PhillyCheeze's Rock & Blues Reviews: Iowa Blues

Showing posts with label Iowa Blues. Show all posts

Friday, December 22, 2023

#651 : Cedar County Cobras - Homesick Blues (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

2023 – Cedar County Cobras

By Phillip Smith; Dec. 22, 2023

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

Cedar County Cobras, a blues and roots duo from Iowa has grabbed my full attention with their new album Homesick Blues. Comprised by Tom Spielbauer and April Dirks, the Cedar County Cobras were formed in 2014 and have logged hundreds of shows across the state and Midwest. In 2022, Spielbauer won the Iowa Blues Challenge for solo artists, securing a spot at the 2023 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee where he placed as a semi-finalist. The duo’s songs are soaked with a pre-war blues essence and are wonderfully performed with Spielbauer on guitar and foot-drum and Dirks on mandolin and upright bass.

Dirks’ mandolin beautifully pairs with the Nashville-twang of Spielbauer’s guitar on the infectious “Country Records”. I love the slide guitar on the rambling drinking song “Gimmie Lightnin’”. There is a line in the song about seeing Cedell Davis at Gabe’s Oasis in Iowa City, and it hits me with a wave of jealousy with every listen. I would have loved to be there. When they take on Muddy Waters’ “Trouble No More”, they positively make it their own. It is a wonderful re-engineering of the song and has a strong Delta Blues presence. They also put a lot of love and attention into their cover of Son House’s “Walkin Blues”. Spielbauer sets a quite ominous mood on his original “Voodoo Doll”. This song about a witchy retribution is a magically unsettling and I love it. My favorite track is their cover of Jessie Mae Hemphill’s “Shake it Right”. This is North Mississippi Hill-Country Blues at its best. Dirks on stand-up bass gives the song an extra punch to its hypnotic rhythm behind Spielbauer’s resonator guitar.

Cedar County Cobras’ Homesick Blues is a tasty dose of real-deal blues. It is a fantastic recording through and through.

---

For more information about the artist, or to purchase their music, visit their website : https://cedarcountycobras.com/

Saturday, September 2, 2023

#632: Buckmiller Schwager Band - Live at XBK (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

Buckmiller Schwager Band

Live at XBK

2023 – Buckmiller Schwager Band

By Phillip Smith; Sep. 2, 2023

Release Date : Sep. 1, 2023

After nearly a year and a half since the release of Buckmiller Schwager’s debut album To Memphis and Back, the Iowa boys have returned with a fabulous new album Live at XBK. XBK, where this performance was recorded on April 6, 2023, is a 250-seat entertainment venue/listening room in the Drake neighborhood of Des Moines. Performed with a full band comprised of vocalist/guitarist Tom Buckmiller, guitarist Brian Schwager, drummer Larry Mersereau and bassist Eric Smidt, this album of new songs, favorites, and covers wonderfully captures the electric essence of their live shows.

The set starts off in a bodacious way with their smoking original “Thrill of the Thrill”. Schwager lets loose on guitar with a searing performance, and it sounds great. Their cover of Luther Allison’s “Cherry Red Wine” steals my heart as I feel every note navigate right into my being. The mood swings one hundred eighty degrees to their rocking anthem “These Are the Good Days”. This one keeps me focused on the bright side of life. Schwager ushers in a vibrant boogie shuffle on John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom”, with Buckmiller delightfully delivering his deep growly vocals. I love the sampler platter of music they serve on “Keeping the Blues Alive”. This mini class on the genre brings a smile my face as they cover various styles of blues as found in different regions of America : Chicago, West Coast, Texas, and Detroit.

If the new originals are a taste of what’s to come on Buckmiller Schwager’s next studio album, I am all-in. Live at XBK has been on heavy-rotation in my ear-pods for the past couple of weeks, and I don’t think that will change any time soon.

---

For more information about the artist, visit this website : https://www.buckmillerschwager.com/

Check out other PhillyCheeze reviews for Buckmiller Schwager Band at : https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=Buckmiller+Schwager

Click on the link below to purchase this terrific album from Bandcamp.

Saturday, October 5, 2019

#411 : BillyLee Janey - Blues Power

2019 – Billy Rock Music / Stray Dog Records

By Phillip Smith; Oct. 5, 2019

Since moving up here to Iowa in 1992, I’ve been listening to BillyLee Janey. Inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 for Truth & Janey and inducted into the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame in 2012, he is surely a force to be reckoned with when it comes to musicianship and playing the blues. Blues Power, his latest release is a sheer delight. Featuring eleven originals and two cover songs, this album is filled to the brim with hard-driving electric blues that cuts deep to the core. BillyLee leads this trio on guitar and vocals. His son Bryce Janey who also recorded, mastered and mixed the album, appears on bass guitar, with Eric Douglas is on drums.

From the first song, “Who Let the Dog Out”, Janey is already in top-gear, delivering hot-as-hell licks and playing the blues like I love to hear it. He continues to amaze me in “Blues Alright”. “Gimme Some Blues Power” is a monster of a song too. Douglas lays down a stellar beat while Janey carpet bombs the listener with a tantalizing guitar performance. His cover of Buddy Guy’s “Mary Had a Little Lamb” puts a big smile on my face too. Janey makes this one his own.

While revisiting “Mean Ol’ Twister”, a track released on his album Got Them Iowa Blues, Janey adds an additional minute, forty-five seconds to the furious whirlwind simulation he creates with sound. It was a spectacular song to begin with, but this new mix gives it the tornado-infused ending the song deserves. Hearing Janey cut loose the way he does here, is an experience in and of itself.

An absolute must-hear for blues fans, and guitar aficionados, Blues Power delivers high-voltage blues at its best.

---

For more information about the artist, visit this website.. www.billyleejaney.com

Sunday, November 4, 2018

#360 : Bob Dorr and Friends Live @ Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery

November 2, 2018

Swisher, Iowa

By Phillip Smith; Nov 4, 2018

Friday, November 2nd, the Linn County Blues Society and Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery hosted a stellar evening of blues in Swisher, Iowa. Bob Dorr and Friends (guitarist Jeff Petersen, bassist Dan ‘DJ’ Johnson, and keyboardist Tom Giblin) brought their Parlor City Jam Band out to play in a totally different setting, at Cedar Ridge Winery to a full house of blues fans.

With Bob behind the drum kit and Jeff Petersen armed with his Flying V guitar, the band played through crowd favorites such as the Hank Williams classic “Mind Your Own Business” and Freddie King’s “Have You Ever Loved a Woman”. DJ stepped up to the mic and rocked the room with “Shake Rattle and Roll”, originally recorded by Big Joe Turner. Keeping the momentum going, Petersen belted out Ike Turner’s legendary “Rocket 88”. It sounded great. When “Mustang Sally” rolled around the dance floor quickly filled. DJ paid a wonderful homage to Jimmy Reed’s “Baby What You Want Me to Do?” As the blues jams go, you never know who will appear on stage throughout the show. This particular evening, keyboardist Jeff Craft and harpist Bob Gleason made an appearance. Craft led the band on a great cover of Muddy Waters’ “Got My Mojo Workin’” with Gleason wonderfully ripping it up on harmonica. It was very cool. The music was so hot; the time quickly flew by. Before long, the jam came to its end with Bob Dorr’s traditional Limestoner Blues Jam closer, Dylan’s “Rainy Day Woman # 12 & 35”. It was a terrific night, indeed.

---

* photos by Phillip Smith