Scott
Weis Band
Raise Your Hands
2023 – A Happy Carrot
Production
By Phillip Smith; Aug. 26, 2023
Release Date : Aug.
1, 2023
Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com
I’ve
immensely enjoyed the past couple of releases from Scott Weis Band. Their
eighth and latest album Raise Your Hands is no exception. For something a little different this time Weis
injects a heavy dose of southern rock into his blues and it sounds
fantastic. Weis is joined again
by drummer Roger Voss and bassist Robert Kopec. He is also accompanied by vocalist Cindy
Mizelle, keyboardist John Ginty, and percussionist Bashiri
Johnson, with Sarah Smith making a guest appearance on vocals.
Weis fills the air with the swampy sounds of the Mississippi Delta on the first track “Motherless Child”. I enjoy hearing him tear it up on slide guitar with the rolling sounds of organ joining in. “Shine Down” follows up in a nice Skynyrd-esque fashion. I love the arrangement of the backing vocals on this slow cooker. Vocally and instrumentally, it hits on all cylinders. There’s a lot of ZZ Top influence running in the hard-driving Texas boogie-laced blues of ”Judgement Day”. I like to turn the volume up when this track starts. One of my favorite Beatles covers is Joe Cocker’s take on “With a Little Help From My Friends”. Weis delightfully takes on the Joe Cocker version and it sounds glorious. His gravelly vocals nail every note of this six-minute classic as the band comes together in a full-on Muscle Shoals-fashion. Weis breaks out the dobro and Kopec the standup bass on “Bring Me Home” to close out the album. The stripped-down vintage sound fully captures my attention as is conjures up memories of seeing the legendary Watermelon Slim in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
With songwriting and performance both taking top priority, Scott Weis Band has another winner with Raise Your Hands. I appreciate how the music flows seamlessly from beginning to end, taking on an album-oriented rock appeal. This is a release I am highly recommending.
For more information about Scott Weis Band visit their
website at : https://scottweisband.com/
Check out other
PhillyCheeze reviews for Scott Weis at :
https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=Scott+Weis
