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LivinBlues CD Reviews by Gary Tate -Twin Rivers for the New Frontier Lover - back to archive

MICHAEL JEROME BROWNE & THE TWIN RIVERS STRING BAND: (BOREALIS)
Michael Jerome Browne's latest offering features the Twin Rivers String Band. It plays like the deepest and most authentic old-time roots festival one can possibly imagine. You can't pull off something like this without having devoted a lifetime exploring and studying all the threads that form the bedrock of the roots encyclopedia. The well-traveled Browne plays sterling guitar, banjo, fiddle, and harmonica, and has a forlornly expressive voice. This album is strictly an acoustic affair, and an all-inclusive one too (Blues, Bluegrass, Celtic, Country).

The material selection is impeccable, and tilted toward songs that have cross-pollinating strains, like Huddie Ledbetter's 'On The Western Plains'-- a combined field holler and cow-herding song in the Gene Autry/Jimmie Rodgers tradition. Great yodeling too! Likewise there's an effective re-working of a Ray Price's classic 'You Done Me Wrong' into a Cajun twin-fiddle piece. Several high-stepping instrumentals too, including the Scottish-based Browne's 'Hoedown and La Contredanse' a Ti-Browne which moves smartly to a tempo similar to those common in Southwest Louisiana. 'Redemption Ground' is a great bluesy fiddle tune; listen closely and you'll detect some Bill Munro influence in the mandolin tuning. 'Rambling Hobo' is a Doc Watson chestnut that dazzles as Browne tricks his guitar into sounding like a banjo. 'Eighth of January' is an African-American version of a fiddle tune which formed the basis of Johnny Horton's 1960 hit, 'The Battle of New Orleans'. Special nods go to the timeless-sounding originals composed by Browne's remarkable partner B. Markus. MP3 - CooCoo | On My Mind |

ROY GAINES: NEW FRONTIER LOVER (SEVERN RECORDS)
Roy Gaines is getting his proper dues after 50 years in the business of the Blues. He amassed a reputation as a major domo guitarist backing up a 'who's who' of 50's and 60's soul and R&B legends, including Chuck Willis, Roy Milton, and Ray Charles, while restricting himself to the odd single on several obscure labels. By the mid 90's, the Texan-born Gaines finally got down to making his mark as a solo artist, introducing a new generation to his fire-and-brimstone axe work with tasty morsels of T-Bone Walker to boot.

Thrown together with some of the nastiest vocals that can be imagined. It clicks with sonic clarity, these 12 gritty tracks piggybacked on tough-as-nails no-nonsense lyrics. 'The World's Biggest Lover' was co-authored with Audry Williams (Hank William Sr.'s wife and Roy's ex-manager), but Roy transforms it into a smoldering tour-de-force. 'Hind Ends And Elbows' is semi-autobiographical: a throbbing salt-of-the-earth remembrance of a time and place when a man's worth was gauged by the number of bales of cotton he could tote. 'Texas Millionaire' is a juicy steak drenched in Southern Soul, while 'W.C. Handy Sang The Blues' has the earmarks of a Blues anthem. There is total believability to Roy Gaines, a top shelf player who simply dubs himself as a 'Bluesman For Life'. Well I'm a true believer. MP3 - What's the Reason | Texas Millionare |