Day to Day reviewed by Mark Thompson

Day to Day

Alabama Mike

Jukehouse Records

www.myspace.com/scottsilveira

11 tracks/49:30

For his initial release, “Alabama Mike” Benjamin put together a setlist that includes seven of his original tunes plus covers of songs from Elmore James, Willie Dixon and Son House. Benjamin possesses a big , powerful voice that commands your attention. The James influence is evident throughout the disc in superb guitar work from Steve Freund, Jon Lawton (Little Jonny & the Giants) and Charles Wheal (Mark Hummel).

Opening with the title track, Benjamin describes the trials and tribulations facing many Americans in the current economic environment. Lawton contributes some wicked slide guitar licks over the solid rhythmic foundation from Kedar Roy on bass and Scott Silveira on drums. Lawton unleashes a darker attack on the Son House classic, “Death Letter Blues”. Alabama Mike shouts out a spirited vocal that matches Lawton’s intensity. “Naggin” is a funky piece driven by wah-wah effects on Scott Brenton’s guitar. Another Benjamin original, “Lay My Money Down”, rocks with a fierce boogie beat sparked by Chris Burns on piano and more stellar slide guitar from Lawton. “Too Many Cooks” sports a rumba beat and a fiery guitar part from Steve Freund.

Another highlight is the extended workout on “Religion”, a slow blues masterpiece that finds Alabama Mike taking his woman to task for going to church on Sunday and raising hell the rest of the week. His voice soars into the upper register as he pleads for her to be faithful. Wheal plays some nice BB King-style guitar. On “I’ve Been Rocked”, Wheal’s guitar burns over the shuffle beat on another fine tune from Alabama Mike that features excellent harp from John Nemeth. The band slows the pace again on “Somethin On My Mind”. There is plenty of the rich tone of RJ Mischo’s harp and Burns’ piano again accentuates the arrangement.

Alabama Mike covers two lesser-known Elmore James tunes. “Strange Angel” is taken at a medium pace. Benjamin sings with conviction , supported by Barron Shullman on tenor sax and Wheal on guitar. The band rocks harder on “Knockin’ at Your Door”. Benjamin strains his voice a bit at times trying to match powerful accompaniment. The disc closes with a booming Benjamin vocal on a track in the classic James style. Silveira lays down a strong beat for Lawton’s slide guitar while Mischo contributes plenty of hot licks on his harp.

It is a real treat to review a disc this good, especially when it comes from an unknown name. The batch of original tunes on this release serve as proof of Benjamin’s skill as a songwriter. Alabama Mike gathered together a strong supporting cast of veteran musicians who inject each cut with an authentic blues sound., topped off by Benjamin’s inspired vocals. Look for this disc to gather plenty of well-deserved attention for Alabama Mike, who may be an early contender for the Best New Artist award. This one is highly recommended !!!

Ear Candy reviewed by Steve Jones

Ear Candy

Linda Rodney aka Chocolate Thunder

Self Released

www.cthunder.com

12 tracks

Linda Rodney, aka Chocolate Thunder, is a singer from South Carolina with a high powered voice who exudes lots of electricity. “Ear Candy” is her second self released album, packed with 12 original songs that Rodney wrote. It is available (along with her first album from 2002) on CD Baby. Fans of funk, blues, R&B, soul, jazz and even disco will find something here that appeals to them; she is a talent songwriter and performer with a tight backup band!

She kicks off her set with a funky track called “Love Thang” where she sings about her devotion to her man being driven by her love thing. The keyboard playing a vibraphone sound that really funks this one up fine, but it’s Rodney’s vocals front and center that are the focal point of this and every song. What’s also quite cool is how she has used different instruments on the songs to provide a different coloring and flavoring to the tracks.

Tom Kennedy’s sax work on “Other Side of Memphis” and “Ever New (I Loved You)” have great smooth sax solos along with responses to Linda’s vocal calls. She blends in Rodney Godfrey’s clavinet and the big 70’s styled funked out guitar on tracks like “Love Caused It” to deliver a new take on a retro style of Rick James-like music. And then she uses a jazzy trumpet and a swing guitar sound as a centerpiece on jazzy tracks like “My Georgia Pine”. In “Ain’t Gonna Cry” she brings in all the pieces for a big and funky number. It’s all well done and it’s all so good!

