#757- > Bob Stroger & the Headhunters - Bob is Back (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 

2025 – Delmark Records
Release Date : May 5, 2025
 
By Phillip Smith; July 5, 2025
 
Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com 

It’s been a big year for Bob Stroger. The ninety-four-year-old blues legend was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame this year in Memphis, Tennessee. To help celebrate his induction, Stroger was invited to throw the first pitch at Wrigley Field, in Chicago on April 5^th. On top of all that, he has a new CD release called Bob is Back, and it is a fabulous slice of classic Chicago blues. This twelve-track record features Stroger front and center on bass guitar and lead vocals with Joe Marhofer on harmonica, Ricardo Maca on guitar, Arthur Catuto on bass, Leandro Cavera on drums, and Ben Levin on piano and organ.

The album opens with an attention-grabbing cover of Elmore James’ “Look Over Yonder Wall”. Stroger’s vocals are strong and authentic, with Marhofer’s searing harp performance superbly backed by Levin’s barrelhouse piano. This track sets the perfect tone for the rest to come. Over a tight and hot rhythm, Stroger claims “Jazz ain’t nothing but a blues-man blowing his horn” on his smokin’ original “Jazz Man Blues”.  The walking bassline solo is a grand one. I really dig their cover of Tampa Red’s “Don’t You Lie to Me”.  The song is played to perfection, with amazing performances from Maca, Levin, and Marhofer. It’s a treat to hear special guests Candice Ivory and Renée Gros accompany Stroger on backing vocals for “Love You Baby”.  In a groovy burst of Stax mojo, the funk-laden instrumental “Bob is Back” slides into the mix for an absolutely fabulous listen. For the closer, Bob wisely reminds us all to “Let the Good Times Roll”. I can’t help but sing along with this party song.

I was able to catch Stroger perform at the Pinetop Perkins Boogie & Crawfish Boil a couple of months ago at Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi. To be up close to blues royalty of this caliber felt pretty damn good. It’s great to see Stroger still performing on stage, and recoding new tracks. Blues fans will definitely want to pick up a copy of Bob is Back. It’s an instant blues classic indeed.    

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Bob Stroger at Pinetop Boogie & Crawfish Boil
Ground Zero Blues Club
Clarksdale, Mississippi
May 10, 2025

Photo by Phillip Smith

#756- > D.K. Harrell - Talkin' Heavy (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 

2025 – Alligator Records
Release Date : June 20, 2025
 
By Phillip Smith; June 28, 2025
 
Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com
 

At just twenty-seven years old, D’Kieran Harrell aka D.K. Harrell is making a big name for himself in the blues world. He is one of those artists I began hearing lots of good things about before he even released his first album The Right Man in 2023. Now for his second release, the artist has joined the Alligator Records family. His brand-new album Talkin’ Heavy, produced and recorded by Kid Andersen at Greaseland USA, is an all-original twelve-track reflection of young adulthood, and is an absolute delight. With Harrell on lead guitar and vocals, he is backed by Andrew Moss on bass, Kid Andersen on rhythm guitar, Jim Pugh on organ/piano, and drummers June Core and Derrick “D’Mar” Martin.

Harrell’s smooth-as-silk guitar licks and buttery vocals stand up front on the funky blues coming-of-age song “Grown Now”. Topped off with horns and a riveting rhythm, this song is an immediate favorite. Following next is title-track “Talkin’ Heavy”. I dig the groovy bassline this amazing song dances upon as Harrell points out the state of the world and declares it is heavy with the blues. I love that Seventies discotheque sound injected into “PTLD (Post Traumatic Love Disorder)”. That drum beat Martin throws down is grand and fabulous. D.K.’s blues-soaked guitar sounds amazing as it fuses in. After a most delicate piano introduction from Pugh, Harrell breaks loose in a big way on “Good Man”. This has that classic Stax energy which I can never get enough of. I can’t help but smile big when I hear D.K. sing the only things open late at night is “Liquor Stores and Legs”. It’s such a brilliant song and sure to be a fan-favorite.

There is an old-school blues energy embedded in D.K. Harrell’s music, and it is captured perfectly in Talkin’ Heavy.         

 

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For more information about D.K. Harrell, follow these links:

D.K. Harrell - https://dkblues.com/

Alligator Records - https://www.alligator.com/

#755- > Willie Buck & Bob Corritore - Oh Yeah! (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 

2025 – VizzTone Label Group
Release Date : June 20, 2025
 
By Phillip Smith; June 21, 2025
 
Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

I would be hard-pressed to name a more definitive series of blues recordings than Bob Corritore’s ‘From the Vaults’ series. I’m always excited when a new one is issued. The most recent in this series is Willie Buck & Bob Corritore’ s Oh Yeah!, and one couldn’t ask for a better current-day representation of classic Chicago Blues. William Crawford aka Willie Buck and Corritore have a history of playing together that goes back over forty-five years, and certainly is heard through their music. The album features Willie Buck on vocals, Bob Corritore on harmonica, Bob Margolin on guitar for six tracks, Jimi Primetime Smith on guitar for nine tracks, Anthony Geraci on piano for three tracks, Ben Levin on piano for six tracks. Bob Stroger appears on bass, and Wes Starr on drums for nine of the tracks. The recording also includes Billy Flynn, Mojo Mark Cihlar, Jon Atkinson,Troy Sandow, and Brian Fahley.  

