Shades of blues…
Singing with a tear in the beer, keyboardist Pat McDougall teams up with a core of Whit Draper/g, Ed Pierce/dr and Jim Solberg/b along with some cameo guests for a mix up upbeat and slow tunes for a down and out mood. McDougall boogies hard for the title track, while slinking around Solberg’s bass for “ Don’t Ask A Boy (To Do A Man’s Job”. Draper’s with Kivett Bednar getting in a nice guest solo on ”Holding Back The Tears” guitar playing is easy and relaxed on the tasty “Hot Soup and Ice Cream.” The moods are dark and lonesome for “Actions Speak Louder Than Words” and “Holding Back the Tears”, so you might want to not want to listen to this album if you’re alone on a Saturday night. Check it out with lots of friends within calling distance.
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Playing guitar, bass and singing a bit, Kyle Culkin hits the rootsy blue tones with his band of Adam Gust/dr, Jade/MacRae/voc, Jamieson Trotter/p-B3 and Marty Rifkin/psg on a mix of originals and covers. Albert Lee brings in his patented Strat and voice for an irresistible two steppin’ “Whole ‘ Nutha Thank” and Johnny Hiland adds six strings to the fun “Two More Bottles of Wine”. Max MacLaury brings in a kind of Chet Bakerish voice to the laid back honky tonkin’ “Passing Through” and Jade Macrae takes the lead on “Creepin’ In”. Culkin has a comfortable feel on his mix of guitars hitting rich blues on the upbeat “My Baby’s Gone” and showing restraint on “Sweet Lullaby”.
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70s rock sounds are delivered by singer/guitarist Eric Heideman on this collection of catchy originals. He’s backed by Victor Wainwright/key-voc, Michael Bram/dr, Matt Raymond/b and guests JW-Jones/g-voc and Dave Gross/org-perc, as on the thick and swampy “You’re Pushing Me” and the Edgar Winterish “I Didn’t Do It”. There’s a Nashville feel to “News” and the fists are pumping on the anthem like “”Leavin’ Today”. Some nice blues are b rewed on “Say You Mean It Baby” and the guitars slither like Aerosmith for “Money Man”. FM radio time.
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