2024 – Sam Joyner
Release Date : May 25, 2024
By Phillip Smith; June 29, 2024
Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com
Come What May (I’ll Always
Love You), the latest album from New Orleans-based Sam Joyner elevates my
mood with each listen. A 2017 International Blues Challenge Finalist
originally from Gary, Indiana with parents hailing from Tunica, Mississippi
(birthplace of James Cotton) and Turkey Scratch, Arkansas (birthplace
of Robert Lockwood Jr, and home to Levon Helm), Joyner’s music
is a confluence of Chicago Blues, Southern Soul, and Funk. His whisky-soaked
vocals and finesse on the keys pair perfectly together for a twelve-track
listening experience to feed one’s soul. Backing Joyner are Lil Ray
Neal, Jellybean Alexander, The Saint Anthony, Guitar Slim
Jr., Kevin Haynes, Mayuni Shara, Marc Stone, Seizo
Shibayama, Brian Wingard, and Joe Eagle.
The album opens with the big, smokin’ blues of “It’s That Mojo That Makes Me Stay” as Joyner sings about love, mojo bags and cheating women. An infectious funky rhythm takes the listener to “Teddy’s Juke Joint”, a club just north of Baton Rouge where Joyner frequently performs. It’s a fun track and puts the listener smack dab in the middle of a good time. Joyner beautifully covers David Allen Coe’s “Tennessee Whiskey”. This horn-laced, slow-dance R&B version of the 1981 Billboard US Hot Country Songs is absolutely incredible. His take on Robert Cray’s “Too Many Cooks” features a searing guitar intro and amazing keyboard runs. I love how Joyner can take a song like this and put his own unique thumbprint on it. One of my favorite Muddy Waters songs is “Hoochie Coochie Man”, and Joyner’s barrel-house cover sweeps me off my feet.
Sam Joyner’s Come What May (I’ll Always Love You) is a blues record which is a splendid listen from start to finish, and I’ll be listening to this one a lot.
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For more information about Sam
Joyner, visit the website at https://samjoyer.com
