Showing posts with label BluesRock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BluesRock. Show all posts

Saturday, February 11, 2023

#596 : Craig Erickson - Modern Blues (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 


2023 – Ferver Records

By Phillip Smith; Feb. 11, 2023

Release Date : Feb. 17, 2023

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

 

I’m very excited to hear new music from Iowa-based artist Craig Erickson.  He always delivers the goods when it comes to high-octane, guitar-fueled blues-rock.  I love his funky, cosmic and from-the-heart approach to songwriting.  His latest album Modern Blues is a twelve-track journey of finding balance amidst the challenges facing the world today.  As a proficient multi-instrumentalist, Erickson takes on vocals, guitar, bass, and keyboards, with Jeff Sipe (Col. Bruce Hampton, Leftover Salmon, Cedell Davis) on drums.

When the world turns upside down, Erickson stares hate squarely in its eyes and unleashes a furious dose of guitar mastery on “Topsy Turvy”.  This is the song that sets the stage for the remainder of the record.  A buttery rhythm typesets the page on title track “Modern Blues”.  With this song, Erickson addresses the unsettling issues which fill our in-boxes with crazy news on a daily basis.  A blast of adrenalin surges through my bloodstream with each listen of “Stormchasin’”.  Craig absolutely tears it up as he lets loose a barrage of smokin’ licks on this song.  On “Narrow Way”, he breaks out the slide. It sounds absolutely wonderful.  I dig the greasy funk of “Bring Love Back Again”.  The Allman-esque southern rock of “Last Train to Nowhere” is at the top of my favorite songs.  Extra points are awarded to the reference to Batman and the Joker.  The Hendrix-influenced “Brokedown World” is a wonderfully funky track with a smorgasbord of tones.  The emotion poured into masterpiece “Blues River” is thick and intoxicating.  A feeling of peace and tranquility washes over me as the album concludes with a joined pair of tracks “Loves Gonna Win” and “In the End”.  I really like that this is how he brings the record to its end.     

The flow is seamless as each song spills into the next, making for a wonderful album-oriented listen.  Craig Erickson has set the bar at a new height for himself with “Modern Blues”.  This is a record one will want to listen to from beginning to end.          

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For more information about Craig Erickson, visit his website at : https://www.craigericksonsskytrain.com   

Check out other PhillyCheeze reviews for Craig Erickson at :  https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=craig+erickson 

Thursday, December 22, 2022

#590 : PhillyCheeze's Favorite 20 of 2022 (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 



By Phillip Smith; Dec.22, 2022

 

PhillyCheeze's Favorite 20 of 2022

(in alphabetical order)


Bernard Allison - Highs & Lows


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/01/537-bernard-allison-highs-lows.html



Bad Daddy - It's a Mad Mad Bad Dad World


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/08/568-bad-daddy-its-mad-mad-bad-dad-world.html


Buckmiller Schwager - To Memphis and Back


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/03/phillycheezebluesblogspotcom-545.html


Gary Cain - Next Stop


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/06/558-gary-cain-next-stop.html



Annika Chambers & Paul Deslauriers - Good Trouble


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/11/584-annika-chambers-paul-deslauriers.html



Ryan Lee Crosby - Winter Hill Blues


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/05/555-ryan-lee-crosby-winter-hill-blues.html


Robert Connely Farr - Shake It


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/10/581-robert-connely-farr-shake-it.html


GA-20 - Crackdown


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/08/572-ga-20-crackdown-phillycheezebluesbl.html


Diunna Greenleaf - I Ain't Playin'


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/05/phillycheezebluesblogspotcom-554-diunna.html


The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer - Live at the King Eddy


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/06/559-harpoonist-and-axe-murderer-live-at.html


Herman Hitson - Let the Gods Sing


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/10/578-herman-hitson-let-gods-sing.html


Spencer Mackenzie - Preach to my Soul


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/10/582-spencer-mackenzie-preach-to-my-soul.html


Eliza Neals - Badder to the Bone


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/04/phillycheezebluesblogspotcom-550-eliza.html


