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Gary Cain—Next Stop—Independent

Gary Cain is a Canadian-born singer, guitarist and band-leader,
not afraid to point to injustice with some rather pointed lyrics.
Try the opening ‘Billionaires In Space’ for a good example.

He’s also an extremely talented guitarist. That opener rides a

fine riff, with some hints towards Jimi Hendrix, as does ‘Keep
On Comin’ and this is even more explicit on ‘Confusion’. So he’s
a blues-rocker, yes, but he also has a strong feeling for injecting
the funk into his playing and songs, as on ‘Gatekeeper’.

‘Crazy’ deals with the state of today’s world set to some appropriately furious riffing. One of two
instrumentals, ‘Kitchen Sink’ offers supercharged country-styled picking, a nice change of
direction. So too is ‘Gone’, a generally much quieter number than what has er, gone before. ‘Ain’t
Up To Me’ ups the funk meter again – and considerably so!

Gary actually plays all instruments here, except for the organ on the closing, aptly-titled
instrumental, ‘A Short, Furious Goodbye’ where John Lee helps out. He’s one talented guy, but
then by the time you get to this track, you’ve already realised that for yourself.

Norman Darwen

(Www.garycainbandcom)

Levee Town—Trying to Keep My Head Above Water—
Hudtone

This is an enjoyable CD of mostly rocking blues and roots
music, as ‘The Music Martyr’, the album opener, announces so
well. Levee Town are a trio led by Oklahoma born and vastly
experienced singer and guitarist Brandon Hudspeth, and they
can be a power trio at that, as the second track, ‘Locked Up
For Days’, demonstrates, with its echoes of vintage Cream; this
is strong, riffing blues-rock.

Tilney Erhardt guests on keyboards and can be heard laying
down a swinging cushion on ‘Looking For My Baby’, a straightforward blues shuffle with a
particularly fine guitar break. ‘Gala’ is a rocker with a strong Chuck Berry approach, and Tilney
playing Johnnie Johnson to the guitarist whilst the rhythm section of Jacques Garoutte on bass
and drummer Adam Hagerman drives the song along. ‘Outside Child’ leans towards a jazzier
style, ‘She Might Kill You’ is a pounding almost –blues, and ‘Weight Of The World’ is a rock
ballad that makes me think (oddly enough) of Manchester band Oasis!

‘Tarantino’ is a classic-sounding guitar instrumental, nicely melodic though with something of
a raw edge, and note too that the set finishes off with a worthy rendition of Freddy King’s ‘The
Stumble’.