#379 : Anthony Gomes Live at the Redstone Room - March 2, 2019

Davenport, Iowa

March 2, 2019

By Phillip Smith; March 3, 2019

The first time I saw Anthony Gomes, the year was 2012, and he was opening up for the legendary B.B. King at the Paramount Theater in Cedar Rapids.  The sheer exuberance in his performance and mastery of guitar grabbed my full attention.  Saturday, March 2^nd, he gave a stellar performance at the Redstone Room in Davenport, Iowa.  With Gomes on guitar and lead vocals, he was joined on stage by bassist Sean Holland and drummer Jeremy Howard.

From the git-go he rocked out with “Nasty Good”, and “Your Mama Wants to do Me (and Your Daddy Wants to do Me In)”, from his latest album Peace Love & Loud Guitars, an album which was a PhillyCheezeBlues blog pick of the week in January.  He also tore it up on his ode to Crown Royal with “Purple Whiskey Sack” from his 2006 album, Long Way Home.

His cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” was outstanding.  Gomes was totally in his element, as he let loose on this one.  I was glad to hear “White Trash Princess”.  It’s one of my favorites on the new album, as is the title track “Peace, Love, and Loud Guitars”.   “Blues in the First Degree” also made the cut, and it sounded great.  It was such a joy to hear him play the new material.    

For the encore, Gomes brought the show to close, splendidly ripping it up on his stately homage to the King of the Blues, with “Come Down”.  It was magnificent, as was the show.  I can’t wait to see him perform again.

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* All photos by Phillip Smith

#378 : Music Maker Relief Foundation (Various Artists) - Blue Muse

2019 – Big Legal Mess Records

By Phillip Smith; March 2, 2019

The Music Maker Relief Foundation, whose mission is “to preserve the musical traditions of the South by directly supporting the musicians who make it, ensuring their voices will not be silenced by poverty and time”, is issuing a new book and CD package called Blue Muse to celebrate their twenty-fifth year.  According to their website, musicmaker.org, this organization, founded by Timothy and Denise Duffy, has helped with over 12,000 grants, and has supported 435 artists.  Blue Muse contains twenty-one tracks of southern blues and roots music from various artists.  It features recordings made from the nineties up to the present day, with tracks contributed by both Taj Mahal who beautifully performs “Spike Driver Blues” and Eric Clapton who joins with Timothy Duffy for a sweet instrumental cover of Willie Brown’s “Mississippi Blues”.

Eddie Tigner who played many years with the Ink Spots and was at one time the lead of Elmore James’ house band, tears it up on piano with his performance of “Route 66”. When Alabama Slim kicks off “I Got the Blues”, it puts a big smile on my face.  His hypnotic guitar stylings pull me deep into the song.  The soulful deep-cutting vocals of Robert Finley marvelously sing out on “Age Don’t Mean a Thing”.  With Jimbo Mathus on guitar and Al Gamble on keys, this is southern soul at its best.  Former Carolina Chocolate Drop co-founder Dom Flemons breaks out his harmonica and sings “Polly Put the Kettle On”.  Ben Hunter appears on fiddle and Guy Davis on guitar, making this traditional song also covered by the blues-great Sonny Boy Williamson, a delightful listen.  

One can feel the blues in the voice of the late great Piedmont Blues artist Algia Mae Hinton, who passed in February of 2018, as she delivers “Snap Your Fingers”.  Guitar Gabriel’s “Landlord Blues” oozes with authenticity.  ‘The Blues Doctor’ Drink Small from Columbia, South Carolina wonderfully sings and picks “Widow Woman”, a melancholy and reflective piece paying homage to those who have lost their husbands.   

This collection also contains “I am the Lightning” from one my recent favorites, Willie Farmer whose latest album, The Man From the Hill was reviewed on my blog last month. This is such cool song.   I was also happy to see Ironing Board Sam’s “Loose Diamonds” appear on this album too.  His CD, Super Spirit, which this track is from, was one of my memorable finds in 2018 while visiting one of my favorite stores on the planet, Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art in Clarksdale, Mississippi.   

Available by March 28^th, 2019 , Blue Muse is also paired with a powerful 152 page companion book titled Blue Muse: Timothy Duffy’s Southern Photographs, published in association with the New Orleans Museum of Art, and loaded with tintype photos taken by Duffy of musicians representing American roots music.  For more information or to purchase this set, visit musicmaker.org .        

