track, possessing a, dare I say, Southern Rock vibe. I love Heart, but I dig The Ann Wilson Thing! almost equally these days...Have you heard 2 Ton Bridge? No, its not a song or an album, it’s an artist. A pseudonym for Alexander Wrights, a man who oozes Ameri- cana from every pore. Of course, it’s a self ti- tled album, so it could be reasonably argued that it is also an album name. The song writ- ing is simply captivating. At first glance, his photo inside the gate fold of the CD reminded me of Billy Joe Shaver, and as a matter of fact, his voice leans toward Shaver on the rocking “Take Your Hand Off My Land,” a great song about the American farmer. Songs like “Post Hole Digger,” “I’m a Hoot Owl,” and “Pennies On the Shore” only cement the fact that 2 Ton Bridge is a world class folk artist. Check him out. The album is on the Monkee Room Music
label...Brian Langli- nais has a great new record out called Right Hand Road , and it is filled with the local color of his home town of Lafayette, Louisiana, filtered through a roadhouse vibe. Langlinais is a fresh, new sounding voice, one that rocks with the same soul-soaked swagger of a Delbert McClinton or a Lee Roy Parnell. The music is blues based, but not in that ‘my baby done left me” style, rather in an uplift- ing, “glass half full” way. Surrounded by horns and off the chain musicians, Brian rocks through “Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool you,” one of the many highlights of the album. He channels his inner Robert Johnson on “Right Hand Road,” and belts out a very nice cover of the r&b classic, “Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday.” Good stuff. But then again, so is the whole album. He brought a broad smile to my face with his cover of Brian Setzer’s “Maria,” a song I have always loved. Get you
some...The Blind Boys of Ala- bama have been a fixture on the gospel scene for a whole lot of years, crossing over into pop and other fields from time to time while al- ways remaining anchored to Jesus. Recently Omnivore Records reissued expanded ver-
sions of two classic albums by the Blind Bots- 2001’s Grammy Winning Spirit of the Cen- tury and Higher Ground, and both are chock full of soul-stirring music, featuring the eter- nal harmonies of the group, established back in 1944. Spirit includes not only classic gospel tunes, but covers of songs by Ben Harper, Tom Waits and even The Rolling Stones (“I Just Wanna See His Face.”) The album includes players Dave Lindley, John Hammond, Charlie Musselwhite, Danny Thompson and more. One of the many high- lights is “Amazing Grace,” sung to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun.” Love it. With the reissue, we get to hear seven live versions of the songs from the album, performed at the legendary Bottom Line in New York City. Right on the heels of Spirit came Higher Ground, another instant classic, this one fea- turing Robert Randolph on “sacred steel gui- tar” and his Family Band, as well as Ben Harper. Joining traditional gospel songs are covers of songs by Prince, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Jimmy Cliff and Funkadelic. For their efforts, The Blind Boys won their second consecutive Grammy for Beat Tradi- tional Soul Gospel album. Again, we are treated to seven live recordings of the songs from the album. I’m not big on labeling recordings as “essential,” however, these two albums by the mighty Blind Boys of Alabama are no less than essential. •
NEW FROM MICHAEL BUFFALO SMITH
Interviews with Great Stars of Country Music.
AVAILABLE NOWat Ama-
zon.com
and
lulu.com
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