These guys are no ‘Blind Lemon Poodle’ and their enthusiasm for their approach to Blues-Rock has to be witnessed at first hand. If you are unable to do that, then the next best thing is to purchase their recent album release: THE PROMISED LAND (And no, it has nothing to do with Hillsong)
The track, Come On Over, is an instant classic, and I do not say this lightly; it is reminiscent of The Stones when Mick Taylor was with them and this is the song that Jagger and Richards should have written, but never got around to doing so. Whilst The Stones influence is there, this is pure 2015 music and should be a hit all by itself because it is so damned good. I have played and played this track and each time I hear something new.
Reap What You Sow is pure American style southern blues; you can smell the dust, envisage the tumble weed blowing by, see a whirly wind heading your way and there, around a corner is a trio seated on an old verandah of a tumbledown shack playing, playing contentedly to themselves. Within seconds the sound traverses the quiet countryside and a crowd gathers. This is another side of The Hollerin Sluggers.
If you fancy something a bit more bitey, try Devil At The Liquor Store Blues which puts the rock into this blues song. There’s some great writing here and the musical tightness is enough to screw the balls off a rampant ram. On top of that there’s the all-important production. Many a blues-rock band aspires to this standard but sadly rarely attains this level of competency; this is not a shock rock or wannabe band this is the real thing and Blues Rock enthusiasts will find, unless they have this album, that there is a large gap in their collection.
Mention can be made of Canned Heat, Led Zeppelin, Howlin’ Wolf, Ten Years After, Joe Bonamassa and all the other greats, but this a pure home grown band with a home grown sound that can stand proudly amongst its forebears.
If you don’t believe that this band has musical maturity and a blues-rock pedigree, take a listen to Sleepin Blues and drift straight back to the 70s; Brian Jones would have loved this band!
Open tuning, slide guitars, powerful bass, great meaningful blues lyrics and percussion that powers the trio make The Hollerin Sluggers an entity of its own.
There’s more to discover on THE PROMISED LAND but I ain’t a gonna spoil it for you! Instead, I’ll just meet you all at the crossroads…..
Tony Bates
Uncut and Unsigned
3MDR 97.1 FM
The track, Come On Over, is an instant classic, and I do not say this lightly; it is reminiscent of The Stones when Mick Taylor was with them and this is the song that Jagger and Richards should have written, but never got around to doing so. Whilst The Stones influence is there, this is pure 2015 music and should be a hit all by itself because it is so damned good. I have played and played this track and each time I hear something new.
Reap What You Sow is pure American style southern blues; you can smell the dust, envisage the tumble weed blowing by, see a whirly wind heading your way and there, around a corner is a trio seated on an old verandah of a tumbledown shack playing, playing contentedly to themselves. Within seconds the sound traverses the quiet countryside and a crowd gathers. This is another side of The Hollerin Sluggers.
If you fancy something a bit more bitey, try Devil At The Liquor Store Blues which puts the rock into this blues song. There’s some great writing here and the musical tightness is enough to screw the balls off a rampant ram. On top of that there’s the all-important production. Many a blues-rock band aspires to this standard but sadly rarely attains this level of competency; this is not a shock rock or wannabe band this is the real thing and Blues Rock enthusiasts will find, unless they have this album, that there is a large gap in their collection.
Mention can be made of Canned Heat, Led Zeppelin, Howlin’ Wolf, Ten Years After, Joe Bonamassa and all the other greats, but this a pure home grown band with a home grown sound that can stand proudly amongst its forebears.
If you don’t believe that this band has musical maturity and a blues-rock pedigree, take a listen to Sleepin Blues and drift straight back to the 70s; Brian Jones would have loved this band!
Open tuning, slide guitars, powerful bass, great meaningful blues lyrics and percussion that powers the trio make The Hollerin Sluggers an entity of its own.
There’s more to discover on THE PROMISED LAND but I ain’t a gonna spoil it for you! Instead, I’ll just meet you all at the crossroads…..
Tony Bates
Uncut and Unsigned
3MDR 97.1 FM
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