With so many bluesy guitarists around these days, it might be hard to realize that Robben Ford has been on a creative roll the past few years. He put out a couple of sessions teamed with Larry Carlton that are eternal Desert Island Discs, and his last album Bringing it Back Home is a back porch cozy delight. His touring band which includes Brian Allen/b, Wes Little/dr and Barry Green/tb on this disc (along with Audley Freed/g and Ricky Peterson/org) is as rootsy as you’ll ever want, with Ford’s voice still in as well as his dna-bred affinity for all things indigo. The disc was cut “live” (in Nashville, obviously) which makes it sound even fresher, making you wonder why people gave up doing it like so.
Here, Ford delivers a couple grooving little instrumentals like “Top Down Blues” which are jams made for storage in the winter, while his stories mix pathos (“Midnight Comes to Soon”)with humor (“Ain’t Drinkin’ Beer No More”) with a vintage mix of sweet and spicy. Hard luck romances are part of the genre, and Ford cruises like a F150 on “Cut You Loose” demonstrating that roots can be as easily digested as pop. Ford can bend a note and make it sing, and he can sing a note to make it bend, making a tale sound like a travelogue, like on “Just Another Country Road.” A blue plate special that fills you up and satisfies the taste buds-dig in!
He’s touring around, and will be at The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, CA Aug 24. More info at www.canyonclub.net
Provogue Records