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years later, some of his awe at the show still came through. That’s the kind of impression Wolf
could, and still does, make… Just listen.

Norman Darwen

Steve Keenan – in My Hands - Independent

(www.stevekeenanband.com)

The opener of this all-original set is a strong piece mixing
southern rock with country. It is presumably Steve playing the
fiddle here (it was his first instrument), and it is followed by the

country styled ‘Lucky One’. Stick with it though, blues lovers, as
‘Drowning Sorrows’ is a fine, catchy blues with echoes of
Creedence Clearwater Revival maybe, ‘Gambler’s Hand’ is a
soulful bluesy ballad, and ‘Doin’ Fine’ is a blues with a funky
edge.

So who is Steve Keenan? Well, he’s a singer and guitarist from Lethbridge, Alberta in Canada, and
this is his debut album, with his band consisting of Gary Drayton on keyboards, David Popovitch on
bass and Darwin Romanchuk on drums. It’s not a blues-rock outfit per se (although ‘Dream Train’
has elements of that approach), the music is far more subtle, as on the title track, with its strong
Americana tinge (ditto ‘I Don’t Need A Million’), and The Rolling Stones-ish ‘Something New’.

The album closer is ‘Whiskey Drinking Blues’, a lovely boogie-shuffle. I do have a complaint though
– the track only runs to almost three and a half minutes, a couple more minutes would have been
appreciated!

Norman Darwen

The Hitman Blues Band – Not My Circus, Not My Monkey -

Nerus

(www.hitmanbluesband.com)

Prior to lockdown, New York singer/ guitarist/ songwriter/
bandleader Russell “Hitman” Alexander and his band were
regular visitors to these shores. With this set, they show us what
we’re missing at the moment, and prove that their strap-line of
“original modern blues” is just about right.

Hitman himself usually works with a bunch of horn players, and
here there are three saxmen (alto, tenor and baritone) and a
trumpeter, besides keyboards, bass drums and backing vocalists.
As a result the sound is big and often funky blues, frequently with a strong sense of humour,
though, a little surprisingly and nicely unpredictably, there is also a brief sacred interlude with
Russell’s re-workings of Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ as a mean and moody

blue/soul-styled update and Son House’s ‘John The Revelator’ as a soulful piece of subtle blues- and
soul-inflected rock (with a slide guitar solo). The album’s other cover is Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times
They Are A-Changing’, a tough slab of modern blues-rock with some classic soul touches.