Size: 50,9 MB
Time: 21:58
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2025
Styles: Blues/R&B
Art: Front
1. Cryin' & Pleadin' (2:54)
2. I Love You, I Need You (2:02)
3. I Don't Mind (2:39)
4. Stranger Blues (3:30)
5. Hold On, I'm Coming (2:58)
6. My Baby Is Sweeter (3:06)
7. Just One More Time (2:46)
8. Chicken Pickin' (1:58)
Sometimes short and sweet is the perfect combination for a musical interlude. The new album, Orphans, by GA-20, is joyful and upbeat, offering covers of eight classics. At just over 20 minutes, it narrowly exceeds the accepted definition of EP. Just returning from a European tour, the Boston-based GA-20 is a trio comprised of Matthew Stubbs on guitar and baritone guitar, Cody Nilsen providing vocals and guitar and Josh Kiggans on drums. The band bio boasts: “The dynamic throwback trio have long been disciples of the place where traditional blues, country and rock ‘n’ roll intersect,” and that is an accurate description of the album.
Joining forces in 2018, each member brings some seasoned experience to the stage. Stubbs is the former guitarist for Charlie Musselwhite and James Cotton. Singer/songwriter Nilsen brings along a country background and extensive session work. Kiggans has worked with The Outliers, Sarah Borges and others. Together they have declared, “We strive to bring traditional blues to the front lines of the modern roots music scene.”
Orphans opens with a nice update of Billy Boy Arnold’s Cryin’ & Pleadin’, featuring the same upbeat feel but with a new signature arrangement. The vocals are slightly more forceful and up-front, while the guitar work remains clean and crisp. These two traits permeate the entire album. Melodious, clear vocals recall the vocal groups of the 50s and early 60s. Their bio explains that the band “draws inspiration from their old-school sounds from the music they love from artists such as Otis Rush, J.B. Lenoir, Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Wells, Hound Dog Taylor, Earl Hooker, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson and so many others.” Throw a little Jimmy Reed into that mix and this album is covered.
The second track is a cover of Lazy Lester’s 1959 love song, “I Love You, I Need You.” Here, Nilsen achieves a poignant vocal performance. Shifting gears, the band slides into James Brown’s 1961 song, “I Don’t Mind”, this time bringing more soulful vocals to the fore. The 1962 Elmore James tune, “Stranger Blues,” provides the perfect place for some famed James-influenced slide guitar work and boasts a catchy ostinato. The Isaac Hayes and David Porter-penned, Sam and Dave-performed classic, “Hold On, I’m Coming,” is covered next. The trio performs it as an instrumental, transformed through some unique lap-steel guitar work by Nilsen, with guests Brooks Milgate adding organ and Nate Edgar on bass.
Little Walter’s 1959 “My Baby Is Sweeter” becomes a bluesy shuffle with infectious back beat and nice guitar work, invoking a mysterious, noir feeling. “Just One More Time” is a rocking remake of a 1956 Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm song. This time, it features a solid, succinct guitar solo. The closer is an energetic cover of Lonnie Mack’s “Chicken Pickin.”
A band to watch, they have three #1 Billboard Blues chart-toppers, four-time Boston Music Awards for Best Blues Act, and have received multiple other wins and awards nominations. The accompanying release proclaimed that GA-20’s “exuberant yet straightforward style, economical guitar, and buoyant vocals propel a sense of celebration and community in musical form.” And these, too, are fair and accurate claims. /Bob Liddycoat, Blues Rock Review
Joining forces in 2018, each member brings some seasoned experience to the stage. Stubbs is the former guitarist for Charlie Musselwhite and James Cotton. Singer/songwriter Nilsen brings along a country background and extensive session work. Kiggans has worked with The Outliers, Sarah Borges and others. Together they have declared, “We strive to bring traditional blues to the front lines of the modern roots music scene.”
Orphans opens with a nice update of Billy Boy Arnold’s Cryin’ & Pleadin’, featuring the same upbeat feel but with a new signature arrangement. The vocals are slightly more forceful and up-front, while the guitar work remains clean and crisp. These two traits permeate the entire album. Melodious, clear vocals recall the vocal groups of the 50s and early 60s. Their bio explains that the band “draws inspiration from their old-school sounds from the music they love from artists such as Otis Rush, J.B. Lenoir, Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Wells, Hound Dog Taylor, Earl Hooker, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson and so many others.” Throw a little Jimmy Reed into that mix and this album is covered.
The second track is a cover of Lazy Lester’s 1959 love song, “I Love You, I Need You.” Here, Nilsen achieves a poignant vocal performance. Shifting gears, the band slides into James Brown’s 1961 song, “I Don’t Mind”, this time bringing more soulful vocals to the fore. The 1962 Elmore James tune, “Stranger Blues,” provides the perfect place for some famed James-influenced slide guitar work and boasts a catchy ostinato. The Isaac Hayes and David Porter-penned, Sam and Dave-performed classic, “Hold On, I’m Coming,” is covered next. The trio performs it as an instrumental, transformed through some unique lap-steel guitar work by Nilsen, with guests Brooks Milgate adding organ and Nate Edgar on bass.
Little Walter’s 1959 “My Baby Is Sweeter” becomes a bluesy shuffle with infectious back beat and nice guitar work, invoking a mysterious, noir feeling. “Just One More Time” is a rocking remake of a 1956 Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm song. This time, it features a solid, succinct guitar solo. The closer is an energetic cover of Lonnie Mack’s “Chicken Pickin.”
A band to watch, they have three #1 Billboard Blues chart-toppers, four-time Boston Music Awards for Best Blues Act, and have received multiple other wins and awards nominations. The accompanying release proclaimed that GA-20’s “exuberant yet straightforward style, economical guitar, and buoyant vocals propel a sense of celebration and community in musical form.” And these, too, are fair and accurate claims. /Bob Liddycoat, Blues Rock Review
Orphans mc
Orphans pixeldrain