56 Big City Rhythm & Blues • Aug.-Sept. 2016
NICK SCHNEBELENBANDLive atKnuckleheads
VizzTone 2016
Nick Schnebelen wonthe Albert King Award asbest guitarist at the BluesFoundation’s 2008International Blues
Challenge. Check outthis album and you willknow why.
Nick’s former band,Trampled Under Foot, atrio with drummer brotherChris and bassist sisterDanielle, won the 2008IBC and blazed a paththrough the contemporaryblues world until disband-ing about two years ago;news flash, TUF is backtogether as of this writing.Meanwhile, Nick’s foray
with his own band, asexemplified by this per-formance at one of theirhome venues in KansasCity, must be deemed asuccess. This CDseethes with hot guitarlicks, gritty singing, andinsistent rhythmic drive.
Leading off is “I’mGoin’,” a rocker featuringNick and rhythm guitaristHeather Newman on dualvocals, anchored by CliffMoore on bass and JoeyVoye on percussion.Don’t sit down yet; “WillieJames” is another rocker.The ensuing “Crazy” isreminiscent of Ann andNancy Wilson’s classicHeart tune, “Crazy forYou,” and leads into“Desperate Heart,” whichslows the tempo. In myopinion, the best gui-tarists shine most on slowtunes, and Nick absolute-ly nails it here, equalingthe efforts of some of myfavorites at slow blues:Coco Montoya, RonnieEarl, Chris Vachon ofRoomful of Blues, and thelate Michael Burks.
“Break of Day” allows
Nick to stretch on vocal ina twelve-bar song sound-ing suspiciously like theButterfield Blues Band’s“Walking Blues” with dif-ferent lyrics, and he con-tinues to wail convincinglyon “Bad Disposition.”Newman resumes vocalduty on “Tailgate Swing,”a humorous automobilemetaphoric lament thatshe can’t prevent herrump from rotating.Demonstrating versatility,the band segues into“Who Will Comfort Me,” aquasi-spiritual track andone of the album’s high-lights. Schnebelen andNewman then sharevocals on a version of“Spoonful” which wouldmake Howlin’ Wolf do adouble-take and thensmile broadly.
The only instrumentalis “Sleep Walk,” whichdeploys twangy 1950s-style guitar, leading intoanother highlight, themid-tempo country rock-er “Jolene,” with Newmancrooning to the titularfemme fatale, “Don’t takemy man,” as Nick plays a
lead worthy of MarkKnopfler. The set con-cludes with another rock-er, “New Orleans,” featur-ing Nick on slide guitar.
There are no usefulliner notes with the CD,but production values areexcellent, the songs pro-vide variety, and the gui-tar virtuosity is top notch.What’s not to like?—Steve Daniels
SAMMY BLUEA Blues Odyssey
HotTrax Records www.hottrax.com
Sammy Blue has beenliving the blues for more60 years. With his newestrecording “A BluesOdyssey” it’s taken twodiscs, an acoustic Bluesand Americana side as
well as a modern electricBlues side to fully repre-sent his eclectic nature.This is recorded with avariety of side men, heuses several differentvoices and many on theacoustic side are record-ed live.
On the acoustic side,most of the tunes featureSammy plays solo guitarand his vocals fallsbetween Taj Mahal andRobert Plant. He declares
his baby is a “Holy Roller”then discloses that “I’veBeen Fooled.” With a gut-tural growl Sammy begs“Come On Baby” theninquires what does a“Modern Woman” need?He then turns reflectiveon “Disposable Love” butwith joyful exuberancedeclares “I’ve BeenHopin’” you’ll leave mealone. The audience joinsin clapping as he assertsyou’ve got a “Reason ToLive” even if you don’tknow why. Still keeping itacoustic Sammy is joinedon a few tunes for someold time Americana withTravis Biggs on violin fora lovely instrumentalcalled “Selam’s Song”while piano and drumsare added in a sultry duet
57Aug.-Sept. 2016 • Big City Rhythm & Blues
231-883-3888
Roger & Margaret WhiteKeeping the Motor City airwaves shaking with BluesTime International
on CJAM 99.1 FM every Sunday 1:00-3:30 pm and rebroadcastSaturday morning 1:00-3:30 am. Listen online and download shows at
www.cjam.ca. You can always contact me at - [email protected] and now expanding our realm of rhythm &blues to the Florida shores for the winter months, send your latest CDreleases for review to: Roger White, 35131 Whispering Oaks Blvd,
Ridge Manor, FL 33523. Stay warm and cool.
for “Everythang & Mo.” Dr.Dixon joins him on har-monica as Sammy growls“You Win Again” and withsimple percussion andwarbling harmonicaSammy asks would you“Ever Love” again?
The electric side kicksin with a Southern Soulsound of “I Got To HaveMy Way” leading into theold school slide of “I MissYou Baby” and “Riverside”has heavy harp joiningthat slide. He goes up
town with a touch ofJohnny ‘Guitar’ Watson on“Watch Out!” then “SpiceIn My Life” has a NewOrleans groove. Sammyis rockin’ on “Dancing InThe Moonlight” while “If IKnew Then” reminds us ofNick Gravenites and“Whole World Blues” is arocker playing off “Let’sWork Together.” A shortintro titled “EveryMusician’s Lie” leads intoan Elmore slide and theband chanting I’ll get a
“Day Job” for you, if Iabsolutely have too. Theonly covers on both CD’sare a country flavored“See See Rider” and amodern rock version of“Rock Me” baby.
This “Blues Odyssey” isan expansive journey butdon’t take our word for it,if you are a subscriberyou’ll find Sammy Blue onthe upcoming Big CityRhythm and Blues CDsampler.—Roger &Margaret White