The title-track “Oh Yeah!” rolls out first. Buck’s whiskey-soaked vocals are splendidly joined with Corritore’s searing harmonica. With both Flynn and Smith on guitar, the song makes for a very strong opener. A cover of Muddy Water’s “She’s Alright” swiftly follows next, fueled with an intoxicating rhythm. The song quickly puts a grin on my face. I love how Buck spins a moment of appreciation and solid act of generosity into song with “Brand New Cell Phone”.  With Atkinson and Mojo Mark on guitars, Sando on bass, and Fahley on drums, Buck and Corritore deliver the wonderful original “Went Home This Morning”. The song, timeless in both theme and performance, is a real treat. I never tire of hearing the blues classic “Baby Please Don’t Go”.  This is such a great song, and these guys play it to a riveting perfection.

I highly recommend Oh Yeah! as well as all previous releases in the ‘From the Vault’ series that Corritore has been curating. The record is ‘grade A’ Chicago Blues in its purest form.  

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For more information about Bob Corritore visit https://bobcorritore.com/

 

To read past PhillyCheeze reviews covering Bob Corritore, follow this link : https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=bob+corritore

 

#754- > Dyer Davis - Kiss The Ring (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 

2025 – Valley Rose / Big Wing Records
Release Date : June 13, 2025
 
By Phillip Smith; June 14, 2025
 
Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

 

Dyer Davis’ debut album Dog Bites Back quickly grabbed my attention when I reviewed it two years ago. It landed in my favorite 25 albums of 2023 list. Davis’ new album Kiss the Ring continues to reel me in with his crafted lyrics, fierce guitar skills and soulful voice. This Jacksonville, Florida artist certainty puts the ‘rock’ in blues-rock with a Southern homegrown approach. With Davis on guitar and lead vocals, his band is comprised of Warren Beck on keys/backing vocals, David Weatherspoon on drums, and Will Weiner on bass guitar/backing vocals.  

The record throws down the gauntlet in a tight-as-hell blast of ferocity with “I Ain’t Lying”. It’s an amazing, adrenalin-fueled rocker with a riveting guitar performance, and a spectacular barrel-house keyboard accompaniment. The gentle sounds of banjo pull me in to “Around the Bend”. The song’s Crosby, Stills, and Nash-ish vibe lightens my mood, and brightens the day. A lack of decent choices plagues all of us at one time or another.  “Damned” brilliantly brings that dire crossroads-feeling to song with an infectious late-Nineties alt-rock sound. “Brackish Water” keeps the jam going strong in a full-on Southern Rock delivery. With guest Sawyer Swihart providing an absolutely gorgeous performance on pedal steel guitar, “Have Mercy” washes over me in a stunning tide of empathy. “Enough is Enough” closes the album with in a special way as the song progresses from acoustic to full-on electric. In a Ben Folds fashion, Beck’s piano performance beautifully accompanies Weatherspoon’s and Weiner’s captivating rhythm.

I’m certainly hooked on Dyer Davis’ Kiss the Ring. It is an engaging listen from beginning to end.

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Photo by Sequoya Iolani

Joel Andrew Bell

 

For more information about Dyer Davis visit https://www.dyerdavismusic.com/

To read past PhillyCheeze reviews covering Dyer Davis, follow this link : https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=dyer+davis 

Available on Bandcamp

#753- > Wylde Nept Live at Opus Concert Cafe - 6-11-25 (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

Wylde Nept Live at Opus Concert Cafe

Opus Concert Cafe

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

June 11, 2025

 

By Phillip Smith; June 12, 2025

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

 

I love getting out for live music, and it is always a treat to see Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Wylde Nept bring their mastery of Irish song and shenanigans to the stage. They certainly emit a positive energy of  which the audience is eager to soak up. Wylde Nept is Steven James (vocals/accordion), Jon Southwood (guitars), Wayne Twombley (guitars), Brian Fahrner (bass guitar) and Lincoln Ginsberg (cajon).  They're been playing live for over thirty years and have recorded three studio albums: A Drop of the Creature, Traditional Routes, and All's Fair , and one live album Live in 3-D.  

With a communal toast and the cheers of 'Sligo!', the show kicked off the first of two sets with "Haul Away Joe". Soon after they played "Mountain Dew" and their legendary cover of "Whiskey in the Jar".  The evening was decorated with classic favorites with a few deep cuts before coming to an end with the the "The Unicorn Song" which brought fans up to the front of the stage to follow along in dance. It was a fantastic show! 

Sligo!

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* Photos by Phillip Smith

For more information about Wylde Nept, visit their website https://www.wyldenept.com/

 ·       All photos by Phillip Smith      

#752- > Blues Inferno Tour - Alastair Greene, Chris Duarte, Kris Lager (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 

Blues Inferno Tour 2025
The Double Z Bar & Grill
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
June 6, 2025
 
By Phillip Smith; June 7, 2025

 

Original source: phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

 

Summer is almost here, and the music festival season officially started for me last night. The Blues Inferno Tour featuring Kris Lager Band, Chris Duarte, and Alastair Greene made a most-welcome stop here in Cedar Rapids to perform on an outdoor stage at The Double Z Bar and Grill. This show as guitar-centric blues-rock at its best. The acts have been rotating the lineup along their tour and last night the show opened with Alastair Greene who was followed by Chris Duarte, and then Kris Lager Band closed the show. For a grand finale Duarte joined Lager for several songs, and it was magnificent. There was no warming up for anybody. Everyone was as hot as the other, making for an absolutely fabulous show. I highly recommend making to this blues-rock if you can.   

 

* All Photos by Phillip Smith

Alastair Greene 

Chris Duarte 

Kris Lager Band

Lager & Duarte 

* All Photos by Phillip Smith