Name the Day! reviewed by Steve Jones

Name the Day!

John Nemeth

Blind Pig Records

http://www.blindpigrecords/. com

11 tracks

When Nemeth’s first CD “Magic Touch” was released in 2007 I was impressed and hoped his sophomore effort would approach that. Well, he exceeded expectations in early 2009 with “Love Me Tonight” and now has added to his fame with this outstanding CD! He’s scored a trifecta of hits and every one is better than the last one! With his superlative vocals and harp work and backed up by a full suite of strong artists, he really delivers the goods. Bobby welsh on guotar and piano, Smokey Davis on bass, Nick Fishman on the skins, Austin deLone on piano and organ, Jake Smolowe on organ, Jeff Teczon on the tenor horn, Franki B on trumpet, and Mike Rinta on trombone give the CD a lush and full sound. Backing vocalist Steve Willis and Ed Earley also add nicely to the mix. The big sound with organs, keys, and horns on top of the guitar, bass and drums is beautifully played and mixed here.

This soulful bluesman sings with the best of them. He opens and jumps out at you with with “Breakin’ Free”, figuratively grabbing the listener by the lapels saying, ‘Hang on because this is gonna be a fun ride”. He slows it down and follows with the title cut, a soulful and love song. Heartbreak With A Hammer” opens with and features some sick harp solos. “Tuff Girl” is funky and features nice a big horn sound with his opulent vocals. He opens his heart up with the soulful ballad “Said Too Much” and later on more spiritual “Why Not Me”- fantastic, must listen stuff!

All 11 tracks on this CD are equally good– you’ll want to listen to this one over and over again, so add it to your Blind Pig cart with the Magic Slim CD and you’ll only need to find 3 more to fill your cart. Nemeth is stellar here and anyone wanting to hear the future of the blues industry needs to own this CD in their collection!