There is a list of players too long to list here (e.g. six background vocalists, three different keyboard, trumpet and guitar players, a couple of drummers and more), but suffice it to say that the sound that they and Rodney create is harmonious and clean. They navigate well from genre to genre and give us a refreshing take on all the soul and funk styles of the last 40 years. But as noted above, what sells this album is Ms. Rodney. She’s got a great set of pipes that can be down and funky, soulful, or bold, brassy and bright. Like Aretha, Koko and all the great singers before her, she can stand up in front of any band and impress a crowd with that voice. Couple that voice with an outstanding set of backup musicians that she has chosen and we have a mighty fine sophomore self release by a talented lady and her band! I recommend you check out Chocolate Thunder at your earliest opportunity!

Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead reviewed by Steve Jones

Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
Meantooth Grin
KAM Records
www.meantoothgrin.com
12 tracks

The good thing about being a music critic, DJ or someone in the music business is that you get to hear a lot of bands you might otherwise never hear about, or you at least get to hear about them a lot sooner than most people. Meantooth Grin is a powerhouse blues rock band hailing from nearby Wausau Wisconsin who really mix up the mud of Mississippi Delta with the fire of Texas rock and blues. Led by Tom Jordan on guitar and vocals, these guys burn it up on their recently released premier CD.

I did not know what to expect when I popped the CD in. The cover shows a devilish looking guy with a National Resophonic Guitar, laughing and playing in front of the hell fires with the shadow of the devil on the stone wall beside him. The title of the album supported the perception of “sell-your-soul-to-the-devil” blues, too. The CD has a short spoken intro (written and performed by Doug Kroening, another upcoming Midwestern bluesman) backed by crickets, baying hounds and the steel guitar. The lyrics are talking about staying one step ahead of the devil and such, so when the first real track started I must admit that I was a bit unprepared. What came out of my speakers was some blazing hot distorted guitar licks back by a solid rhythm section more like ZZ Top or Johnny Winter than the traditional music from the crossroads in the Mississippi Delta. Amped up and solid guitar work and vocals by Jordan, backed by band mates Brian Miller on drums and Seth Heffner on bass, I listened to these guys totally rock out the first two full tunes and just said, “Wow!”

“Drive” and “Killing Time” were the first two tracks of all original stuff; they were followed by long, slow blues number “Dark Was the Night”, showcasing Jordan’s gritty vocals (which remind me a lot of the talented Noah Hunt) and stinging guitar play. We also get the first really good taste of guest musician Pete Shank’s Hammond B3 organ here, too; he’s more than solid on the keys. I especially enjoyed the title track where Jordan’s distorted vocals and steel guitar deliver the goods in a track reminiscent of the Drive By Truckers style of macabre lyrics. The gimmicky and scratchy 78 rpm record sounding “Evil Woman” and “Insomnia” feature Jordan going solo acoustic and showcasing another side of his talents. Cole Holliday adds his harp work to the CD, and it literally blows the listener away in tracks like “Killing Time”, “Tommy Gun” and “Homeless and Homesick”.

This is a solid initial offering from a talented trio of local guys with a pair of equally talented backups on hard and organ. The all-original cuts give us their take on traditional and rocking blues, and let me tell you that given what I heard I can’t wait to track these guys down and listen to them live!

Ruby Blues reviewed by Steve Jones

Ruby Blues
Stacia Petrie
Self-Released
www.sta-ciapetrie- .com
11 tracks/

Few blues artists are household names across America anymore. BB King and Buddy Guy are two of the big names everyone can recognize. Blues fans know many of the names in the industry, but I know that Stacia Petrie is not a household name outside of Detroit area blues fans. After listening to her fourth self-released CD, I think that she should be! This album contains 11 tracks that she has either written alone or with another Detroit artist. They are solid songs that showcase both her vocals and song writing skills. She also does some more than adequate acoustic guitar work on the CD.

Her bio shows that she has been busy since 1993 with both individual performances and her work with the seven-woman band the Detroit Women. She is well known in the Detroit blues scene and has won nearly a dozen awards there in the last 7 years. And the song "Face the Blues" on this CD, which is a collaboration Motor City Josh, won first place in the blues category in the 2007 Unisong International Song Contest and third place in the 2007 Great Lakes Song Contest. I see why it won- it is a great slow blues tune with super vocals by Stacia and some nice lead guitar by Motor City Josh.

Her voice is expressive from the slow, breathy numbers all the way to the driving, rocking songs. She writes of love gone wrong in tracks like “Long, Cold, Lonely Night” and, well, almost of the songs on the CD. Her blues are deep and heart felt. She gives us music and lyrics that are gripping and touching. In “Detroit Women” reminds be a little of Joanna Connor as she blasts out how they’re “gonna shake this ground, and if you can’t take the shakin’ you better sit yourself right down.” The down and dirty lead guitar here is by Roscoe, who also engineered the album.

