New Blues Review 3-26-24
By Jack Roy
The Wicked Lo-Down – Out of Line (Gulf Coast) “The Wicked Lo-Down, and will release their label debut CD, Out of Line, on March 8th, 2024. The Wicked Lo-Down is comprised of Nick David – Vocals/Harmonica; Paul Size – Guitar; Jeffrey Berg – Guitar/ Background Vocals; Brad Hallen – Bass; and Nick Toscano – Drums. Out of Line was produced by The Wicked Lo-Down and recorded, mixed and mastered by Jeffrey Berg at Walking Stick Studios, Auburn Mass. Formed in 2020 just before the Covid lockdown by guitar giant Paul Size (The Red Devils, Mick Jagger, Sugar Ray & the Bluetones) and powerhouse blues belter Nick David (Mr. Nick & the Dirty Tricks, Queen City Kings), The Wicked Lo-Down blends raw Texas blues and hard hitting Northeast R&B into their own completely original house rockin’ sound. Their debut album, We Hot, received critical acclaim from some of the biggest names in the blues world and beyond. Consisting of ten well crafted, barn burners, We Hot established The Wicked Lo-Down as a true force to be reckoned- with and left no doubt that from Austin to Boston is how they roll.” The latest CD from WLD is a refreshing blend of Texas Blues, guitarist Paul Size reminds me a lot of Jimmie Vaughn guitar style with his lick choices. Nick David’s Vocals are solid and his harmonica playing is thick and toneful. Some of my favorites are “Killing Me or Keep Me”, “Boogeyman”, “Out of Line” with Mike Zito on guitar and and the slow blues of “If I”. I think my favorite on this CD is “Toxic” with Monster Mike Welch on guitar, listen here. I will give this a 10 on Blues Content and a 9+ on Music Content.
Shawn Kellerman – Kell’s Kitchen (Song Surfer) “It all adds up to an album that Kellerman has seemingly been building up to since he first picked up the guitar. Raised in Kitchener, Ontario, he was encouraged by his parents to play blues, particularly his father who ran Kitchener’s famous Pop The Gator club. Through that connection, Kellerman was quickly taken under the wing of the legendary Mel Brown, and by the late ‘90s, he was ready to hit the road, moving to Mississippi when he began his stint with Bobby Rush. Still more experience lay ahead when he was invited to join Lucky Peterson’s band, which boosted Kellerman’s already healthy touring schedule to close to 200 nights a year. Along the way, Kellerman launched a solo career that’s led him to receive many honors at home in Canada, and forge strong bonds with other Canadian blues artists such as Paul Reddick and Carlos Del Junco. It’s a passion for all aspects of the blues that has kept pushing his sound in new directions.” Shawn brings some big hitters in for this album including Bobby Rush, Jason Ricci, Lucky Peterson and Noah Allard to just name a few. Kellerman is an amazing guitarist (as seen from his live performances), but I don’t really put him in the Blues Genre and not a super strong Blues Voice. The most Bluesy song is “We are Blues Men” where Bobby Rush sings on. “Down by the River” is a strong song with Noah Allard singing and Shawn providing some scorching leads! I think my favorite on this CD is “It’s a World of Blues”, but here is a great video of Shawn Playing with Lucky Peterson (great seeing Lucky Peterson again, huge fan and he is missed) and you can see Shawn can really play and make the guitar face!! listen here. I will give this a 7 on Blues Content and a 7 on Music Content.
