​Roomful of Blues (from the album Steppin’ Out available on Alligator Records) (by Danny McCloskey)
Blues bands are talent incubators; stepping stones for the fanaticism of Blues aficionados to morph into full-time players to fulfill their passions and their dreams. Over the course of a 50-year membership in the world of their musical career, Roomful of Blues have watched 55 members come and go in their lineup. All of the players that have called Roomful of Blues home have curated and cultivated the Providence, Rhode Island-based band’s mission of keeping the flames of Jump Blues and Big Band Swing lit.

On their recent release, Steppin’ Out, Roomful of Blues keep the pace as they wave the banner high for the music that has become a brand for the band. In 2024, singer DD Bastos stepped behind the microphone as vocalist for Roomful of Blues. She demands answers on “Tell Me Who” as the rhythm smooths out to a gentle flow that courses underneath the advice of “Tend to Your Business”. Steppin’ Out points fingers for “You Were Wrong”, dances on a rhythmic patter with “I’ve Got a Feelin’, introduces “Good Rockin’ Daddy”, and slows the pace to climb the rhythm ladder rungs of “Steppin’ Up in Class”. As a reminder Steppin’ Out names names when it brings together a worldwide community with “Boogie’s the Thing” as Roomful of Blues turn the radio dial to classic Rock’n’Roll with “Slippin’ and Slidin” while they march over the rumble of rhythm declaring “Satisfied” and introduce ‘public enemy number one’ in “Dirty People”. (by Danny McCloskey)
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Kashena Sampson (from the album Ghost of Me available on Mule Kick Records) (by Danny McCloskey)
Slow steps lead Kashena Sampson into the Ghost of Me title track that opens her recent release. The rhythms rise up with commitment before exploding in a cacophony of sounds that fill out the spaces of the song; a confessional tale that spells out the story of Kashena Sampson. The track sets the standard for Ghost of Me, a collection that digs deep into the human psyche. As she goes through “Phases”, Kashena Sampson becomes a pawn on the game board of life while she relates the details of a “Fucked-Up Love” on a revolving wheel of rhythm. Dedicated acoustics strums define the dreamscape groove that opens, and moves across, “Awakening” as Ghost of Me speaks of “God” on a deliberate beat, discusses the “Tragedy of Love” on a persistent patter of rhythm, and relates the ways of “Heartache” over a caffeinated drumbeat.

Creating a circle of life, Kashena Sampson cycles through the various stages that we encounter in the course of a day, and the living of a life. Whether a calculated effort or by default, each album reflects the artists in the moment. Kashena Sampson fully understands that process, explaining that ‘this is an album about ignoring the bullshit and doing what’s authentic to me. Forget the rat race. Forget the bad relationships. Forget trying to please everybody. I’m tired of doing that. I wanted to do something for myself, and that’s what Ghost of Me became…it’s an album for me’. A personal accounting stares back at Kashena Sampson in “Rearview Mirror as she exits Ghost of Me on the memories passing through “Thick as Thieves”. (by Danny McCloskey)
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​Whiskey Myers (from the album Whomp Whack Thunder available on Wiggy Thump Records/Wyatt Road Records) (by Bryant Liggett)

While every critic out there is trying to put labels on Whiskey Myers, this reviewer will stick with ‘Rock’n’Roll band’. Further descriptors, if called for, might seek something more elaborate, perhaps finding some address within the Deep South, sticking the band in the garage at said address to give them a ‘Southern Garage Rock’ tag. That would work for Whomp Whack Thunder, the latest release from Whiskey Myers, as it fits their ramshackle brand of loosey goosey and Southern Fried Rock’n’Roll. 

 “Time Bomb”, “I Got to Move”, and “Midnight Woman” are big cool cuts, tunes that are delivered with 1970’s FM rock swagger. These are cuts that show a Rock band on full display, the kind of group that would rip the roof off a sweaty club, all while striving for something bigger. Whiskey Myers also be tender. “Rowdy Days” and “Born to Do” are two cuts ready for slow dance, with the latter laying on a big, dramatic Rock’n’Roll ending. Mellow is great, but Whiskey Myers is born to rock. Which they do on the riff heavy “Break These Chains”, a cut where guitar chops carve a path as they toss out mighty riffs. They also serve up big drama. “Rock and Roll” follows the same path as “Born to Do” as they dabble in a slow number while layering on walls of sound. It is a cut fitting as a descriptor in title and lyric, as the cut ends with the repetition of the line ‘I’m Rock’n’Roll, and indeed, they are. (by Bryant Liggett)
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​Dar Williams (from the album Hummingbird Highway available on Righteous Babe Records) (by Danny McCloskey)
Train-track rhythms proclaim a homecoming in “Hummingbird Highway”, the title cut for the recent release from Dar Williams. The tune begins the song cycle on the album, her thirteenth studio record. For the album title choice, Dar Williams hears it as a metaphor for life, sharing that ‘it’s a highway, filled with deep, exotic colors and beautiful delicate things as well as the perils that come from moving so fast’. Feathers float from the gentle breeze rhythms of “What Bird Did You See” while a deep rumbling beat becomes the foundation for “Olive Tree”. 

