PhillyCheeze's Rock & Blues Reviews: Liam Moes

Saturday, October 22, 2022

#581 > Robert Connely Farr - Shake It (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

2022 – Robert Connely Farr

By Phillip Smith; Oct. 22, 2022

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

The music of Robert Connely Farr caught my attention back in 2019 with the release of his Dirty South Blues album. It was absolutely wonderful. His latest release Shake It continues to keep my attention glued to his works and marks his ninth studio album. Farr excels at understanding the mechanics and history of the Bentonia style of blues as taught to him by his hometown hero 2020 Grammy Nominee for Best Traditional Blues Album, Jimmy ”Duck” Holmes. Seventy-five-year-old Holmes, living a life submersed in the blues, owns the oldest surviving juke joint in the world, The Blue Front Café located in Bentonia, Mississippi. With Farr on lead guitar and vocals, the rest of the band on this nine-track gem is comprised of drummer Jay Bundy Johnson, bassist Tom Hillifer, and shaker/back up vocalist Liam Moes.

The album starts off with a brilliant revision of Charlie Patton’s 1929 side “Screaming & Hollering”. Farr breathes new life into the song with beautifully haunting guitar riffs and an expressive Bentonia approach. Following next is a splendid cover of Jimmy “Duck” Holmes’ “Going Away to Leave You”, from his 2013 release All Night Long. Riding a wave of heavy bass and injected with a fist-full of distortion, the song penetrates right to the bone.

Hillifer and Johnson lay down a really funky rhythm for “Miss My Baby”, one of the six original songs, penned by Farr. This call-out of the corporate world’s working trends running amok is quite infectious. I love the rolling, swampy attack of title-track “Shake It”. It’s gets right up there in my face staring me down eye-to-eye. For the closer, Farr brushes off Tommy McClennan’s 1941 78 he cut for Bluebird Records “Sugar Mama”. I can hear the desperation in his voice. It’s so heavy.

Shake It marks my fourth review for Farr, and that’s a very positive statement. I highly recommend this album.

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