Black Mountain Majesty ~ by: Day Of The Outlaw

Back in February we met the White Trash Cowboys from Texas, bringing a hick-hop edge to hard rock, and now, with Day Of The Outlaw’s Black Mountain Majesty, we get another heapin’ helpin’ from the molasses-drippin’ fringes of American culture, where city meets country like monster trucks crashing on a dirt track. Day of the Outlaw is a down-and-dirty quartet that updates the fine heritage of Southern Rock – by way of Southern California! How fitting it is that a band with “outlaw” in their name starts the disk with “Truckin’ Country,” a track that could have been lifted from the good ol’ original Outlaws themselves, the guitar army from down in Tampa town, Florida – but this time the rockin’ comes with a “Parental Advisory” for lyrical content. Yep, these boys let you know where they stand from the git-go, when you hear how bent they're gonna get tonight, maybe on the same Night Train that Axl sang about back in his Appetite for Destruction days. And “Pickup” does a good job of pickin’ up the old-school country-rock vibration, might be inspired by Marshall Tucker or Molly Hatchett, laced with a dose of Bocephus yee-haw. (Noting that “Pickup” has more than one meaning, here’s to the memory of a certain sweet Valley girl named Debra Ann, who educated this reviewer on a frisky, risky nightspot interpretation of the term.) You wanna keep it real, get a taste of “Peckerwood Slim,” and meet one of the all-too-many not-so-beautiful losers that litter the dens and pens of the postmodern badlands. It’s a snapshot of a marginal man who just never got a break, but ended up broken. And although Day of the Outlaw is now based in So-Cal, you get a reference to singer Stewart Eastham’s Nor-Cal upbringing in that song, which mentions meeting Slim in a Butte County jailhouse – and all the gritty hard-luck, hard-time references ring true, even when Stew sings elsewhere about being “Misunderstood.” Between guitarist Spurgeon Dunbar (and additionally-credited guitarists A.J. Dia and Mark Agnesi), bassist Burke Ericson, and drummer Cosmo Jones, a boogie-based foundation is laid throughout the album that’s fleshed out by all the right pieces from session players: piano, steel guitar, harmonica, and a sweet-sounding lady named Leiana Miller singing backup. You can two-step on in to the honky-tonk, folks, for a “Crooked Tooth Smile,” a juke-joint ditty that lets you smell the sawdust, beer, and non-filter cigarettes, and you can figure that this low-bottom love-story is headed straight back to the bungalow. It might not be pretty, but man, do these guys paint a picture. And in “Master Disaster,” we can tell that Stew is himself a master of dialect and a cultural chameleon, ’cuz what kind of cowboy talks about listening to the Geto Boys before his band kicks into what might as well be an old Skynyrd jam?!? - getting’ cross-cultural wit’ it, yo! But in counterpoint to all the hard-case, in-your-face stances, Stewart and the band turn tender in “Lovely Demise,” a sweetly sad song that keeps the listener coming back, not only for the poignant message of true love turned terminal, but also for the heart-tugging fiddle and guitar work. Black Mountain Majesty is a disk that demonstrates Day Of The Outlaw to be a band whose day is now. www.dayoftheoutlaw.com