With a voice full of emotion, Dar Williams is the perfect guide for the cuts on Hummingbird Highwayas she returns to a comfort zone in “Maryland, Maryland”, climbs “Sacred Mountain” on a rhythm that rises up from a reverentially hushed melody that opens into a sturdy Rock’n’Roll backbeat, and picks out a string band rhythm for the Union worker story in “Put the Coins on His Eyes”. Hummingbird Highway collects songs that spring from the well of Folk music, changing rhythmic directions without ever denying its style. A soft dance beat plays a samba to back “Tu Sais Le Printemps” as Dar Williams picks up the pace from the original Richard and Linda Thompson version of “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” and plays somber piano chords to begin the reverie of “All is Come Undone”. (by Danny McCloskey)
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Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram (from the album Hard Road available on Red Zero Records/Exceleration Music Partners)  
Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram creates a sound well beyond his years. This Mississippi reared 26-year-old has all the proper Blues chops and credentials; a deep and well-worn croon, lyrics telling the story of a life lived in the Blues, and guitar skills that place him in the canon of the guitar heavy hitters of the genre. All of the aforementioned remain on full display within his latest Hard Road, a straight-ahead dose of Blues Rock that also offers up a load of groove.

It’s Boogie Blues right out of the gate with “Truth”, Kingfish dropping in guitar wah-wah’s while revealing a bit of his early delta life in the “662”, where what could have been a troubled life saved found salvation in a god and music as he sings ‘faith and my guitar was my only way out’; a truth embraced in life and spelled out in the song title. “S.S.S.” is a sly and lovemaking groover, “Nothin’ but Your Love” is an old-school ballad that’s also ripe for a slow dance and then some, as Ingram lays down more ripping guitar in “Voodoo Charm”. There’s smooth R&B in “Clearly”, a cut that is radio ready, and album closer “Memphis” is as traditional as it gets in a big nod to a magical, music city.

Hard Road is a gateway record, with Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram holding the door wide open for anyone wanting to explore the genre. Kingfish and the album are emissaries, and a solid welcoming committee, as digging into both the man and the record is a musical education from someone offering up tunes that remain American classics. (by Bryant Liggett)
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​Supersuckers (from the album Liquor, Women, Drugs & Killing available on Hardcharger Records/Blue Elan Records) (by Bryant Liggett)
Supersuckers have always identified as a Rock band with a capital R, however frontman, bass player, and songwriter Eddie Spaghetti pens tunes that would fall into the Pop realm. Don’t think Bubble-Gum. The tunes are Supersuckers Pop, something with a load of the aforementioned Rock yet still catchy and hooky enough to sink Hard Rock claws right into your ears.
 
Their latest release, Liquor, Women, Drugs & Killing, is by all standards classic Supersuckers; a Hard Rocker of a record that has that hooky Pop vibe. Songs that that won’t leave your head as they tend to stick like glue to your brain. “Tried to Write a Song” is the Poppiest of the bunch, a head bobber of a cut that’s Paul Westerberg-catchy but Eddie Spaghetti identifiable, as it’s a big hook with big riffs.

The rest continues the same charge. “Maybe I’m Just Messing with You” is a solid, ripping opener that has traditional Supersuckers outlaw lyrics referencing theft and life on the run. Cuts like “Unsolvable Problems” and “Let Down, Forgotten, and Alone” could be out-takes from their 1997 release Must’ve Been High, as they’re loaded with Outlaw Country noir as Supersuckers have always moonlighted as an Alt Country band in Rock’n’Roll rags. The rest of Liquor, Women, Drugs, Killing is all about the Rock. “Time to Put it Down”, “I Don’t Enunciate”, and “Rocket 69” come from a Motorhead and Circle Jerks upbringing.
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As they continue world domination for close to four decades of Rock clubs, riffs, and the road, Supersuckers have nailed their sound formula, and there’s no need to stray when what you have is great. (by Bryant Liggett)
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Tyron Benoit (from the album Mid-City available on Edgewater Music Group) (by Danny McCloskey)
The rich musical history of Louisiana was hardwired into the DNA of Tyron Benoit. He soaked up the sounds of classic Country music and heard Cajun Folk sounds from his grandfather’s fiddle and harmonica playing. Once he had wheels underneath him, the car radio played Led Zeppelin and Steely Dan. Tyron Benoit makes good use of all his influences on his recent release, Mid-City. Hints of Country back “Two Faces” as the sway of Folk Rock defines the beat for “Raining in Kentucky”. A slow rhythm frames “Spent” while guitar strums lead the way into “Walking Day” and a DIY guide to contentment plays with every note of “Feels Like Home”.

