Lucky Peterson brings his kick-ass blues back to the masses once again with I’m Back Again (Blues Boulevard), a live recording (taped at the 55 Arts Club in Berlin, Ger- many) filled to the rim with raucous guitar and gritty blues soaked vocals. There’s a “Blues Medley” that will simply knock your socks off that begins with “Hideaway” and just gets faster and hotter from there. Lucky, who has been performing since he was a five- year-old kid (appearing on both The Ed Sulli- van Showand The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson), is just as proficient on the Hammond B-3 organ as he is on guitar, and the set begins with some of that B-3 magic on “I’m Back Again,” and he keeps the keyboard hot for “Smooth Sailing.” Lucky is joined by Shawn Kellerman on guitar, Timothy Lee Waites on bass and Raul Valdes on the drums, while Peterson moves between organ and guitar. For the Ray LaMontagne hit “Trouble,” Lucky plays some heartfelt piano and sings with the soul of one who has lived the lyrics at some point in his life. One of the biggest treats here is a smoking hot slide gui- tar romp on the classic “Dust My Broom,” logging in at ten and a half minutes. I’m Back Again is a stone gas rave up and an outstand- ing exercise in the power of the blues…For- mer Black Crowes lead guitarist Marc Ford has really turned into one of my favorite solo artists. His songs are well written, well exe- cuted, and easy on the ears. With Holy Ghost, Ford manages to outdo himself (again). The Americana (whatever that is) vibe is a far cry from the rockin’ sound of the Crowes, and that’s okay. In my mind, Ford occupies the same space as folks like Kevn Kinney, Jason Isbell or Tommy Talton – ex- cellent acoustic singer/songwriters who can also rock out at the drop of a chapeau. Nice melodies (“Badge of Descension”), catchy gui- tar riffs (“Blue Sky”), and powerfully strong lyrics (“Dream #26”). To me, his lyrics are the best part of the whole package. There’s no doubt that his sparse, yet effective guitar fills


are everything you’d expect, but his lyrics and vocal delivery just grab the ear. Listen closely to the words, gang. Marc has a lot to say, and he says it from the heart. What else can you ask of a true artist?... If you’re in need of a smokin’ blues fix, look no further than Joe Louis Walker, The Best of The Stony Plain Years (Stony Plain), an album that collects the best tracks from his years with the label, from 2007-2010, when he moved to Alligator Records. Walker was in- ducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2013. He’s an artist with a rich his- tory worthy of much more space than we have here, hav- ing recorded with everyone from Ike Turner to B.B. King, and for ten years between 1975 and ’85, he played only gospel with The Spiritual Corinthians. Walker is a master blues man, but he his equally skilled in many other forms of music. But for today, it’s all about the blues, and with the instrumental “Highview,” on which he is joined by Duke Robillard, we get an ear full of his guitar magic. “Eyes Like a Cat” is a serious blues rocker with all the electricity of a power plant, and with “Black Widow Spider,” the melodic sax and beat would have our South Carolina shaggers out on the dance floor doing the state dance. A personal favorite track here is a live smoker, “Ain’t That Cold,” a duet with Johnny Winter. Another standout is the acoustic blues, “Send You Back,” featuring Sugar Ray Norcia on the harp. My kind of blues! This 11-track compila- tion is all killer, no filler, and they say. While we’re using cliché’s, this is some “blues you can use!” Highly recommended. Get you some…British guitarist Craig Eason is back with a new album called Endangered Cliches.


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