The creator of bluesy swamp rock, Tony Joe White has never sounded better on this collection of earthy tones and moods. His voice sounds like he’s been sitting in the back of a pickup for 30 years, letting the red dust hit his face, as he pulls his 1965 Fender Strat and gives intimate renditions of pieces like Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man,” Charley Patton’s “Down the Dirt Road Blues” and Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “Awful Dreams.” When he picks up his acoustic guitar, it doesn’t get any less ominous, as he’s as dark as a nimbus cloud about to deliver a deluge as his voice demands a strong subwoofer with a subterranean vocal on “Baby, Please Don’t Go.” And, like all Southern boys, he’s got some tales to tell, and he delivers the campfire stories like Walter Brennan on the wagon train during “Stockholm Blues” and ”Cool Town Woman” while the title track is a foreboding yarn. This is a testament from a guy who’s lived what he preaches, and he hits you right in the belly.