Music became a calling for Tyron Benoit when he spent time in Colorado after a combat tour as a Marine in Operation Desert Storm. He arrived back in New Orleans right before the Crescent City was shaken by Hurricane Katrina. He helped rebuild a city in shambles as he immersed himself in the diverse sounds of New Orleans. Stepping to the beat of Zydeco, Tyron Benoit marks “Louisiana Time”, facing “Trouble Again” on a dark melody as a Cajun groove wraps around “Bogue Chitto River Blues” like the love story in the song. Exiting Mid-City, Tyron Benoit plays a faithful version of The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood”. (by Danny McCloskey)
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West Texas Exiles (from the album 8000 Days available on Floating Mesa Records) (by Danny McCloskey)
Lubbock, Amarillo, and El Paso were the Texas towns where the members of West Texas Exiles grew up. The five piece band (Marco Gutierrez – vocals/guitar, Daniel Davis vocals/guitar, Colin Gilmore - vocals/guitar, Eric Harrison – bass, Trinidad Leal – drums) arrive as seasoned road warriors on 8000 Days, the group’s debut album. West Texas Exiles have played the festival circuits from the Luck Family Reunion to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and a residency at Austin’s Continental Club. They toured with Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, often acting as backing band for Colin’s father, Jimmie Dale. Fellow Texan Kelly Willis duets on “Division”, a story that follows a break-up as West Texas Exiles wonder “What Happened” on a rhythmic sway, and deal “Cards” on a sturdy beat.

A floating melody basks in the rhythms of “Bright Yellow Sun” as chiming guitar riffs tear a hole in “Way We Are” and the groove of “Wind’s Gonna Blow” matches the weather storming the song. Acoustic chords tentatively strum an opening for the 8000 Days title track as West Texas Exiles spin “Circles in the Yard” on a revolving rhythm and play a midnight beat for the confessions of “Dark Desires” before exiting the album on the dreamscape tones in “Already Gone”. (by Danny McCloskey)
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​Neko Case (from the album Neon Grey Midnight Green on Anti- Records) (by Bryant Liggett)
 
Consider yourself lucky for living at the same time as Neko Case. With a voice ripe for any decade, and every genre, Case would have knocked you out singing war era Pop or Laurel Canyon Rock. Now with eight records under her belt, including her latest in Neon Grey Midnight Green, she carries on her world of lyrical triumph and tragedy, animals, and artifacts, all living in ambiguous tales told over classical strings and Pop instrumentation.
The first thing you hear on her latest is that golden croon. “Baby, I’m Not (A Werewolf)” pushes out lyrics before any instruments kick in, the vocal visuals heavy as she references potato chip bags and minotaurs, those references coming with knuckle-ball unpredictability. Playful piano kicks around “Destination” before the baroque influence slides in while “Little Gears” is a ballad that’s playful but heavy as she asks ‘why do people need to feel so important all the time, so above it all?’. “Oh, Neglect” has a haunting and dreamy vibe, a lonely cut where Neko Case’s vocals float light and airy, where she refers to herself as a ‘technicolor creature’. “Tomboy Gold” is a tripped-out blast of experimental greatness, a cut that sounds like it could live in a street musical like West Side Story, and the album closer in “Wreck” is delivered with Indie Rock chops. 
Neon Grey Midnight Green is stacked with orchestral arrangements and dreamy Pop elements, all courtesy of a long list of session players and regular colleagues from the Case’s camp. With random instrumentation providing fills that poke a playful head, Neko Case creates a world of playful Pop and dramatic Psychedelia, and we’re all better for being part of her musical world. (by Bryant Liggett)
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​Marcus King Band (from the album Darling Blue available on American Recordings) (by Bryant Liggett)
If you’re lucky enough to live in a household where people keep an ear and eye to the real music world then Marcus King is a household name. The man is not a flavor of the week, nor someone discussed as a halftime show. He is better than that, and if you’re throwing around names like Gatton, Buchanan, or Allman, you’ll likely know about Marcus King, who’s latest in Darling Blue proves yet again through voice and chops that he’s worthy of praise.
He lays it out real, opening the record with “On & On” where he’s owning ‘toxic traits’ saying ‘I thought you’d like to hear me say sorry again, I know I fucked up’, and doing so in a Country Blues groove. Marcus King’s sound is a full package of Southern Soul, Blues, Gospel, and Boogie, all heard in “Honky Tonk Hell” which is a fun groover or “Carolina Honey” which plays out with a dose of tripped-out Funk. “Heartlands” has a homey drop of King messing with his dog which introduces this cut ripe for GOOD Country radio (this reviewer will repeat, GOOD country radio). He gets trippy with Billy Strings via psychedelic Country on “Dirt” and the laid back and cool cut in “The Shadows” finds Marcus King joined by Noah Cyrus of the Cyrus clan of musicians. 
Marcus King is a countrified, cool cat and an old soul whose list of guitar accolades should, and will, keep getting longer. Its deserved. (by Bryant Liggett)
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