Sloe Gin

I'm going to start off discussing one of my favorite albums by one of my favorite new artists, Sloe Gin by Joe Bonamassa.

Bonamassa is a 20-something blues/rock guitarist born in Utica, NY. He's influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, opened for BB King at 12 years old, and released his solo debut at age 22 in 2000 after a stint as Smokin' Joe Bonamassa with the band Bloodline. His guitar skills are top notch...one of if not the best new guitarists I've heard lately, and his songwriting and vocal skills are steadily improving.

Most of his albums are collections of blues covers of artists like John Mayall, and even Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin (some of my favorite artists, look for discussions about these guys later), with some originals scattered throughout.

Sloe Gin is his most recent release (2007). While most of his other albums tend to rock more, this one is very rooted in straight blues and some acoustic numbers, with Joe focusing on his singing as well, which previously had been often overlooked, although he does rock out on some tracks.

"Richmond," "Inda," with a sitar-like guitar sound and an actual sitar thrown in, and "Around the Bend" (a rework of a Bonamassa original tune on a previous album Had to Cry Today (2004)) all demonstrate his softer acoustic side. His opening track Chris Whitley cover of "Ball Peen Hammer" does its job, serving as a fantastic hook to set up the rest of the album. The Bad Company cover, "Seagull" was an interesting choice as well, but definitely not a bad one

"One of These Days" and Joe's dobro work on "Jelly Roll," a John Martyn cover are the more blues-rooted tunes, although "...These Days" has a nice instrumental interlude, complete with pianos and a slower guitar solo.

The harder rocking tunes, such as "Black Night" and "Another Kind of Love" (both covers as well) complement the acoustic one to help create a full diverse album.

Finally, the title track "Sloe Gin," originally appearing on a Tim Curry (yes, the actor) album from 1978 is just incredible. I had seen a clip of Bonamassa performing it live on YouTube before the release of the album and was fortunate to see him perform live last year and was blown away by his intensity of his performance. It starts off slow and deliberate, with somber lyrics about drowning sorrows and loneliness in alcohol, going home alone (yet again), and being left bleeding in the street, but what Bonamassa really brings to the song is his two guitar solos, the first played with such emotion that, to take a line from the Beatles, make it sound like his guitar is weeping, and the second going from slow to faster and rockier, without losing the sorrowful mood of the song.

This album is my favorite of all his releases, although as a blues fan I haven't been truely disappointed by anything he's done yet. I probably listened to it 20 times straight through the week it came out, and it is still toward the front of my most played lists almost a year later. Smokin guitar playing, improved vocals, diversity in his song selection, and another strong showing from his backing band make it a musically interesting release, and highly recommended for fans of artists like SRV, John Mayall, BB King, Gov't Mule or similar artists, or anyone interested in blues.

I would also recommend any of his work for people who love to listen to great guitarists. He has a nice blend of technicality, originality, diverse styles, a great tone, and lightning fast fingers. One of the best young guitarists out there today.

If you like this check out his other albums, specifically A New Day Yesterday (2000) and You & Me (2006)

I want to take this chance to say that I get a lot of information from allmusic.com, which I found to be a reliable source of music reviews and where I look first to try to find new music to check out (they have a nice recommended artists feature). I should never take any material directly from them, but I will cite them when I do. If looking for more information I would recommend consulting their site as well.

About this blog

I'm Matt, a 22 year old engineering student at RIT.

I love all kinds of music. I listen to and play music constantly, and recently started recording some as well.

I'm setting up this blog to discuss music of all genres. My goal here is to write about whatever music I am listening to at the time, make some recommendations for people like me that flip through their music collection but don't know what to listen to or are just looking for something new to check out.

I'm sure there are people going "well what does he know." Well let me start by saying that I am not a classically trained musician, although I am pretty well versed in music theory and have my share of music history and discussion classes of all levels under my belt. I also have been playing guitar for 12 years or so (about 8 years of lessons), taught myself some piano and drums, and mess around with pretty much any instruments with strings (mandolin, balalaika, etc), and recently set up a small recording studio in my apartment where I work on my own minor projects. However, I listen to music all the time, but leisurely and critically, and love to talk about it.

You will rarely find me criticizing negatively. I plan on talking mostly about what I like and what I think other people will like. There is a difference between music that is "good" or "interesting" or just "catchy." I try to distinguish these, so don't be surprised if some music that I discuss is not easily accessible or listenable to those that aren't musicians and mostly listen to catchy, radio-friendly songs, but somewhere along the line I'll stumble onto something that you will like. I also won't be going "this is good, this sucks." I want to discuss and will try to back my opinions up with arguments. I hopefully will talk about music of all genres, but I tend to listen to classic rock, blues, alternative, acoustic/folk, and things like that, so there might be more of this kind of stuff, but I do reach out to other stuff too.

I also know that I don't know everything, but I always want to know more, so if you disagree about something let me know and we'll discuss. Like I said I'm always looking for more music to listen to so if anyone has anything they think I should check out or write about let me know about it.