2025 – Robert Top Thomas
Release Date : October
31, 2025
By Phillip
Smith; December
27, 2025
Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com
One Morning Soon, the latest album from Florida-based blues veteran Robert
Top Thomas, has a magical way of drawing me into the rustic, swampy country-blues
landscape he has so carefully constructed. Produced by Billy Dean, this acoustic
thirteen-track gem is a mix of vintage classic blues and original tunes.
Appearing on the record with Thomas is Dan Walters on piano/bass,
Stephen Kampa on harmonica, Billy Dean on drums/percussion/voice,
Gavin Jorgenson on clarinet/soprano sax, and Sadie Dean on ‘gator
bite’.
With Walters on piano, and Kampa on harp, Thomas kicks the album off in a fun boogie-fashion covering Lazy Lester’s “Hey Matte”. Thomas breathes new life into the Packrat’s Smokehouse track “Haints in My House” and it’s an absolute favorite. Black cats and buzzards abound, if a sequel to the 2025 film Sinners is to be, I’d love to hear this in the soundtrack. It would be perfect. His cover of Mance Lipscomb’s “Shake Shake Mama” is really a delight to hear. I love Thomas’ guitar and vocal approach as Kampa accompanies on harmonica. A mesmerizing rendition of Reverend Gary Davis’ “I Heard the Angels Singing” takes me to church with every listen.
Baptized in the swamps of pre-war blues, “Gator Jig” is a standout original instrumental which brilliantly ends with Sadie declaring “the alligator ate my hand”. The song has a way to putting a smile on my face. Another instrumental which grabs ahold of me is “Long Long Gone”. I love how he layers the sounds on this original track to build the listening experience. The song breathtakingly transports me aboard a passenger train heading west for adventure.
One Morning Soon is one of those recordings that reaches out and touches one’s soul. It’s pure country blues at its best.
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