2020 – E-H Records
By Phillip Smith; May 9, 2020
I got hooked on the music of Eliza Neals when I reviewed 10,000 Feet Below in
2017. Last summer, I was gob smacked by
her album Sweet or Mean, and had the pleasure of seeing her perform at the
Prairie Dog Blues Festival
in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin. It was
great to hear her stellar vocals belting out song after song, backed by her high
energy band.
On Black Crow Moan
her latest release, Neals
draws me in from the get-go on “Don’t Judge the Blues”. The slide guitar from Mike Puwal fills it with swampy goodness. Slathered
in hot buttery soul "The
Devil Don't Love You", features the great Joe Louis
Walker. He keeps it
funky on guitar as Neals takes
me to church on keys. Walker also delightfully appears on title track "Black
Crow Moan". The call and response
vocals are emotionally-charged as the notes from Walker’s
guitar weightlessly drift skyward. This dark
masterpiece, covered in ominous overtones, oozes with authenticity. “Never Stray” is another amazing song. It is shrouded in a beautiful intensity and
features guitarist Derek St. Holmes (Ted Nugent) bassist Jason Kott, and
drummer Jeffrey ‘Shakey’ Fowlkes (Too Slim). St. Holmes also brings a bowlful of slow-cooked blues and
searing guitar to Neal’s cover
of Big Mama Thornton's
"Ball and Chain". Eliza sings this
with fearless abandon as Shakey builds
a wall of thunder on drums. It’s an absolutely
wonderful experience to hear.
When it comes to my list
of favorite blues-rockers, Eliza Neals remains
among the top. As long as the badassery within her keeps forging great records
such as Black Crow Moan, I’ll be there to hear them.
---
