#rory block

A new tagging game is on. This time, 5 favourite songs with any kind of drink in the title are needed. Here are mine:

Song Review: Dion with Susan Tedeschi - “Soul Force”

Susan Tedeschi doesn’t sing on Dion’s “Soul Force,” but, woman, does she play.

And, frankly, what self-respecting vocalist - female or male - would want to deliver such lines as:

In every game I always won the prizes/takin’ home the trophy in all sizes/when I keep talkin’ this girl walkin’/I gotta do something new to catch her eye, as Dion does on “Soul Force?”

The radio-friendly, blues-rock music is unfortunately no more imaginative than the lyrics on the lead single from Dion’s forthcoming Girl Friends, though Tedeschi’s guitar work salvages the otherwise-moribund track. Out March 8, the LP features appearances from Rory Block, Shemekia Copeland, Maggie Rose, Joanne Shaw Taylor and others.

Grade card: Dion with Susan Tedeschi - “Soul Force” - C

A Record A Day Keeps The Blues Away

DION „Blues with friends“

Dion DiMucci turned 82 in mid-July, making him even a bit older than the legendary colleague who praises him to the skies: Bob Dylan (80).

"Blues With Friends" is the fulfillment of a lifelong vision, Dion says of the album, describing his long-standing relationship with the tradition-rich genre: "The blues has been at the heart of my music since the early 1960s." Dion didn't want an album with just twelve bars and triplets but an album of songs that are strong, memorable and tell stories.

The album result is inspiring. Each accompanist on the 14 tracks is a musical personality and Dion is at the center of the songs.

All but two of the original songs co-composed by Dion are clearly under Dion's vocals. The musical stamp can usually rather put on the musicians who are known for their instrumental skills such as Joe Bonamassa , Brian Setzer, Jeff Beck and others.

The presented song selection, which offers all blues compatible, respectively well complementary formats, is very entertaining and coherent in itself.

Song Review(s): Cindy Cashdollar - “Foggy Mt. Rock” (feat. Albert Lee) and “Ring Them Bells” (feat. Amy Helm)

With help from Albert Lee and Amy Helm, respectively, Cindy Cashdollar converts Flatt & Scruggs and Bob Dylan songs into tracks from her sophomore solo LP.

The veteran steel guitarist (Asleep at the Wheel) will release Waltz for Abilene Feb. 21 and the initial singles indicate it will be a diverse - potentially uneven - affair.

Fully electrified and instrumental, “Foggy Mt. Rock” is a barnburner as Cashdollar and Lee weave their guitars into a tapestry of hard-charging country-blues-rock-grass that’s impossible to resist.

“Ring Them Bells” is the antithesis - acoustic, with Helm over-singing Dylan’s words and lessening their impact in the process. Cashdollar’s Dobro is gorgeous; however, and leaves the listener to wonder why this wasn’t cut sans vocals.

Other guests on the LP include Larry Campbell, John Sebastian, Rory Block and Sonny Landreth.

Grade card: Cindy Cashdollar - “Foggy Mt. Rock” (feat. Albert Lee) and “Ring Them Bells” (feat. Amy Helm) - A-/C+

Song Review: Rory Block - “In My Girlish Days”

On the back cover of her forthcoming tribute to the foundational women of blues, Rory Block lists the members of her eponymous band.

They play lead, slide, rhythm and bass guitars, percussion and sing lead and vocal harmonies. And they’re all named Rory Block.

Block is a busy woman on the lead single from Prove it on Me (March 27), as the redo of Memphis Minnie’s “In My Girlish Days” features all of these elements. It’s a smooth recasting; perhaps a bit too smooth, but knowing it’s all the work of one musician makes it all the more impressive.

Grade card: Rory Block - “In My Girlish Days” - B