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Matt Daniels, Davis Gross (guitar), Bill Held (piano), Matt Raymond (bass) and Michael Bram
(drums) again stay close to the original arrangements with subtle, understated playing.

There are some lesser known SBW songs here – ‘Don’t Lose Your Eye’, ‘Keep It to Yourself’ and

‘Shuckin’ Mama’ – but on another real classic ‘One Way Out’ Mikey and the band both totally
nail it. Many will think that these fairly simple arrangements of straight forward blues tunes
are easy to play but I think the opposite - to get the feel of the original records is very, very
difficult but these guys definitely achieve it. We finish with one of my SBW favourites ‘Keep

Your Hand Out of My Pocket’, again a very authentic take on the original. OK so this Sonny Boy
Williamson isn’t the original Sonny Boy Williamson and he probably tried to piggyback on the

original’s fame but make no mistake his singing, harmonica playing and song writing are first
class. Mikey’s tribute showcases all these strengths but I sometimes felt they were just a little
too close to the original versions and I would have liked to have seen him and the band put more
of their own spin on them.

Graham Harrison

Alice Armstrong—Fury & Euphoria—Independent Records

Alice Armstrong’s new 7-track album/EP(?) starts with a

dramatic, atmospheric track ‘Persephone’ that owes more to
Kate Bush than blues but ‘Punchline’ pulls it back, with Alice

singing over chiming guitar and swelling organ. ‘Good Love’ ups
the pace, it’s a real banger with Alice’s soulful vocals and great
organ and guitar, while the perky ‘Bombshell’ swaps the organ

for piano (it reminded me a bit of the group Sparks!). The drama
is back for ‘Scratching Walls’ a powerful soul ballad and then we
get even more drama with a version of Cher’s ‘Bang Bang (My

Baby Shot Me Down)’ – I can imagine that this goes down really well when performed live – and
we finish with ‘Auto Assassin’ a VERY dramatic slow blues. Much as Alice is the star here with
her very impressive vocals which seem to get better with each release, the band are also excellent

- Olly Knight-Smith (guitar), Greg Coulson (keyboards), Joshua Rigal (bass) and Kevin Hickman
(drums).
Graham Harrison

Mike Henderson—Lastnite at The Bluebird—Qualified
Records

I hadn’t realised that Mike Henderson had died nearly two years

ago - I’ve always enjoyed his slide playing and his rough and
raucous blues in the style of Hound Dog Taylor and I was also
surprised to see him playing blues harp with Joe Bonamassa.

This album was recorded live at Nashville’s Bluebird Café (where
Mike had a Monday night residency for nearly 30 years) with
Mike on vocals and guitar, Kevin McKendree (piano), Steve

Mackey (bass) and Pat O’Connor (drums).