Stompin\u2019 Ground<\/i><\/a>. The band\u2019s approach on that and many other releases explored textures beyond the blues: r&b, rock and so forth. As the new album\u2019s title implies, this time around Castro focuses on the blues. It\u2019s a welcome excursion, as Castro understands the form, and brings freshness and vitality to the project. Notable guests include Jim Pugh, producer Kid Andersen and Chris Can \u2013 but the latter plays piano, not guitar. Uptempo is the feel, and good-timing is the attitude. Everyone sounds like they\u2019re having a good time.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/jimmy_vivino.jpg\")
Jimmy Vivino \u2013 <\/b>Gonna Be 2 of Those Days<\/b><\/i>
\nVivino was in town just last month; I was out of the country and missed the show. My guess is that Gonna Be 2 of Those Days<\/i> does a good job of capturing his live sound and feel. Vivino is known as the latest in a proud lineage of guitarists for Canned Heat, but on his solo album, he showcases his own stomping, hard-bluesin\u2019 style. He\u2019s an expressive player and a powerful vocalist. John Sebastian and Joe Bonamassa guest on select tracks. The smoky, simmering \u201cAin\u2019t Nuthin\u2019s Gonna Be Alright\u201d is a fine number, and it\u2019s representative of the album.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sean_chambers.jpg\")
Sean Chambers \u2013 <\/b>Live From Daryl\u2019s House Club<\/b><\/i>
\nSean Chambers got an early and well-deserved break playing with Hubert Sumlin. After the passing of Kim Simmonds, he hooked up with the Savoy Brown rhythm section (bassist Pat DeSalvo and drummer Garnett Grimm). The trio was captured live at Daryl Hall\u2019s venue for this twelve-song collection. The set list draws from Chambers originals, Savoy Brown classics (\u201cCobra\u201d and \u201cStreet Corner Talking\u201d), blues standards (Muddy Waters, Howlin\u2019 Wolf etc.) and even a ZZ Top cover. Chambers is a credible vocalist, and the lean and mean trio format give him plenty of space to showcase his vocals and sizzling guitar work.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tony_holiday.jpg\")
Tony Holiday \u2013 <\/b>Keep Your Head Up<\/b><\/i>
\nMemphis-born (and L.A.-based) vocalist\/harmonica player Tony Holiday has crafted an appealing collection of songs in Keep Your Head Up<\/i>. He employs a long list of players on this eight-song release, infusing the original songs with tasty bits of horn, electric piano, slide guitar and more. Holiday\u2019s focus, however, is mostly on his soulful vocals; they\u2019re the centerpiece of the set. Notable guests include Albert Castiglia, Eddie 9V and Kevin Burt. Holiday\u2019s tasty harp work isn\u2019t showcased as much as one might expect, but when it is, it\u2019s on point. Opener \u201cShe\u2019s a Burglar\u201d gives a good taste of the record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yet more of my quick, capsule reviews. This time: the blues. Carly Harvey \u2013 Kamama I\u2019ve been meaning to review this one for awhile; I\u2019m sorry it\u2019s taken so long. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[5666,5622,5664,3286,5665],"class_list":["post-29256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-carly-harvey","tag-jimmy-vivino","tag-sean-chambers","tag-tommy-castro","tag-tony-holiday","cat-9-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29262,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29256\/revisions\/29262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/carly_harvey.jpg\")
Carly Harvey \u2013 <\/b>Kamama<\/b><\/i>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tommy_castro_bone.jpg\")
Tommy Castro and the Painkillers \u2013 <\/b>Closer to the Bone<\/b><\/i>