David Hidalgo, Luther Dickinson, Mato Nanji - 3 Skulls And The Truth

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:00
Size: 148.8 MB
Styles: Roots rock, Electric blues
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[6:38] 1. Have My Way With You
[4:19] 2. I'm A Fool
[5:56] 3. Make It Right
[4:25] 4. Known Round Here
[5:44] 5. Coming Home
[4:02] 6. All I Know
[5:51] 7. The Worldly And The Divine
[6:14] 8. Still Looking
[5:33] 9. Cold As Hell
[4:44] 10. The Truth Ain't What It Seems
[5:22] 11. Woke Up Alone
[6:06] 12. Natural Comb

Luther Dickinson has been a busy man in 2012. This is the fourth recording he's either fronted or been a prime collaborator in during the calendar year. In May he released his own solo offering, Hambone's Meditations, a second offering with the South Memphis String Band, and Go On Now, You Can't Stay Here by his new band the Wandering on the same day. 3 Skulls and the Truth, with Los Lobos' David Hidalgo and Indigenous founder and lead guitarist Mato Nanji, will be the one that most appeals to the wild, raucous sounds of Dickinson's prime unit, the North Mississippi Allstars. These three lead guitar players, backed by the rhythm section of drummer Jeff Martin and bassist Steve Evans, lay down 12 raw blues-based rock tunes. Produced by Mike Varney, 3 Skulls and the Truth is a hot mess. The sound is raw nasty, loose, and loud; it seems to draw inspiration from the nasty boogie of the early '70s -- particularly the one evangelized by ZZ Top. The material from Varney, Nanji, and Dickinson was all written for this date. The guitarists freely interact, strut their stuff, and keep things tight. This trio is made up of axe monsters; they understand roots rock as a dynamic -- not a revivalist -- force, where it meets the blues. The tunes are not merely jams; they're well-constructed songs with bridges, clever lyrics, and loads of six-string heat. Check the primitive blues stomp of "Have My Way with You," which opens the date. Dickinson's vocal blues moan, a stomping foot, and two guitars move back and forth before the band kicks in and the track becomes what might have been an outtake from Tres Hombres. "All I Know," with its swaggering roots boogie, is topped by soulful vocals by Nanji and Hidalgo, punctuated by two punchy guitars and underscored by Dickinson's slide. On "The Worldly and the Divine," blues, hard rock, and tripped-out Hendrixian psych seamlessly intertwine as the track nearly sprawls out of control. "The Truth Ain't What It Seems" charges out of the gate before winding itself in a labyrinth with a skittering set of funky breaks by Martin that somehow anchors the frontline riff and changes. There's a funky undertone that gets obliterated by the wailing exchange of fills by the principals. Likewise, closer "Natural Comb," a slow, churning blues, allows the guitarists not merely solos, but the ability to inform the tune's melody with all manner of fills. The humorous lyric keeps it all grounded. 3 Skulls and the Truth, which may be the rock party album of the year, proves that the blues and boogie are still very much alive as creative endeavors, and hopefully asserts that that this trio of slingers will team up again -- and soon. ~Thom Jurek

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Tommy Castro & The Painkillers - Stompin' Ground

Size: 117,2 MB
Time: 50:39
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Front

01. Nonchalant (3:55)
02. Blues All Around Me (3:42)
03. Fear Is The Enemy (3:34)
04. My Old Neighborhood (5:42)
05. Enough Is Enough (3:52)
06. Love Is (4:40)
07. Rock Bottom (4:30)
08. Soul Shake (3:59)
09. Further On Down The Road (4:17)
10. Them Changes (4:47)
11. Sticks And Stones (3:07)
12. Live Every Day (4:28)

On Stompin’ Ground, Castro, a native of San Jose, CA, opens windows both into his past and his always-evolving musical future. Produced by Castro and guitar wunderkind Kid Andersen and recorded at Andersen’s soon-to-be legendary Greaseland Studio in San Jose, Stompin’ Ground finds Castro letting loose on a set of 12 tracks featuring six originals and new versions of songs he learned and played as a young up-and-comer. He is simultaneously looking back with autobiographical originals and cover songs that inspired him, while forging a forward trail with modern lyrics atop blistering blues-rock.

In addition to the The Painkillers, Castro’s friends Charlie Musselwhite (harp and vocals on Live Every Day), Mike Zito (guitar and vocals on Rock Bottom), Danielle Nicole (vocals on Soul Shake) and Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo (guitar and vocals on Them Changes) add their talents to Stompin’ Ground. “I heard each one of my friends’ contributions on these songs in my head as I was working on them. Happily, when I reached out and actually asked, everyone said yes.”

