Thursday, June 26, 2008


Eric Steckel – Feels Like Home (Me & My Blues Music).

Is it me or are blues players getting younger? Eric Steckel is the latest kid on the block and at the age of 17 he is certainly one of the youngest. However, he is already a bit of a veteran having released his debut album when he was just 11. Feels Like Home opens with Just Walk Away, which has power from the outset. Blues rock with a maturity that belies his years. The eponymous title track is sophisticated Southern style rock and shows that he is an extremely talented and classy guitarist. Southern Skyline is an instrumental that highlights his exceptional technique and he is ably backed by Duane Trucks on drums and contributes Hammond organ himself. I haven’t mentioned his voice yet but on the plodding Don’t Look Behind it demands to have the attention taken away from the guitar. The voice will grow as he gets older but the signs are there that he came become a top class all rounder.

He shows that he is as adept on dobro as he is on electric guitar on Smiling Liar and his solo performance on Robert Johnson’s C’mon In My Kitchen is raw and exciting. Something Better is a return to the sophisticated rock of earlier on – a very, very strong performance. From Time To Time is a shuffling blues and is as good as anything in the genre at the moment. Is he a possible successor to Stevie Ray Vaughan? He has every chance. When Ignorance Turns To Bliss is an atmospheric acoustic based blues ballad and the predominately instrumental The Ghetto, led by Hammond organ, is an excellent jazzy offering. These tracks serve to confirm his excellence. He shows he can play acoustic guitar too on the closing track, Tuscany. This is an instrumental that calls up memories of days in the sunshine but seems a strange way to end such a powerful album. I’m not complaining, though.

If you like your guitar licks then check out Eric Steckel, the baby-faced blues assassin.

http://www.ericsteckel.com/
http://www.continental.nl/

David Blue.

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