Blue eyed blues..
Griff Hamlin sings and plays street level with a juke jointy team of Ty Bailie/key, Mark Smith/b, Chis Atchley/dr and a smoking horn section of Jonathan Bradley/tp, Eric Letta/ts-as, Kevin Hicks/tb and Laura Hamlin/bs. You get a lot of boogie blues on shufflers like “Almost Level With The Ground” and the riff-filled 
“Don’t Lie” with the horns blowing rings on the funky “Louisiana Holiday” and the B3 humming for “Same To You.” Hamlin’s guitar goes to Chicago for “Someone” and gets thick and fuzzy for “Nothing Better.” The good times are rollin’.
Kern Pratt has a voice and a guitar style veering between vintage Clapton and ZZ Top on this collection of blues groovers. He mixes 
and matches the band, held down by Bob Dowell/key/b-tb-g, Bobby Walker/g and Shannon Goree/dr and rotated with various guests. Nelson Blanchard’s organ gives an Allman Brothers feel to “Hard Working Man” while the ballad Baby’s Got Another Lover” and the string bending “Rita” could easily be on a Slowhand session. The team gets wacka wooka gritty on Bobby Rush’s “Chicken Heads” and shuffles on the fun “Whatcha Gonna Do.” Check your hubcaps on your car before leaving this band’s parking lot.
Jay Gordon slides his guitar like Rickey Henderson going into second base on this blueswailer with Sharon Butcher/b and Tom Parhan/dr. He sings like he’s been weaned on chewing tobacco and Sen Sens as he growls on the gritty “Dripping Blues” and tells a story with a punch on “Pure Grain Alcohol.” The strings wail on “Six String Outlaw” and he gets Chicago bound for a South Side “Sweetheart Blues.” The team does a musical face plant on “ Train Train” and boogies with the best on the fun “Lucky 13”. The train is a rollin’.
Todd Horowitz plays the guitars and sings, plays some drums, harmonica, bass and keyboards. Is he also the roady? Joining him are Dave Keyes/key, Steve Holley-Don Castagno/dr and Brett Bass-VD (!) King/b for an hour of funky and jazzy blues. The team shuffles hard and is in rabid voice on the juicy “The Flavor Is In The Fat” and they are having a good time while Horowitz bends the strings like Cirque du Soleil on “AIt Ain’t Nothin’.” A 70s rocker like “More Time Making Love” teams with some Santana-like tones on “Gordito” and the wacka wooka “Enough Is Enough.” Most jazzy is the swinging low “Lost Again” while the keys on Leon Russell’s “I’d Rather Go Blind” is a Crescent City joy and Prince’s “Kiss” is a funkified delight. Wear shocks for this road.
Jeff Chaz plays guitar and sings with a rowdy voice in a power trio with bassist Augie Joachim and drummer Rick Jones on a collection of band-composed originals. Lots of boogie and stomping as on the fun “Blues Buffet” and the “You Gotta Show Me” while the chords get chunky with Joachim’s bass line cutting through the growl on “Turn Back The Hands of Time.” Jones’ high hat gets popping while strings wail on “Little Sips” and a deep dish of Chicago cries out on “She’s The Sweetest Thing.” The team shows how they kick out the jams on the swinging instrumental “Deet, Deet, Deet” with the volume all the way up throughout.
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