Blues rocker Michael Bloom songs and plays guitar with compatriots Michael Damani/key-g, Faustino Cortez/dr, Brant Leeper/B3-p, Tim Arnold/g, Sumito Ariyoshi/p and some rollicking guests on this gritty collection of Americana. As he states in the notes, “blues is more than the notes…it’s something you feel deep inside.” These guys feel it deep as Bloom and company slide the strings on the hard hitting “Time On My Hands” with some swampy Hammond humming on “Just Can’t Win.” Lots of boogie-ing beats with the Strat striving on “I Remember Love” and “No Luck At All” with some dark colors painted with a big brush on “Old Man Blues.” Bloom hits the back porch on an acoustic “Dust My Broom” with each song sounding like a piece of a Burma Shave sign on Route 66.
Guitarist and vocalist Chris Eger brings a core of Mark Clark/dr, Randall Eger/b, Pete Kirkman-Mike West/horns and a bus load of Nashville musicians on this is filled with 70s-style blues rock. Both guitar and voice are gritty on boogie pieces like “Eatin’ Crow” and “SRV” with some ZZ Top riffs slithering on “Wrong Five O’Clock.” Some C&W soul twangs out with guest Reese Wynan’s Hammond on “Too Much Fire” and the team gets swampy as they stomp out “Love Me Now.” Roadside Diner delights.