RIGHT WHERE I WANNA BE
Jackie Guy
Indie
7-out-of-10
Ah the sounds of classic country, the music owing to the likes of Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle, are those you can't go wrong with as a base to your music.
And that's certainly the roots from which Jackie Guy's music has grown.
Guy is actually one of those veterans of music that is only now offering up a disk of her own music, technology having evolved to make it viable. She started with a band which included her three sisters, and one brother, and an added a drummer and guitarist to perform as the Young Country Band.
From there Guy has performed in various bands through the year.
But it was not until the last couple of years she turned her attention to writing songs for a solo disk. The result of those efforts is the 10-song Right Where I Wanna Be.
This is a slow-paced country CD where Guy touches on a range of emotions familiar to country; men and women, love and loss.
Songs such as the title cut, Did I, Here You Come, and Was It You are among the cuts you will enjoy for the emotions they bring forward.
In an interview on the CD earlier this year Guy told this journalist she simply wants people to find a song they like on the disk.
"I hope people enjoy it and find one, or two songs in there they connect with," she said. " Hopefully there's a good message they can take from it."
Finding one song will not be hard. Guy has a practiced, simple, enjoyable voice, and it works nicely for the style of music she sings.
Check the disk out www.jackieguy.com.
- CALVIN DANIELS
STILL BLUE
Bill Johnson
Indie
7-out-of-10
Fishing With Your Boots On is the lead-in cut of Bill Johnson's release Still Blue. It is the kind of song a blues fans takes about 30-seconds to fall for.
From there you are set for what is to come on this 12-song effort.
At times Johnson misses a bit, but for the better part of this disk, he just rolls out solid blues, and you never need to ask for more than that. It just works.
Worked To Death is another fine cut among a CD where Johnson has his hand in writing most of the songs.
Willie Dixon's 300 Pounds of Heavenly Joy is one of the few covers here, a fun song, although it does not rate in the upper half of the cuts here.
Experience, Half the Man, Old Les Paul Guitar, and King Bee are songs which rise above the others for their fine 'bluesyness'.
This is not the best blues CD reviewed this year, but it is solid enough a blues fan will enjoy a listen.
Check out www.billjohnsonblues.com
- CALVIN DANIELS
Past reviews are archived online at http://calmardan.blogspot.com/
