In the fall of 2017 Joel Paterson finally released the Christmas album he had been threatening us with for some time Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar. This all instrumental offering didn’t make it into my mailbox until December 26^th. This means of course I didn’t get around to listening to it until this Christmas season. When I finally heard the recording, Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar, I wasn’t surprised. I heard the consummate guitar player applying his deft touch and impeccable taste to some traditional holiday favorites. The album features Paterson playing guitar, steel and lap steel guitar creating a lush soundscape in a multi-track homage to Les Paul, Buddy Merrill and Jorgan Ingman. This Ventrella Records release comes with the great packaging and liner notes you have come to expect from Paterson’s independent label. Spotify that Scrooge. Hi-Fi Christmas Blues is a real winner and a very welcome addition to our Christmas library. 

JD McPherson and his great band have just released a brand-new Christmas album, Socks, which is full of fresh new ideas and, get this, brand new songs. McPherson and these Christmas Cats whip up a holiday treat that is dripping with vintage Americana via a post war rhythm & blues sensibility.  The album is void of the overwrought sentimentalized clichés which are so often present in Christmas music. I believe I could actually listen to this album any time of the year. We’ll have to see about that, but Socks is easily McPherson’s best offering since his 2010 release, Signs and Signifiers and in many ways is a return to form for this Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, native. Socks is full of warmth, intelligence and wit. The listening of this album marks the beginning of a new holiday tradition in our home. 

Heavy Groove is the San Diego area-based vocalist, harmonica player and songwriter's eleventh album and like everything else he has released to date, it is a good one. Billy Watson, along with his International Silver String Submarine Band, which features guitarist Junior Watson (no relation), does in fact lay down a heavy groove. Billy Watson is a unique and effective vocalist. He is also a harmonica player of the first rank and a gifted original songwriter. Produced by and recorded at Nathan James Sacred Cat studios Heavy Groove offers up a generous 12 song, 55-minute jamboree of fun. There isn’t much that Billy Watson does that I don’t dig, yet this might be my favorite release of his career.                                                                                                  

This Rhode Island based blues collective has just put out it’s forth album in as many years and like everything else that they have released, it is a beauty. They also have on board two new Knickerbockers, vocalists Darcel Wilson and Detroit’s Queen of the Blues, Thornetta Davis. They lead the band to the land of soul music where these musicians play like they have been here their entire lives. Duke Robillard’s longtime rhythm section of drummer Mike Texiera and bassist Brad Holland, along with longtime Duke heads and former members of Roomful of Blues, sax men Doug James and Rich Lataille, anchor this horn heavy band.  As 2018 has been referred to as the year of the woman, Love Makes a Woman is a welcome offering. 

Q: Hey Dave what is Nikki Hill doing in the JUNCTION? Isn’t she a bit of a rocker and I thought you HATE blues-rock? A: Nikki Hill isn’t a bit of a rocker. She IS a rock and roller right down to her feline roots. Oh, and to your other assertion regarding my famous loathing of blues-rock…you are correct, I HATE that crap. However, Feline Roots is not blues-rock. It is a rock &roll record and a good one. This is Nikki Hill’s third full length album which began with her 2012 debut Here’s Nikki Hill. With the guitar tandem of Matt Hill and Laura Chavez leading the charge, Nikki Hill tears through a set of original tunes. If you are inclined to occasionally step out of your blues comfort zone, you might find some real enjoyment in the music of Nikki Hill.   

This collection of recordings from 2014-2017 includes an amazing list of friends.  Singers Alabama Mike, Sugar Ray Rayford, Willie Buck, Oscar Wilson and Taildragger are joined by an awesome array of supporting musicians including Henry Gray, Junior Watson, Rockin Johnny Burgin and Big Jon Atkinson.  Bob Corritore has always spent the time and effort to record artists who play at his club, The Rhythm Room in Phoenix, and the results here are rewarding.  This is solid, no nonsense blues with groups that understand the dynamics of ensemble playing and allow each other room to move. – C.L.



This, the Lille, France, based trio’s second album, is a rockabilly and rock & roll affair that might put folks in mind of the early Paladins. The Hoodoo Tones are Kevin on guitar and vocals, Ben on double bass and Julien on drums (like Cher, they go by one name each). This Rhythm Bomb Records release is a twelve-song hootenanny of original tunes that comes at listeners at a relentless pace and with bad intentions.

