Ram Prakash Pokharel aka Prakash Slim, an emerging blues artist
from Lamatar, in the Lalitpur district of Nepal, has most definitely
caught my attention with his new album Country Blues From Nepal.With only a resonator guitar and slide in
hand, he captures the pure essence of the blues with magnificent covers of
legends such as Robert Johnson, Bukka White, Charley Patton,
Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Blind Blake.The originals which appear on this thirteen-track
album are beautifully performed as well.
An instrumental called “Blues
Raga” starts the album off with lovely sitar-like bends and a hypnotic North
Mississippi hill country groove. Prakash’s original songs emit a vintage country blues essence
as he sings them with a sincere delivery.
There’s an air of legitimate struggle in Prakash’s “Villager’s
Blues”. His hard-scrabble beginnings are
laid out as he becomes the bluesman he is with the autobiographical song “Poor
Boy”. In addition, Prakash recorded a Nepali version of that song
called “Garib Keto” which also appears on this album. In this age of the Corona virus, it makes
total sense there should be a straight up blues song on the topic. The response Prakash has to the COVID-19 pandemic
is brilliantly laid on the table with “Corona Blues”.
Prakash takes
on two classic Robert Johnson tracks,
“Crossroad Blues” and “Me and the Devil Blues”.
With an amazing fearlessness he digs in and performs the hell out of
these songs. His guitar prowess surely
grabs the spotlight. I absolutely love
his cover of FredMcDowell’s “You Gotta Move” too.
Country Blues From Nepal
is an utter gem of an album. I’m excited
to see the direction Prakash Slim takes
with his music on his next release.
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For more information about Prakash Slim, visit this website : https://www.prakashslim.com/