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THE BLUEBIRDS: Highway 80 East

By lrhr-admin
In BLUES CATALOGUE R&B ROCK
With No Comments
On 18 Mar | '2003

“Louisiana’s most soulful roots rockers” – Offbeat Magazine

If hard-rockin’ blues, stripped-down R&B and scorching slide guitars are your high test gasoline, then the Bluebirds are definitely the premium fuel for you.

The Bluebirds hail from the northern-Louisiana town of Shreveport that has spawned such blues greats as Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter and platinum-selling blues slinger Kenny Wayne Shepherd (who played his first professional gig with the Bluebirds). Anyone who has ventured out into the Southern blues circuit in the last seventeen years has probably heard the Bluebirds at one of their 150+ annual gigs!

With Kerry Hunter on drums, Bruce Flett on bass and slowhand slider, blues sharpshooter extraordinaire Buddy Flett on guitar (yes…they are brothers), the Bluebirds echo the big-beat blues of Southern-style R&B, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the “Tush”-era ZZ Top. Buddy’s guitar work scintillates throughout with the ferocity of Elmore James, the economy of Billy Gibbons and the Southern-fried soul of Lowell George.

Leaner than a silver stiletto and tighter than a Saturday night party dress, Highway 80 East is likely to be the best blues/roots/R&B album you’ll hear this year.

TOMMY MALONE: Soul Heavy

By lrhr-admin
In BLUES CATALOGUE ROCK
With No Comments
On 23 Jan | '2001

“Tommy Malone makes music that alternately soothes and fires up the soul.” – Something Else

Bands like this and men like this once thundered across the American music scene in mighty herds. Few are left now. Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty come leaping to mind. Bar bands — guys who pour their hearts out — have gotten a bad name of late. Because of their refusal to do any one trick over and over and their tendency to produce what the uninformed may refer to as pastiche, albums like this often go overlooked. That’s a real shame. Tommy Malone’s band is a facile instrument, pliable and expressive enough to be the perfect vehicle for his accomplished songwriting. And it’s the song that’s the thing. Tales of heartache exist peaceably with the odd murder ballad and tender musing. Malone’s voice is mature, and his arrangements are impeccable. There used to be a lot of Tommy Malones. Let’s hope he doesn’t go the way of the buffalo. Listen to this record and be a true believer in a uniquely American form.

NEW ORLEANS JUICE: All Lit Up

By lrhr-admin
In CATALOGUE FUNK ROCK
With No Comments
On 1 Mar | '2000

“Go see Juice and witness New Orleans style funk with a serious edge…serious potential for greatness.” – Offbeat Magazine

One of the most active touring bands to come out of the New Orleans area since the early years of their musical predecessor Galactic, New Orleans Juice’s following was originally built on the jam-band college circuit. (Widespread Panic fans number themselves among Juice’s most loyal stalwarts). The members of Juice come from musical backgrounds as varied as stints with George Porter to studies with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. All of it and more shows in All Lit Up, Juice’s second CD release. All Lit Up marks a subtle shift away from the jam format and toward a new focus on original songwriting that is having a crossover effect to a still wider audience.