How many ways can a guitar swing the blues? How much wood would a woodchuck chuck?
Jim Diamond plays a Memphis swamp of a guitar and sings like a carney with a hard hitting team of Beth Deminski Boyington/dr, Chris Herndon/g, Mark Wagner/b, Joe DiGiuseppe/ts, Jon (Reese) Pleasant/p-org and a mix and match group of guests on guitars, horns and keys. The team rolls like thunder on “Dog House” and the rock the boogie for a shuffling “I’m Cryin’”. The rhythm goes rata-tat with the B3 on “Hot For You” and the team sways like the AWB on the bar room brawler “I’m Walking”. Some nice guitar works takes you to Chicago on “15 Below” and the drink the blues slowly on “Rock N Roll All Over You”. About as subtle as a whoopie cushion, and just as fun.
Adam Karch plays it both acoustic and electric as well as lap slide along with a folksy team of bassist Richard Deschenes and drummer Marc-Andre Drouin on a mix of originals and covers. On acoustic strings, he picks with the deftness a la Bert Jansch on the bluesy “Bitter harvest,” the cozy “Porch Groove (Sunday Morning)” while his voice is tender and road traveled on Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Allright” and the raspy blueser by JJ Cale “After Midnight”. He tells a harrowing story on “Bitter Harvest” and is upbeat and folksy during “It’s Your Song” with a tasty use of electric strings. The warm side of the Nashville skyline.
Taste and class is shining from the strings of guitarist Lou Volpe, as he delivers a wide range of tones , backed by Stanley Banks-Peter Falbo-Motoki Mihara/b, Buddy Williams/dr and Gary Fritz-John Romagnoli-Richie Morales/perc. His tone and style at times is as pretty and progressive as Pat Metheny’s as on “Up The Road” and “Travelling Light” while a dash of Johnny Smith coolness works with a nimble bass line on his “Full Tilt”. A back and forth use of guitar effects works well on the creative read of “Summertime” and he digs into a hip and funky read of “Stella By Starlight” while his own “Double Summer” throws in a dash of reggae. Rich tonalities o “A to Z” and pretty melodic journeys on “Solar Dance” display a facile mastery that makes you want to see him in concert. Any possibilities of a meeting with John Pisano on a Tuesday night at the Baked Potato?