I was very impressed with this CD. Petrie is a fine songwriter and performer. It is unfortunate that her previous solo CDs and four CDs she cut with The Detroit Women have not gotten much play. If they are as good as this one we’ve been missing a lot of great music. She’s a very, very good vocalist and songwriter whom I recommend that you check out!

Sean’s Blues - A Memorial Retrospective reviewed by Mark Thompson

Sean’s Blues - A Memorial Retrospective
Sean Costello
Landslide Records
www.landsliderecords.com
www.seancostellofund.org
20 tracks/75:31


The tragic death of Sean Costello last year, one day shy of his 29th birthday, robbed the music world of an incredible musician. Recording his first release at age sixteen, Costello seemed destined for stardom. As this compilation shows, Costello steadily developed as a vocalist and guitar player while creating some jaw-dropping performances.

The first three tracks are from Costello’s initial recording Call the Cops. The title cut is a brief but spirited effort with some fiery guitar licks. “Sail On” finds Sean on acoustic guitar and long-time band member Paul Linden delivering some quality harmonica work. Costello shows the swing influence in his playing on “Take Me Back”.

Another three songs are pulled from Costello’s release in the year 2000, Cuttin” In. His cover of the first Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Mellow Chick Swing” has a steady groove and a restrained vocal from the leader. Costello turns in a harrowing performance on the Otis Rush classic, “Double Trouble”. The intensity of his vocal is matched by the razor-sharp licks he pulls out of his guitar. The band romps through “Who’s Been Cheatin’ Who”, an up-tempo Costello original.

The 2002 recording, Moanin’ For Molasses., brought further acclaim to Costello with quality cuts including “Don’t be Reckless with My Heart” and “It Takes Time”, another Rush tune. Linden on harp and Matt Wauchope on piano make solid contributions on the first song . Costello, Linden on piano and Wauchope on organ share the spotlight on the second tune.

Long-time Costello fans will be very excited by the remaining twelve tracks, all unreleased material from a variety of sources. One stunning highlight is an awesome rendition of “Walking Blues” with former boss, Susan Tedeschi, on lead vocal. Costello’s guitar has a huge, gritty tone that matches the emotional level of Tedeschi’s singing. It was culled from a 1998 session in Atlanta along with four other tracks. “Tell Me Baby” is a tough rocker while Tedeschi is on rhythm guitar for a run-through of Bob Wills instrumental “Big Beaver”.

Three live tracks serve proof that Costello was a commanding performer on stage. He dips into the Otis Rush songbook one more time for “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)” and delivers the goods on “Mojo Boogie”. Recorded in Marquette, MI in 2000, both songs show that Costello had really developed as a singer by this point in his career. “Motor Head Baby” was recorded the following year in Chicago and while the recording quality isn’t quite as good as the rest of the disc, you can hear the audience shouting out encouragement as Costello delivers a smoking-hot guitar solo.

The final four tracks were done in Atlanta in 2002 and they mark another maturation point in Costello’s career. His voice has grown thicker and now has a deeper tone. On a cover of Robert Ward’s “Your Love is Amazing”, Costello is able to express the soulful longing captured in the song’s lyrics. His stunning version of “You Don’t Know What Love Is” finds his vocal and guitar work merging together in an extended expression of emotion. The closing track, “She Changed My Mind”, was written by Costello and Linden. Sean sings his heart out, accompanied by Wauchope on organ and his main rhythm section of Terence Prather on drums and Melvin Zachary on bass.

One can only imagine the directions Costello would taken had his life not been cut short. As you track his growth over the span of this disc, it is clear that his vocal prowess grew by leaps and bounds while his guitar playing gained tighter focus. His final release, We Can Get Together on the Delta Groove label, shows that Costello continued to develop as a vocalist , moving towards soul-infused style with great results. While his journey was cut short, we can rejoice that Landslide Records has given us the opportunity to add this powerful testament to Sean Costello talent to our musical libraries.

- A portion of the royalties from the sale of this release will benefit the Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bi-Polar Research.

Many Shades of Blue reviewed by Mark Thompson

Many Shades of Blue
Gary Allegretto
Big Fiore Records
www.garyallegretto.com
www.harmonikids.com
14 tracks/55:13


This is the third release for Gary Allegretto, yet it is a safe bet that even die-hard blues fans remain in the dark about this talented musician. His interest in blues music was sparked at a young age when he attended a live performance by acoustic bluesman John Jackson. After spending years satisfying his wanderlust, Allegretto now focuses on music, including his non-profit organization, Harmonikids, that brings music to special needs children. He is a talented singer with a warm tone and a skilled harp player who is equally comfortable playing in electric and acoustic styles.

