in Blues, Melodic Rock, Album Reviews, Classic Rock

Guitarist Bernie Marsden will be forever known for his stint in Whitesnake where his partnership with fellow guitarist Micky Moody supplied the blues licks for ex Deep Purple frontman David Coverdale. The ‘Ready And Willing’ album and its huge UK hit single ‘Fool For Your Loving’ still sound great in 2014, but as the musical landscape changed, Coverdale found MTV, and that was pretty much that. Over the intervening years Marsden has been very busy indeed with his solo career and as a member of AOR / Melodic Rock act Alaska and Company Of Snakes.