#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 

#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

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

 

#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