Gotta Keep Movin' ~ by: Blues Gone South

This is a serious fistful of the blues by an expert team of players. Blues Gone South is the authentic article, fronted by a spunky fellow called Papa J (Jeff Hudson), who has a gravely banter that’s a little like Peter Wolf of J. Geils. His singing goes from smooth to salty and back again, spiced with the occasional salty "whoo!" The outfit opens up by gettin’ “High on the Hog,” which uses a choppy, trebly blues progression that’s accented by a short, sweet organ solo by Tommy Sebastian, and a bit of soulful harmonica from Papa J. There’s tight drumming in there from Kofi Baker, and his expertise comes naturally, since he’s the son of legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker. Guitarist Pat Hurley does justice to a classic such as “Jelly Roll,” strumming and plucking with equal ease, and when he lights into a lead, he walks up and down the neck as though he’s strolling the banks of the Mississippi. Yes, Blues Gone South is most at home, obviously, with the rich, down-home traditions of the blues, as heard in the rolling-river tones of “Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right,” or the boogie-woogie vibe of “I Ain’t Drunk.” Yet they can also diverge from a standard blues pattern most satisfactorily in a song such as “Extremes,” which takes a lively, jazz-flavored direction. And there’s surely good-hearted humor through it all, as found in the last song on the CD is “Little Head,” which gives a bluesy turn to an old bawdy joke, wink-wink. Well, it’s a fact that when you’ve got the blues, you’ve “Gotta Keep Movin’,” and Blues Gone South is a darned good band to help you on your way. See Blues Gone South performing at the 5th Annual South Bay Music Awards, at the Improv in Irvine, on April 27. Booking/Info: (714) 750-9024, E-mail: bluesgonesouth2@aol.com

The Devil's Been Busy ~ by: Victor Gann

Here's an instrumental album from yet another nimble-fingered fellow who lets his guitar do the talking. Not so much inclined to “fusion” or “experimental” tangents, Gann is just a guy who has melodies and riffs in his head, and has to let them out, and lucky for the listener, it's pretty much straight-ahead rock, with both power and melody. Listen to A.R.O and hear how Gann takes a primal rock progression and pairs it with licks he's cribbed from Chuck Berry (like everybody else, so there ain't no shame there!) -- and then he builds on the foundation, getting feet tapping and keeping interest high. And he follows that energetic pulse-pounder with the sweetly harmonious "Beyond the Sun," evoking the kinds of feelings also elicited by an emotion-channeling track such as Joe Satriani's "You're My World." Then again, he’s also expert with acoustic play, as heard in “Shannon and Victoria.” Yeah, this Victor is in some good company, as you should recognize when you hear him exploring the difficult reaches of his guitar's neck, bringing the trills and arpeggios home alive for you, the lucky listener. "Black Gold" goes for a crunchy, alternating-speaker intro, followed by a sinuous secret-agent journey up and down the frets. And back to the title track, -- well, the tune drives so vigorously that you know that Victor’s own fingers are probably never idle, so therefore he’s just keeping that busy devil at bay with his own inspired music. You just have to admire a guy who lists his two main influences as Joe Satriani, fine, and Angus Young, woo-hoo, horns up, everybody! www.victorgann.com

Juicy ~ by: Earl R. Johnson, Jr.

Keyboard crusader Earl R. Johnson, Jr. has compiled a truly flavorful and fine-feeling disk that's chock-full of "Juicy" goodness, for all who appreciate soulful rhythms, heartfelt ballads, and top-notch production. Following a voice-over intro by Earl that lets you know how he instructs his players on how to put the pieces in place, his band slides into the smooth-jazz jam of “412.” Earl R. Johnson, Jr. tickles all kinds of ivories, ranging from grand piano to synthesizer, and he surrounds himself with a circle of superb session players, all of whom contribute with earnest expertise to Earl’s original compositions, across an impressive range of genres. “That Thang” is so funkaliscious, for instance -- tasty guitars, organs, synths, solid backbeat, what a real groove-getter. It has that rubbery-bounce kind of vibe throughout, replete with that nice woody bass sound that usually comes from a Rickenbacker, and sweet leads from both synthesizer and guitar. And Earl’s title track, “Juicy,” also starts with a bouncy beat, but then cuts to a cool-breeze piano break, followed by a sax-laced gentle jam. Now, Earl is a fine singer in his own right, but he has done well by enlisting alternate vocalists on key tracks -- especially tantalizing is the sultry Solange Sheppy in "Possibilities." Niomisha Wilson likewise emotes with breathy insistence in “Tasha’s Way,” a candlelight mood-setter if ever there was one. And leading the musical way all the way to end, Earl's fine fingering fades off into the distance with "Getaway," a smooth-jazz jam that can take a listener to a very cool place. Major props to another keyboard whiz who's also a master of the "do it yourself" principle, and who does it very well indeed. www.earljohnsonjr.com