Prakash Slim - Country Blues From Nepal


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/03/phillycheezebluesblogspotcom-547.html


Gina Sicilia - Unchange


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/06/557-gina-sicilia-unchange.html


Sir Rod & the Blues Doctors - Keeping it in the Family


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/09/575-sir-rod-blues-doctors-keeping-it-in.html


Sugaray Rayford - In Too Deep


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2021/12/533-sugaray-rayford-in-too-deep.html


The Terraplanes Blues Band - Stepping Stones


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/02/phillycheezebluesblogspotcom-544.html


Dylan Triplett - Who is He?


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/07/562-dylan-triplett-who-is-he.html


Matty T Wall - Live Down Underground


https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2022/07/561-matty-t-wall-live-down-underground.html




The Spotify Playlist



Saturday, January 29, 2022

PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com #539 > Grande Revival - Liberty Station



2021 – Grooveyard Records

 By Phillip Smith; Jan. 29, 2022

Original source :  phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com ©

 

Renowned recording artists Craig Erickson, and ‘Dirty’ Dave Osti recently teamed up as Grande Revival to record a hands-down, kick-ass album of guitar-centric blues-rock songs called Liberty Station.  Penning five tracks each, Erickson and Osti take turns singing their songs, rocking the sound of dual guitars with Anthony James Tuco on bass, and Cosmo Benz on drums.  Having two alpha powerhouse guitarists on each song makes for an amazing listen.

“Scars on the Road”, kicks the saloon-doors open as Dirty Dave fearlessly rips it up on guitar keeping the riffs infectious and the licks hotter than hell.  Smothered generously with his whisky-soaked vocals, this one fully grabs my attention.  The mellow groove Erickson weaves through “Cabin in the Country” pulls me right in.  The tones he harvests from his guitar bring to mind those of Tommy Bolin’s “Wild Dogs”.  Osti’s vocal styling topped with harmonizing guitars instill a huge Black Oak Arkansas vibe in title-track “Liberty Station”.  This southern-rocker is ear-candy for the guitar-lovers soul and features guest guitarist Stavros Papadopoulos from Greece.  “Gypsy Southern Highway”, another Osti song, immediately follows, breaking free of its gentle, melodic beginning and evolves into a phenomenal, fierce, hard-driving jam.  “Sweet Comfort of Love” embraces the sounds of Seventies southern-rock in an Allman Brothers kind of way, as Erickson sings about searching for love.  “Big River Moon” brings the album to its close in a grand way.  Osti and Erickson sound great together.

Liberty Station is a terrific debut album from Grande Revival.  I hope to hear more from these guitar masters in the future.

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Available at Grooveyard Records :

http://www.grooveyardrecords.com/granderevivallibertystation.html

 

Saturday, April 11, 2020

#440 : Justin Saladino Band - Live


2020 – Disques Bros.
By Phillip Smith; April 11, 2020

Montreal-based Justin Saladino has a stellar new album, simply called Live.  The recording took place over two nights at Piccolo Studios in Quebec for an audience of dedicated fans.  Hearing the live takes from A Fool’s Heart and No Worries adds an extra layer of soul to the songs.  With Saladino taking lead of this six-piece band on guitar and vocals, he is joined by guitarist Antoine Loiselle, keyboardist David Osei-Afrifa, drummer Denis Paquin, bassist Gabriel Forget, and percussionist Lucie Martel.  

The album splendidly opens in a bluesy romantic direction with “Take What You Want”.  Saladino’s vocals are smooth and confident.  I love how he fearlessly brings “Purple Girl” to life with his guitar mastery.  It rocks in a fabulous way.  While beautifully wearing his heart on his sleeve, he lays down a slew of extraordinary licks on his break-up ballad “Peace With You”.  Saladino packs a gob of delicious blues slide into Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How it Feels”, making for one hell of a cover.

JSB Live is one of the best live albums I’ve heard in a while.  Saladino absolutely cooks on guitar.    
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For more information about the artist, visit this website : justinsaladinoband.com