Castro’s musical roots run deep. As he unleashes his high-energy music to fans all over the world, he is inspired by the sounds he absorbed while coming of age on the rough and tumble side of San Jose, California. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, this was Castro’s home turf – his stomping ground. It was a place where the street-tough Mexican Americans and the counter-culture hippies came together to drink, smoke, laugh, party and listen to tunes – the hippies with their blues and rock, the Mexicans with their soul music. Mixing the blues-rock he loved and the soul music he heard blasting out from the lowriders cruising the streets, along with the socially conscious message songs of the day, Tommy’s own sound was born. He honed his guitar playing to a razor’s edge on the city’s competitive bar scene, where he learned how to capture an audience with his intensely passionate vocals, stellar musicianship and dynamic performances. Almost every major rock and soul act, from Ike & Tina Turner to Janis Joplin to Elvin Bishop and Taj Mahal toured through the area, and Castro was at almost every show. He saw John Lee Hooker, Albert King and Buddy Guy & Junior Wells at the same local blues bar, JJ’s, where he often jammed, dreaming of one day busting out.

Castro began playing in a variety of Bay Area blues and soul bands in his early 20s. He joined Warner Brothers’ artists The Dynatones in the late 1980s, gigging all over the country. After forming the first Tommy Castro Band in 1991, Castro released a series of critically acclaimed CDs for Blind Pig, Telarc and 33rd Street Records, as well as one on his own Heart And Soul label. He signed with Alligator Records in 2009, releasing Hard Believer to massive acclaim. He won four of his six career Blues Music Awards including the coveted B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year Award (the very highest award a blues performer can receive). His relentless road-dog approach—gig after gig, night after night—has won him loyal, lifelong fans everywhere he plays. The Washington Post says Castro is “phenomenal and funky” with “soulful vocals and inspired blues-rock guitar.”

In 2012 Castro formed The Painkillers, creating a lean, mean four-piece lineup, capable of delivering soul-shaking, muscular music. The band released The Devil You Know in 2014 and Method To My Madness in 2015, with critics shouting praise and admirers cheering his every move. Castro had stripped his music down to its raw essence with the new, smaller band, sounding bigger than ever. On record and on stage, Tommy Castro & The Painkillers’ road-hardened, seemingly telepathic musicianship bring an unmatched passion to Castro’s blue-eyed California soul and hard-rocking, good-time songs.

With months of tour dates across the U.S. and Europe, Tommy Castro & The Painkillers will be bringing the songs from their new album directly to their fans. No Depression says, “Castro plays gritty, string bending blues like a runaway soul train…a glorious blend that rocks the soul and lifts the spirits.” Blues Revue simply says, “Tommy Castro can do no wrong.” With Stompin’ Ground, he is clearly, once again, doing everything right.

Stompin' Ground

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Arnold McCuller - Soon As I Get Paid

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 46:10
Size: 105.7 MB
Styles: Soul-blues
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[4:41] 1. Soon As I Get Paid
[4:21] 2. Gods And Monsters
[4:27] 3. Do Right Woman
[2:54] 4. Gasoline And Matches
[4:55] 5. Lonely Teardrops
[4:38] 6. All Good
[4:28] 7. There Is Something On Your Mind
[4:19] 8. The River Knows Your Name
[4:57] 9. The Whale Swallowed Jonah
[6:25] 10. Don't Go Nowhere

Arnold McCuller grew up in Cleveland and, not surprisingly, his early musical background was singing in church, where both his parents were active vocalists. His first major gig was in the national touring company of the musical Hair, and then became part of a soul-styled quartet called Revelation who toured with the BeeGees. In addition to his work as a backing vocalist, he has been appearing in films since 1979, starting with The Warriors, and more recently in The Sum of All Fears, where his voice became the singing voice for a character.

Despite his role primarily as a supporting musician, Soon As I Get Paid is in fact McCuller's eighth album, or ninth if one counts the soundtrack to Hairspray in 2007 on which he was featured. His first release was in 1984 with keyboard man David Benoit.

With McCuller hanging out with world-class musicians for as long has he has, his new CD is, not unexpectedly, a class act. His surprisingly light, but buttery tenor is soulful but understated. His CD is one that achieves its impact through its subtlety and depth. Recorded over just five days in January and February of 2011, the material includes an interesting mix of originals, plus songs from composers ranging from bluesman J.B. Lenoir, to John Hiatt, to contemporary country writers Buddy and Julie Miller. He is joined by some excellent players, including jazz keyboard man Larry Goldings, David Hidalgo of Los Lobos on guitar, along with Mike Landau and David Kalish; Jess Young on additional keyboards, Jimmy Johnson on bass and Gary Novak on drums, most of them first-call studio musicians. McCuller co-produced this fan-funded CD with guitarist Kalish.

Bass Guitar – Jimmy Johnson; Drums – Gary Novak; Guitar – David Hildalgo, David Kalish, Mike Landau; Keyboards, Organ – Jeff Young; Piano, Organ – Larry Goldings; Vocals – Arnold McCuller.

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