Size: 111,8 MB
Time: 48:02
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2025
Styles: Blues
Art: Front
1. A Little Taste (4:03)
2. Grown Now (3:52)
3. Talkin' Heavy (5:01)
4. PTLD (4:00)
5. Life's Lesson (4:00)
6. Good Man (3:32)
7. Vibe With Me (4:35)
8. Into The Room (3:33)
9. No Thanks To You (4:13)
10. Liquor Store And Legs (3:28)
11. What Real Men Do (4:15)
12. Praise These Blues (3:23)
It’s reasonable to describe young singer/songwriter/guitarist D.K. Harrell as a blues musician. After all, that’s the genre he is most associated with especially after 2023s impressive ‘The Right Man’ debut. But he is much more. Harrell’s alternately soaring and sensitive voice delivers an expressive punch to everything he sings. Touches of funk, gospel and even pop effortlessly mold his unique style. Now on ‘Talkin’ Heavy,’ the 27-year-old widens his artistic lens to encompass those diverse roots into swirling original songs reflecting a contemporary approach influenced by the blues greats, but not bound by them.
Harrell, along with fellow Alligator artist Kingfish, has quickly become the face of the next generation of bluesmen. Although his previous release on the non-profit Little Village label was hampered by the imprint’s limited distribution and promotion, his non-stop touring routinely blew audiences away. That caught the blues community, and more specifically Alligator’s, attention. For his first album handled by that celebrated company, Harrell again employs Christoffer “Kid” Andersen, who successfully guided his initial offering. Along to assist the core band of bass, rhythm guitar and veteran Jim Pugh’s keyboards, is an extensive list of supporting players. They include seven horns, six backing vocalists, four percussionists (including two drummers), and even a small string section of cello and violin. But Andersen keeps a firm grip on the mix, balancing these musicians without these dozen songs getting bogged down or cluttered in excessive instrumentation.
His guitar flair, heavily influenced by the three blues Kings (B.B., Albert and Freddie), isn’t flashy or overbearing. Solos never overstay their welcome, serving to push the material forward without distracting from the melodies and vocals which remain Harrell’s strength. Whether he’s securing a soulful Boz Scaggs-styled strut on “Into the Room” where he illuminates his shyness about introducing himself to a potential love interest, or locking into a propulsive Memphis groove with “Good Man” explaining “Maybe I scare you/You think I’m mean…things aren’t what they seem,” the tunes stay tightly focused.
Harrell doesn’t spend much time with socio-political issues. But on the swampy title track he declares “Politicians talking out their heads/Prices so high you can’t be fed,” bringing a present-day spin. The ghost of Albert King, vocally and instrumentally, floats through the tough R&B of “What Real Men Do,” which nods to King’s “You’re Gonna Need Me” without being a carbon copy of it. And when Harrell tosses off an innocent sly laugh on the sensual slow blues of “Vibe with Me” (“We’re going to make love and raise the ceiling”), it’s impossible not to reference Albert’s habit of doing that same chortle when his music revved up. Squiggly, pulsing sax-fills raise the temperature even further.
The 70s disco era is referenced on “PTLD” (short for “post traumatic love disorder”), a lighthearted side road complete with backing female vocals that’ll invoke memories for listeners of a certain age. We end up getting religious on the closing roof-raising “Praise These Blues” as Pugh provides gospel keyboards and Harrell attests “I love the church and I love the juke joint” before launching into a spellbinding solo. It ends this terrific album with a double-time call and response that’ll get everyone testifying to the power of D.K. Harrell’s music and his exhilarating, energized soul blues talents. /Hal Horowitz, Rock & Blues Muse
Harrell, along with fellow Alligator artist Kingfish, has quickly become the face of the next generation of bluesmen. Although his previous release on the non-profit Little Village label was hampered by the imprint’s limited distribution and promotion, his non-stop touring routinely blew audiences away. That caught the blues community, and more specifically Alligator’s, attention. For his first album handled by that celebrated company, Harrell again employs Christoffer “Kid” Andersen, who successfully guided his initial offering. Along to assist the core band of bass, rhythm guitar and veteran Jim Pugh’s keyboards, is an extensive list of supporting players. They include seven horns, six backing vocalists, four percussionists (including two drummers), and even a small string section of cello and violin. But Andersen keeps a firm grip on the mix, balancing these musicians without these dozen songs getting bogged down or cluttered in excessive instrumentation.
His guitar flair, heavily influenced by the three blues Kings (B.B., Albert and Freddie), isn’t flashy or overbearing. Solos never overstay their welcome, serving to push the material forward without distracting from the melodies and vocals which remain Harrell’s strength. Whether he’s securing a soulful Boz Scaggs-styled strut on “Into the Room” where he illuminates his shyness about introducing himself to a potential love interest, or locking into a propulsive Memphis groove with “Good Man” explaining “Maybe I scare you/You think I’m mean…things aren’t what they seem,” the tunes stay tightly focused.
Harrell doesn’t spend much time with socio-political issues. But on the swampy title track he declares “Politicians talking out their heads/Prices so high you can’t be fed,” bringing a present-day spin. The ghost of Albert King, vocally and instrumentally, floats through the tough R&B of “What Real Men Do,” which nods to King’s “You’re Gonna Need Me” without being a carbon copy of it. And when Harrell tosses off an innocent sly laugh on the sensual slow blues of “Vibe with Me” (“We’re going to make love and raise the ceiling”), it’s impossible not to reference Albert’s habit of doing that same chortle when his music revved up. Squiggly, pulsing sax-fills raise the temperature even further.
The 70s disco era is referenced on “PTLD” (short for “post traumatic love disorder”), a lighthearted side road complete with backing female vocals that’ll invoke memories for listeners of a certain age. We end up getting religious on the closing roof-raising “Praise These Blues” as Pugh provides gospel keyboards and Harrell attests “I love the church and I love the juke joint” before launching into a spellbinding solo. It ends this terrific album with a double-time call and response that’ll get everyone testifying to the power of D.K. Harrell’s music and his exhilarating, energized soul blues talents. /Hal Horowitz, Rock & Blues Muse
Talkin' Heavy mc
Talkin' Heavy gofile