Latest release a must have CD

TO BEHOLD
Monkey Junk
Stony Plain
9-out-of-10

Experience me has taught me to expect to love most CDs coming out of Stony Plain Records.

And really you have to be intrigued by a blues band with the name Monkey Junk.

So it came as no surprise at all that I was immediately impressed by the disk To Behold.

Monkey Junk is Matt Sobb on drums, Tony D on guitar and Steve Marriner lead vocals, harmonica and guitar. Together the trio offers up what I term modern blues. There is healthy rock flavour here, but the heartbeat is purely the blues.

The disk starts off with Mother's Crying, a cut with a throwback country rock-a-billy beat, and it sets the mood for what is generally energetic blues.

You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave) follows in style and tempo.

Right Now gets into a bit more of a soul undertone.

From there the rock begins to creep into the music a bit more, and cuts such as Let Her Down, You Don't Know and All About You are the best examples, and are the best of a very fine CD.

This is a must have blues CD this summer. Find it, buy it, enjoy it.

Check it out at www.stonyplainrecords.com

- CALVIN DANIELS

IT's TIME
Donald Ray Johnson
MarVista Records
8-out-of-10

Donald Ray Johnson is a bluesman with a track record. Born in Texas, and now based in Calgary, he has some four decades in the blues business, and has garnered a Grammy Award win, and twice being a Maple Blues Award nominee. He was also voted Best Male Blues Vocalist 2007 by Real Blues Magazine.

So the pedigree is there for Johnson, and that comes through clearly on It's Time.
Johnson's voice remains clear, powerful, appealing.

When Johnson tears into Change Is Going To Come you know you are in for a treat. It's a blues classic in the making.

Through 10-songs Johnson shows why his career has stood the test of time, he's just plain good.
Songs such as Heavy Love, Girl Friend Blues, Louisiana Country Girl and Rainy Night In Georgia are the best cuts on the disk, the later a slower paced song, rich with mood.

Johnson is a veteran blues craftsman showing just what the blues are all about, and he does with the clear confidence of a lifetime behind a microphone.
A wonderful offering to check out.

Check it out at www.donaldray.com

- CALVIN DANIELS
Past reviews are archived online at http://calmardan.blogspot.com/