Here are a couple albums that have dirt under their nails, blisters on the fingers and a limp in their walk. In other words, NO POSERS!
Big Dave McLean sings and plays like he lived by travelling on buses and trains. He picks with folksy veracity, and sings with a snarl. This album is a bluesy mix of thoughts on his career choice “Life On The Road” and stories of dark misuses of the Bible “Old Time Religion” “Swing’ On Heaven’s Gate” and “Talk About A Revelation.” He can also weave a tale of woe, as on “I Need You” and sounds like a street prophet on “You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had.” He uses bare knuckles throughout, and his guitar work is as earthy as his lyrics. Pick this guy up if he’s hitching in your home town.
The country rock team of The Mavericks are caught in an enthusiastic concert on this recording. The team of Paul Malo/voc-g, Paul Deakin/dr, Eddie Perez/g and Jerry Dale McFadden/key is augmented by The Fantastic Four of Michzel Guerra/acc-erc, Max Abrams/sax, Matt Cappy/tp and Ed Friedland/b for some rousing versions of their oldies and newies. Songs from Mono include a hitting”All Night Long” as well as a fervent “Pardon Me” along with “What You Do To Me.” “Back In Your Arms Again” and “Come Unto Me” from their earlier work are also featured, while the crowd gets moving on “As Long As There’s Lovin’ Tonight” and a fun loving “Dance In The Moonlight.” Didn’t have to be there the first time to enjoy this one.