#601 : GA-20 - Live in Loveland (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 

2023 – Karma Chief

By Phillip Smith; March 18, 2023

Release Date : March. 17, 2023

 

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

GA-20 ranks right up there among my favorite blues bands playing today.  I have absolutely loved their previous two studio albums, Crackdown, and Does Hound Dog Taylor.  The records are magnificent.  GA-20 has a way of filling every nook and cranny of their music with a timeless vintage sound and raw fearlessness.  Live in Loveland, their first full-length live album, was recorded direct-to-tape on a Tascam 388 in Loveland, Ohio at Plaid Room Records.   It features previously unrecorded tracks along with songs from Crackdown and their 2019 debut album Lonely Soul.  The musical chemistry shared between vocalist/guitarist Pat Faherty, guitarist/producer Matthew Stubbs, and drummer Tim Carman is sheer electric and fortified with true grit.

The album kicks off with a pair of deep-cuts paying homage to Harold Burrage’s “I Cry For You”, and Little Walter’s “My Baby’s Sweeter”.  They transport me through time and space to a smoke-filled juke joint tucked away somewhere in Chicago’s South Side.  “Lonely Soul” is a fireball of a song which clocks in at less than two minutes.  Carman keeps a riveting beat for this blues-meets-surf rock title-track.  I’m happy to see “Dry Run” from Crackdown was included.  That puts a smile on my face.  GA-20 knocks this fifties-era rockabilly original out of the ballpark with Faherty’s suave crooner vocals and Stubbs’ deliciously twangy guitar sounds. 

When I first heard “My Soul”, it took a while for me to process where I had heard this song before.  My experience with this funky track has only been through hearing it countless times from another favorite band of mine Phish.  I had never hunted down the original zydeco version from Clifton Chenier.  I have now though, and whether performed by Chenier, Phish, or GA-20, “My Soul” is a cool song in every case.            

Following in the footsteps of New York punk rockers The Ramones, GA-20 packs a massive amount of energy into a small amount of time.  “Hold it One More Time” is an excellent example.  This previously un-recorded original is a magnificent blues explosion which lasts just a smidge over two minutes.  Live in Loveland comes to a smashing end with lots of cheers when they close the show with “By My Lonesome”.   It’s a stellar song that leaves me wanting hear more after all the dust has settled.  

GA-20 is on my short list of bands I must see.  This recording just makes me want to see them even more.       

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LIVE IN LOVELAND TRACKLIST

1. I Cry For You

2. My Baby's Sweeter

3. Lonely Soul

4. I Let Someone In

5. Dry Run

6. Double Gettin'

7. My Soul

8. Just Because

9. Hold It One More Time

10. Crackin' Up

 

 

For more information about GA-20, visit their website at :  https://ga20band.com

 

Check out other PhillyCheeze reviews for GA-20 at :  https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=GA-20