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#377 : Atomic Road Kings - Clean Up the Blood

2019 – Bigtone Records

By Phillip Smith; Feb. 23, 2019

At the core of the Atomic Road Kings sits vocalist/multi-instrumentalist ‘Big’ Jon Atkinson (Kim Wilson) and master harp player Eric ‘Jailhouse’ VonHerzen (Walter Trout, Social Distortion, Kid Ramos).  Together, with bassist Bill Stuve, drummer Malachi Johnson, and guitarists Scot Smart and Danny Michel, they bring a robust, vintage blues sound into the studio to create their debut album, Clean Up the Blood. The album contains eleven original songs, and one traditional cover.  Recorded live at Atkinson’s studio using vintage analog gear from the Forties and Fifties, the album has an authentic retro vibe to it and sounds terrific.

Stuve’s slow blues bassline and Atkinson’s commanding vocals make “Rumors” such a cool song.  Tony Delgado, on lead guitar, gives a smoking performance too.  I love “Vibrations” as well.  This throw-back with a Howlin’ Wolf vibe features a splendid accompaniment from pianist Robert Welch.  The ominous nature of title-track “Clean Up the Blood” digs deep to the bone.  Atkinson and VonHerzen are definitely at the top of their game when it comes to composing timeless-in-nature blues songs.  Von Herzen keeps the rhythm rolling on “Two Sided Story” with his magnificent harp playing.  More bluesy goodness ensues with “Back Down South”.

Atomic Road Kings is definitely a band for the blues enthusiasts to keep an eye on.  They are the real deal indeed.     

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#376 : Willie Farmer - The Man From the Hill

2019 – Big Legal Mess Records

Release Date : March 1,2019

By Phillip Smith; Feb. 16, 2019

Willie Farmer, an auto mechanic from Duck Hill, Mississippi, who’s owned his own shop for over forty years, scores huge with his splendid new blues album, The Man From the Hill. Recorded at Delta Sonic Sound in Memphis, Farmer enlists top-tier talent to back him, like Jimbo Mathus (Squirrel Nut Zippers), Will Sexton, Mark Edgar Stuart, and Al Gamble ( St.Paul and the Broken Bones). 

I love that rolling rhythm embedded into Farmer’s songs.  On Junior Kimbrough’s “Feel So Bad”, which leads the album off, the riff is unavoidably hypnotic and alluring.  He also rolls out a hearty cover of “Shake It”, originally from Jessie Mae Hemphill.   “I am the Lightning”, is also heavily soaked in the North Mississippi hill country waters.  It just pulls me right on in.  This track in particular also appears on an upcoming release called Blue Muse, a various artist collection from the Music Maker Relief Foundation.  

An avid churchgoer who still plays every Friday, Farmer also represents the sweet sounds of old-school gospel music with The Sensational Nightengales’ “At the Meeting”.    Farmer has a special way of bringing the listener right into the songs he sings.  When he sings “Daddy Was Right”, it’s an absolute heart-breaker.

This is definitely an album to keep an eye out for.  I can’t get enough of it.

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#375 : Danielle Nicole - Live at the Famous Mockingbird

Danielle Nicole     

Live @ The Famous Mockingbird

Marion, Iowa

Feb. 15, 2019

By Phillip Smith; Feb. 16,2019

The Famous Mockingbird was the place to be for two stellar sets of blues on Friday, February 15.  It was a sold-out show, and the excitement was surely in the air to see Danielle Nicole, who was a 2019 Grammy Nominee for Best Contemporary Blues Album.  Her band consisted of drummer Ralph Forrest, and guitarist Brandon Miller, who will be returning to Famous Mockingbird with his band in the near future. 

The show led off with the smooth and buttery “Hot Spell” from her latest album, Cry No More.  Her luscious vocals and thumping bass sounded absolutely fabulous.  Other amazing cuts from that album which landed in the first set were, “Lord I Can’t Keep From Crying”, “Pusher Man”, “Burning For You”, and “My Heart Just Remains”.  I loved her cover of Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want to Make Love to You”, and Howlin’ Wolf’s “Spoonful”.  She soulfully covered Lukas Nelson’s “Find Yourself”, and closed the show with “Save Me” chockful of heavy riffs, and wonderful guitar shredding from Miller.

It was a splendid show indeed.

* Photos by Phillip Smith