This Detroit native and long time West (Gulf) Coast resident of Florida traveled out to the other West Coast, California, to record his latest CD at Big Jon Atkinson’s Big Tone Studio. Deming’s guitar work is front and center, yet doesn’t overwhelm the ensemble sound that is rooted in tradition and is as fresh as a cool coastal breeze. While working in the blues field during the first couple of decades in this new millennium may in fact be a complicated mess, Deming’s latest offering isn’t a mess, complicated or otherwise. This is a first-rate album and receives my highest recommendation. (We have a full album review here in the November 2018 edition of BLUES JUNCTION)



Straight out of Coralville or some such place in eastern Iowa comes the debut album from Kevin Burt and it is an ear opening beauty. Burt defies any notion of traditional boundaries and travels through blues, funk and soul gracefully. He sings, plays rack harmonica and acoustic guitar on this fine album. Burt also wrote eleven of the twelve songs presented here. His lone cover is a stunning reworking of the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby. Burt’s singing and presentation of his original material puts me in mind of Bill Withers. On this Little Village Foundation release he is backed by both Jim Pugh on keyboards and Kid Andersen on guitar. The record was produced by Andersen and Pugh and was recorded at Kid’s Greaseland studios in San Jose. Burt is also backed up by a ridiculously accomplished band which includes God’s bassist Jerry Jemmott.



This Hungarian vocalist and harmonica player, Matyas Pribojszki's latest release is very strong.  He records under the guise of Jumpin’ Matt & his Combo Feat. Custom Big Band. Great original songwriting and wonderful arrangements make Dressed Up a real treat. Recorded in Budapest on April 23^rd and 24^th the album was mixed and mastered by Kid Andersen at his Greaseland Studios in San Jose, California, this past July. From the album’s opening number Full Time Baby, which sounds like it was shot out of a cannon, Dressed Up comes at listeners with relentless power. Dressed Up is a soul laden CD that swings hard. This is an irresistibly fun album.



Chicken Burrito may be the most personal album by Wressnig, as he wrote all of the tracks on the album and completely surrenders his soul to the almighty groove which has always been central to his music. The only vocal turn is by Wressnig who gives listeners a spoken word autobiographical travelogue on the song Born To Roam. Beyond that the music does the talking and it speaks volumes. Chicken Burrito is a wonderful vehicle for three like-minded individuals who bring their own diverse talents together to make an extraordinary album. If you’re feeling groovy then this album is for you. (There is a complete album review of Chicken Burrito here in the October 2018 edition of BLUES JUNCTION.)                                                                                            

Marc Rune aka Big Creek Slim is a Danish blues man who recently moved to Brazil and has recorded yet another marvelous album. First Born comes on the heels of two outstanding 2017 releases. This time out he recorded the CD with the Sao Paulo based Chico Blues family of blues musicians and has made yet another thrilling record. He is accompanied by the album’s producer and bass player Rodrigo Mantovani. This Chico Blues Records offering which had a September 27^th release date features a mix of Big Creek Slim originals and some thoughtful covers that fall into the rural/country blues spectrum. Big Creek Slim is an accomplished blues singer and instrumentalist who plays dobro as well as twelve string, electric and acoustic guitars and even a banjo on one track. This record represents blues music at its finest and receives my highest recommendation.                                                                                                                             

Pianist and organist Anthony Geraci is a gifted and hard-working blues man who has been at this a very long time. He is that rare individual who seems to keep getting better at his craft. Why Did You Have To Go is just the latest example of this. This 40-year veteran of the New England blues scene is a founding and current member of Sugar Ray and the Bluetones and of the original Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters. Through the years he has played with the greatest blues musicians in the world. He brings them to the studio for this fine album. It is his original songwriting and his choice of vocalists which really shine and separates this recording from the pack. (You can read a complete album review here in the November 2018 edition of BLUES JUNCTION) 

This collection of songs comes from three different recording sessions over the past few years.  The first two tracks are from a session in Austin, Texas, featuring the late Nick Curran, as well as the amazing and eclectic Johnny Moeller.  Most of the others were recorded at Greaseland Studios in San Jose, California, or at Barking Jack Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The roster reads like a who's who of contemporary blues with appearances by Kid Andersen, Rusty Zinn, Jeremy Johnson, Jon Lawton, Nick Connolly, June Core, Ronnie James, Bob Welsh, Wes Star and others. As usual, RJ plays it straight with unforced and relaxed vocals with harp that fits the song. - C.L.

The latest release on our Bluebeat Music label is a collaboration with Big Jon Atkinson and his studio, Big Tone Records. Recorded in 2017, this set features Darrell playing and singing straight blues with a killer band that includes Danny Michel, Ronnie Smith, Robert Welsh and Marty Dodson.  Darrell has always made great records and this could be the finest blues recording he has made since his band Texas Heat.  Recorded using vintage equipment and knowledgeable players the set reflects a deep-seated understanding of what to play and how it should sound. - C.L.

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