{"id":31637,"date":"2026-09-28T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=31637"},"modified":"2026-06-06T17:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T21:17:07","slug":"album-review-zac-harmon-the-drive-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/28\/album-review-zac-harmon-the-drive-live\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Zac Harmon & the Drive \u2013 Live"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Jackson, Mississippi Zac Harmon native honed his guitar chops early; he was backing Z.Z. Hill and others when still in high school. Moving to L.A. and immersing himself in session work, Harmon proved his skill as producer in a variety of styles including r&b (Alexander O\u2019Neal), Black Uhuru (reggae), soul (Freddie Jackson) and a number of new jack swing artists. He wrote for artists in many genres as well. But when it came to his own career as a musician, Harmon was steeped in the blues.<\/p>\n

Harmon debuted on record under his own name with 2002\u2019s self-released Live at Babe<\/em> and Ricky\u2019s Inn<\/em>. Two years later he won the Best Unsigned Band award at the International Blues Challenge. Other accolades would follow, including Blues Music Awards in 2006 (Best New Artist Debut) and 2022 (Soul Blues Album of the Year).<\/p>\n

Between 2002 and 2021, Harmon released eight albums; three of those were self-released, and the remainder were cut for a variety of labels. Now in 2026 Harmon comes full circle with a self-released live collection. Culled from the best among recordings of concerts in Europe and the U.S., Live<\/em> presents Harmon\u2019s brand of blues: deep grooves, a refined jazz sensibility, top-notch playing and an engaging vibe. The smooth and tuneful “Ntro” opens the set, laying down a sound that allows Harmon, his four band mates and select guest musicians plenty of opportunities to shine.<\/p>\n

“Hump in Your Back” is sophisticated uptown blues with kinetic guitar work, beefy and whip-smart horn charts and soulful vocals. The textural contrast between Harmon\u2019s winning lead style and that of fellow guitarist Kingston \u201cSoul Fingers\u201d Livingston only increases the wattage. Harmon\u2019s original “Blue Pill Thrill” showcases his rich and expressive vocals, but not at the expense of guitar fireworks. The band is super-tight, providing Harmon with just the right sonic canvas.<\/p>\n

The searing, slow blues of “Feet Back on the Ground” gives Harmon the opportunity to lean into soulful subtlety. During the eight-minute tune, the band gets whisper-quiet in places; Harmon answers the near-silence with understated yet passion-filled fretwork. The bouncy, Chicago-style “40 Days” brings the energy back; its call-and-response vocal arrangement is a treat.<\/p>\n

A familiar guitar figure forms the foundation of Harmon\u2019s reading of Otis Mays\u2019 1968 gospel chestnut “Don\u2019t Let the Devil Ride.” In Harmon\u2019s hands, the song is bouncy and upbeat. Duet vocalist Tommye Young-West and guest guitarist Jabari Johnson both add power to the performance. “Boogie Down” is an excuse \u2013 albeit a very good one \u2013 for a round-the-band set of solo spots, some lively musician interplay and plenty of spirited audience participation.<\/p>\n

A searing take on Johnnie Taylor\u2019s 1966 single “Little Bluebird” (written by Isaac Hayes, David Porter and Booker T. Jones) features fiery guitar work and a rousing horn chart. Harmon and the Drive deftly alternate between swagger and subtlety. Its name notwithstanding, Harmon\u2019s “Mississippi Bar B Q” is smooth and soulful jazz-blues in the mold of George Benson. The set concludes with “Slide,” a funky r&b-flavored number with plenty of pop sensibility. As the tune winds toward its end, the band (and the horn players) pull out all the stops, getting ultra-funky for a big finish.<\/p>\n

While the performances are drawn from a variety of sources, Live<\/em> plays like a single concert; Harmon and co-producer Christopher Troy have assembled a seamless set that showcases the musical virtues of Zac Harmon and the Drive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jackson, Mississippi Zac Harmon native honed his guitar chops early; he was backing Z.Z. Hill and others when still in high school. Moving to L.A. and immersing himself in session […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31632,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,39,49,65],"tags":[5956],"class_list":["post-31637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-indie","category-new-release","category-review","tag-zac-harmon","cat-9-id","cat-39-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31637","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=31637"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31638,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31637\/revisions\/31638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}