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Harley Kimbro Lewis—Harley Kimbro Lewis—Independent

Harley Kimbro Lewis are Brit singer-songwriter and blues slide
player Martin Harley, Daniel Kimbro bass player with the Jerry

Douglas Band and the Earls of Leicester and Sam Lewis a
Nashville based singer-songwriter. The album was recorded at
Wow & Flutter Studios in Nashville and it reminded me of Mark

Knopfler and The Notting Hillbillies with its similar mixture of
old timey acoustic country and blues. ‘Grey Man’ is quite bluesy,
while ‘Neighbors’ (sic) is very country and ‘Creepin’ Charlie’ has

a real Hank Williams vibe, complete with some nice lap steel from
Harley and some lovely double bass from Kimbro.

More lap steel on ‘Cowboys in Hawaii’, ‘Good Guy’ is more country but ‘Rosary’ begins with a lovely

picked ragtime intro before segueing into a poignant romantic ballad. ‘Who’s Hungry’ is an
unusual, slightly jazzy song, ‘I Gotta Chair’ is an amusing song about the ‘joys’ of owning a house
complete with banjo and we head to the Far East for an odd location for a country song ‘Tokyo’.

However, ‘Whiskey Decisions’ brings us back to a classic country theme (plus smoking in bed!)
‘What To Do’ is a laid-back blues that name checks Taj Mahal, Nina Simone and JJ Cale and has a
nice slide solo from Harley and the closer ‘Man Get A Hold of Yourself’ is a nifty little song that
advises us to be careful (“burn the wax out of your ear‽”). This is a well-made and well-played

record that sounds really good, it pays homage to older forms of music but does it with a knowing
touch of humour, unfortunately for me there was rather too much country influence and not enough
blues.

Graham Harrison

The Blues Band—So Long—Repertoire Records ASIN :
B09Q1YF97J

So is this the final record from The Blues Band? Who knows, I
don't really see Paul Jones or any of the others giving up music

and consigning themselves to rocking chairs. We begin here with
Skip James' 'Hard Time Killing Floor' with Dave Kelly on the

vocals. It’s a band song but with mandolin to give it a bit of the
Skip James ethereal sound, Dave also sings on the original song
'Tough Times' which features old mate Bob Hall on piano as well
as Zoot Money on organ. 'Hoggin' is a funky original this time

with Paul on vocals/harp and Ben Waters on piano with some nice guitar from Tom McGuinness
and Gary Fletcher stands up to sing on the unusual 'Don't Let It Be You', powered along by Rob
Townsend's drums. 'Them Old Crossroads Blues' is a Dave Kelly song featuring his slide guitar and

with boogie piano from Mr. Hall that tells Dave's story of how he got into blues with name checks
for Son House, sister Jo-Ann, Bob Hall and Tony McPhee.