On “She Speaks to Me”, Allegretto sings the praises of his instrument to a Jimmy Reed-style arrangement that finds him playing effectively in the upper register. Tracks like “Good to Go” and Chuck Berry’s “Back to Memphis” are straight-ahead rockers with Allegretto blowing hot licks with full, rich tone over the driving beats. Steve F’dor adds some sparkling piano parts on both tracks. On “Bad Man”, Allegretto plays the part of a sweet lovin’ daddy on a scale equal to Jesse James and Billy the Kid. He spins a humorous tale on his original tune about a woman with honesty issues on “Tattoo of Truth”. His harp dances around the melody, spinning out a rich, inventive solo.

Four tracks finds Gary paired with the late John Cephas. “Saddle Pony” utilizes some standard blues lyrics but Cephas picks out an intricate pattern on acoustic guitar while Allegretto blows some fine country licks. Another Allegretto original, “Hurry Down Rounder”, is a folk blues made for dancing with the two men harmonizing on the chorus. The duo takes a similar approach on Hank Williams’ “Mind Your Own Business”, with Rich DelGrosso adding his mandolin to the mix.

Other special guests include Janiva Magness, who adds backing vocals on “Risk of Love”, a track that also has Ivan Neville on Hammond organ and a great slide guitar solo from Tommy Kay. Magness and Neville handle the lead vocals on “Four Days Late”, a heart-breaking song that chronicles the delayed response by all levels of government to the disaster wrought by Hurricane Katrina. Doug MacLeod enlivens “Somerset” with his usual superb picking on his national resonator guitar and more outstanding piano from F’Dor.

Many Shades of Blue certainly lives up to its title. Allegretto’s heady brew ranges from Piedmont style acoustic blues to hard rockin’ electric numbers. He has put together a stunning package that marks him as a compelling songwriter, a masterful harpist and a strong singer. While his more famous friends make significant contributions to this project, it is Allegretto’s vision that burns the brightest. It’s hard to believe that he has not garnered more attention up to this point. This recording, which has received Grammy consideration, should finally get him the recognition that he deserves. This one is highly recommended !!!

Escape from the Chicken Coop reviewed by Steve Jones

Escape from the Chicken Coop
Watermelon Slim
Northern Blues Music
www.watermelonslim.com
13 tracks

Well, he did it. Watermelon Slim has been hankering to release a country CD and he finally did. This is not at all a blues album in any respect nor was it intended to be. Bill Homans gives us 13 tracks (10 of which he wrote) of full blown corn pone, chocked full of whining Caterpillar engines, skinny women, fat cigars, highway wrecks, friends on the porch, homage to Hank Williams, American wives, long roads ahead and 18 wheelers. The album is dedicated to Dave Dudley, of whom Mr. Homans respects deeply.

I am not a big country music fan, so let me start out by giving you that warning. I like the classic stuff like Johnny Cash, Hank William’s songs (but maybe not his delivery) and other artists in that genre. Pop country like Garth and Keith and Faith is just that, pop. What we have here is closer to the classics than pop, but it just seems to be a little bit sappy and sentimental like country can be, without the glitz and glamour of pop country. Slim is adept at delivering a convincing country song and he does it 13 times. Often the twang and hick-ieness get a bit overbearing for me, but Slim is convincing in delivering traditional country fried lyrics, and country fans will enjoy his approach as will Slim’s dedicated blues fans.

Highlights of this album include a nice duet with Jenny Littleton on “You See Me Like I See You”, where her vocals are delivered in high-Dolly Parton style with the two of them trading lyrics back and forth. Slim follows that with a dirge-like “Wreck on the Highway” where his deep baritone gets down into your soul. “Should Have Done More” is another darker number and Slim delivers it with great conviction as he does with “300 Miles”. He closes out with two more upbeat tracks, “Truck Drivin’ Songs” and “18, 18 Wheeler”, where my toes tapped to the beat no matter how hard I tried not to.

I’m still not a deep country fan, but I kind of liked this album because it ran the gamut of upbeat and down home to dark and almost sinister stuff. Slim is a pretty cool guy and with this CD he is paying tribute to the fellow truckers and highway warriors who he drove with for many years. If you need to go down to the country, Bill “Watermelon Slim” Homans gives you the vehicle to get there with this CD. And be warned now that there will be more vehicles in the fleet, because he laid down a total of 21 tracks in his four days of Nashville studio time. Slim always gave us a little twang with his previous albums with the Workers backup band, and here we have it cranked up and delivered all the way with a fine set of supporting country artists behind him.