2018 – HoundSounds
By Phillip Smith;
Sep. 15, 2018
All
This, the brand new disc from RC and the MoonPie Band
brings a smile to my face with every listen.
The MoonPie Band, from Green Swamp, North Carolina is fronted by Robert
“RC” Christian, and consists of guitarist Robert Marlowe, drummer T
Bone Betourney, bassist Mike Logiovino, and backing vocalist Russell
Pleasants. Chock-full of
funky soulful blues, All This is a delectable
slice of southern Americana served with authenticity.
Title track, “All This” gets the party started with
a sweet funky rhythm carved out by Logiovino and Betourney. Marlowe’s guitar is smoking hot as he
rips it up on this one. Keyboardist extraordinaire
Bruce Katz takes the helm of a 1920 Steinway baby grand as guest pianist
on “5-10-15 Hours”. RC’s vocals
are suave on this fabulous cover of Ruth Brown’s 1952 hit. Katz brings back again for a rollicking
high-energy homage to one of the best bluesmen in the biz, “The Buddy Guy Up”.
I love the jazz-soaked cover of Oscar Brown’s
“Somebody Buy Me a Drink”. Rich
Moncure’s trombone accompaniment is the icing on the cake for this track. One can’t help but be pulled in to the
intoxicating blues of “Leave Me To Be”, a captivating 9 bar blues song from Christian
and Marlowe. The driving bassline
sidles up quite nicely to Greg Moyers’ polyrhythmic beats. It’s a treat to hear “Steady Rollin” Bob
Margolin step in with Telecaster guitar in hand for “Big Ass Jug O’ Wine”. Now that’s the Blues!
Guitarist Gary Pope aka “the Pope of
Shallotte” joins RC and the MoonPie Band to wonderfully bring
this gem of an album to a soulful groovy close with their spectacular cover of Calvin
Arnold’s 1968 “Funky Way”. All This
is one cool-as-hell album. It is indeed “all
that”.
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