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Eric Gales on electric lead guitar. The title track is probably my favourite track, it begins with a

profound quote from Martin Luther King and then develops into a funky trance blues with great
production by Glen Scott as Eric muses on the state of America today (through the lens of his long
exile in Europe) and the very slow progress on civil rights since the 1960s.

‘Different Picture’ and ‘Tell Him’ are typical Eric Bibb songs—thoughtful and melodic—and
‘Emmett's Ghost’ revisits the story of the young civil rights activist [Emmett Till, Ed] murdered in
Mississippi in the 1950s with Eric wondering if things have changed much since that time (and the

song was written before the recent George Floyd incident). ‘White & Black’ is more musing on race
relations and ‘Along the Way’ is a general song about forgiveness and ‘Talkin’ ’Bout A Train - Parts
1 & 2’ are train songs that refer to blues history and lyrics, with part 1 featuring Billy Branch on
harmonica and part 2 getting funky with riffing brass and backup vocals and the funk continues on
‘Love’s Kingdom’. We finish with ‘One-ness Of Love’ a melodic gospel song with Eric sharing the

vocals with Lisa Mills and comes complete with strings.

Despite Eric’s lovely voice and the great playing throughout this record definitely isn’t easy
listening, the themes here are difficult and the conclusions are depressing but I'm so glad that Eric
continues to push the envelope of not just the sound of the blues but also its lyrical content.

Graham Harrison

Altered Five Blues Band—Holler If You Hear Me—Blind Pig

Records—ASIN: B095M28P1F

This is prime Chicago-style blues from the band from Milwaukee,
recorded in Nashville with Tom Hambridge in the producers
chair and featuring Jason Ricci (the Jimi Hendrix of the
harmonica) on five tracks including the opening title track, a
blasting blues. The 13 songs here are all originals and are all

very good, check out ‘Guilty of a Good Time’ which starts out
slowly but picks up as it describes a wild night out that many of
us will relate to, “a big old bar tab and a drunk tattoo”(?). Singer
Jeff Taylor has a fabulous voice, powerful and rich—the equal of
any of the great modern blues singers—B.B. King, Bobby Bland or
Elmore James—listen to him testify on the slow blues ‘Holding On With One Hand’ which also
features great guitar from Jeff Schroedl (who wrote or co-wrote all the songs here) and with Ricci

on harp.

‘Full Moon, Half Crazy’ is a fast-paced rocker, Ricci is back for the moody ‘Where's My Money’ and
‘I Got All I Need’ is a soulful mid-tempo shuffle with the rhythm section of Mark Solveson (bass)
and Alan Arber (drums) anchoring the beat and featuring a jazzy electric piano break from
Raymond Tevich. 'In The Name Of No Good' is another celebration of a good night out "sometime
every man should live it up, in the name of no good..." while 'Leave Before I Let You Down' is a

heartfelt slow blues and 'Fifteen Minutes Of Blame' is a slice of blues funk. We finish with 'Big
Shout Out' - Jason Ricci is back to help the band name-check “everybody who built the blues” with
its roll call featuring amongst many others Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and
Howlin' Wolf. The band doesn't really need guest stars but as befits the best guests Mr. Ricci is on
his best behaviour here and adds a bit of extra variety without being too out there. I really enjoyed

this record which features great playing and production and excellent original songs sung by one of