JJ Grey & Mofro – Georgia Warhorse (Alligator Records).

Georgia Warhorse is JJ Grey’s fifth album and each has been full of original songs. He fits in those albums between his exhausting touring regime and the two pronged attack is bringing him to the notice of more and more people each year. Diyo Dayo is a throbbing grungy opener with baleful harmonica from Grey. King Hummingbird is a classy acoustic rock ballad with Grey’s mournful vocal. The horns make The Sweetest Thing into a cool R&B and the addition of Toots Hibbert on vocals is a master stroke as the band powers it out. All has strident drumming from Anthony Cole as the band stays in the R&B field. This is in your face, big time. The eponymous title track is about a kind of grasshopper, I believe, and JJ says that they are tough like an old Tonka toy and so at ease with the world – just like him, really. No matter what it’s about, this slow grinding blues has lung bursting harp to match the best and Grey also chips in with a lazy solo on slide.

Gotta Know is another rock ballad. This has a gritty vocal but there are many levels to his voice. The introduction of organ half way through gives it a Gospel feel. Another level is added with the horn section as the whole thing builds up towards the finish. Hide & Seek is vibrant and acoustic led. Andrew Trube, on bass, delivers the power this time but there’s an unexpected, slightly strange keyboard solo as well. Having said that, it does cut through the song pretty well. Co-written with Chuck Prophet and Angelo Petraglia (Kings of Leon), Beautiful World has relaxing acoustic tones and leans towards Country. Slow, Hot & Sweaty, you don’t get sweaty in a title very often, is funky and the kind of song that you’d expect from someone like Prince or Sly Stone – surprising. The Hottest Spot In Hell is a pounding R&B which showcases his deep baritone voice. The rhythm section excels and the horns (Art Edmaiston on trumpet and Dennis Marion on trumpet) make for a tight unit. He finishes off with Lullaby but, although hypnotic, this blues flecked offering won’t send you to sleep as the drummer and guest slide guitarist, Derek Trucks, are let loose.

http://www.jjgrey.com/
http://www.alligator.com/

David Blue.

Joe Bonamassa @ The Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow 18/10/2010.

Gone is the shy young man who I saw at The Ferry in Glasgow a few years ago. He walked through the crowd unnoticed before stepping onto the small stage and blowing everyone away with his playing. These days, Joe Bonamassa sports a sharp suit, has a light show and has arrived on the big stage.

He opened with a perennial favourite of his, Rory Gallagher’s Cradle Rock and peppered the evening with songs from his latest album, Black Rock, along with titles from his already burgeoning back catalogue. The new songs such as Steal Your Heart Away and Three Times A Fool sat very easily with older favourites Sloe Gin, The Ballad Of John Henry and If Heartaches Were Nickels. At times he was hunched over his guitar as if in his own little world only to throw his head back in the ecstasy of the vital note.

Joe’s Scottish girlfriend, Sandi Thom, came on for part of the well deserved encore and the two of them produced an excellent version of Bird On The Wire and different to the one on Black Rock.

So I’ve seen Joe Bonamassa go from a very small venue with less than 100 in the audience to a slightly larger hall with a slightly larger audience and on to the premiere venue in Glasgow with over 2,000 of a crowd. One thing has remained constant and that is his talent and when you go to one of his gigs you know you are in the presence of someone special.

David Blue.

Simon McBride – Since Then (Nugene Records).

Since Then is Northern Irishman Simon McBride’s second album, his first being the critically acclaimed Rich Man Falling in 2008. A winner of Guitarist Magazine’s Young Guitarist of the Year and endorsed by guitar builder Paul Reed Smith by the time he was 15, it was inevitable that he would go on to greater things. Stints in Sweet Savage (replacing Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell) and Andrew Strong’s band led to him taking the solo plunge and the aforementioned debut album. The 14 self-penned tracks of Since Then open with Take My Hand, which is a full throttle opener with Adrian McIlduff’s drum kit at breaking point and electrifying slide guitar from McBride. Hell Waters Rising is a blues rock title if I’ve ever heard one and this pounding track is just the type of song to rock out to. Superb guitar from McBride and he definitely knows what buttons to press. Acoustic guitar makes an appearance on Save Me and McBride’s very good rock voice comes into its own. This is a grower, starting in ballad style and building up into a soft rocker. Down To The Wire is a high class slow blues. Joe Bonamassa must be an influence as I can hear him all over this. McBride is a new star is on the blues horizon. Be My Baby is Jimi Hendrix meets Kansas City blues -- oddly catchy with McBride’s guitar stinging you at every turn. From The Other Side is rhythmic blues rock and although there’s a lot of guys out there doing this kind of stuff McBride more than holds his own. It’s back to slide guitar with The Promise and to great effect too with the power chorus on this good time rocker reaching down your throat and playing with your insides.

Tear Down Your Soul is a funky rocker and I now feel that I’ve known Simon McBride forever. Dead Man Walking has a resonator in there somewhere but it gets dwarfed by McBride’s slashing electric guitar. However, it’s another high class blues rocker and he is a master of the chorus. Even though this one is simple it’s the power chords that do for you again. Dancing On The Sidewalk is a mid-paced rocker with a funky edge and Sweet Angel has shades of Gary Moore’s Still Got The Blues For You in its opening but it’s much more than that. McBride’s guitar goes straight to your heart. He has the Dobro out again for Coming Home but this time it gets a higher billing. This has intricate guitar work over a pounding beat. I know that I mentioned Mr Bonamassa before but McBride is so similar vocally on Devils Road it’s uncanny. This is a strange one with Paul Hamilton’s drums on the off beat and it may have been better with just voice and guitar -- a fast paced blues, country, hip hop crossover! He finishes with The Truth, a short instrumental lament with piercing guitar which draws out his Celtic origins.

Simon McBride has the class to challenge the might of the Provogue Records guitarist stable.

http://www.simonmcbride.net/
http://www.nugenerecords.com/

David Blue.

Walter Trout & Mitch Laddie @ The Ferry, Glasgow 08/10/2010.

It’s October so it must be Walter Trout in Glasgow. Walter and his superb band just keep coming back to Scotland and they sound better each year. This time he brought his Provogue stable mate Mitch Laddie with him and young Mitch opened up the evening superbly. Showcasing songs from his debut album, This Time Around, the 19 year old held the crowd in the palm of his hand at times and the future is bright for this young North Easterner.

Walter Trout arrived onstage to announce that we were honoured to have a local celebrity in the audience and proceeded to introduce Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies. Of course, this turned out to be larger than life drummer Michael Leasure. After a couple of impressions from the big man the band, with the ever-smiling Sammy Avila on keyboards, launched into the show with Walter bringing us a number of tracks from his latest album, Common Ground, as well as many from his extensive back catalogue. The new songs such as May Be A Fool, Common Ground and Wrapped Up In The Blues were all well received and when added to Walter’s wicked wit (sometimes at the expense of bass player Rick Knapp) it all added up to a great evening. Walter certainly knows how to play to a Scots crowd as when there was a problem with one of the speakers he announced “you may take our monitors but you’ll never take our freedom”. He added Loch Lomond and Scotland The Brave to his encore to finish off a show that was over two hours long. However, I think that Walter and the band could have played all night and you know what, I could have listened all night too.

David Blue.