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pawnshop and ‘I’ve Been Low’ ups the pace with great heartfelt singing from Damon and a slide
guitar solo.

Jason Ricci enters for the rocking ‘Some Things Change’, ‘Don’t Feel Like Going There Today’ has
a reggae groove and ‘Tax Man’ (apparently a song based on fact) is a slow blues with Jason taking

an extended harp solo. Little Walter’s ‘Up the Line’ is an instrumental heavy upbeat song with
nice guitar and harp breaks – Jason is in fine form on all his tracks and his playing isn’t too way
out here. ‘Fruit Stand Lady’ (from Damon’s second album) sees Eddie Wright enter the fray with
this song with some nice food-based double entendres and ‘Old Fools, Bar Stools and Me’ is a
melodic, poignant country song. We finish with the title track from Damon’s first album ‘Sugar
Shack’ a 12-minute tour-de-force that starts with lovely slide guitar then builds up with Damon
swapping licks with song-writing partner Ed Wright. I’ve been a fan of Damon since that first
album and for some reason I still think of him as a young man but on this album especially he
emerges as a truly mature artist who has also had spells in the bands of Butch Trucks and Dicky
Betts. He delivers ‘Old Fools, Bar Stools and Me’ with the world-weary gravitas of a George Jones
or Johnny Cash and he is very assured throughout with both his vocals and guitar playing being
top notch and although the sound isn’t perfect it does capture the live atmosphere.

Graham Harrison

J D Simo—Songs from the House of Grease—Crows Feet
Records ASIN —B0BF6V87YJ

Chicago-born and now Nashville-based guitarist/singer J D Simo
gives us an album that has blues songs like Fred McDowell’s
‘Mortgage On My Soul’ and Blind Alfred Reed’s ‘How Can A Poor
Man Stand Such Times And Live’ but also Mongo Santamaria’s
‘Afro Blue’ as famously covered by John Coltrane. He’s backed by
Todd Bolden (bass) and long-term partner Adam Abrashoff

(drums) who together with JD form a real power trio reminiscent
of Cream as they provide a firm but swinging basis for his extended
soloing. On the two blues songs JD plays slide guitar, the Fred
McDowell song is rocked up but Alfred Reed’s song is delivered fairly faithfully. I liked ‘Afro
Blue’ with JD’s guitar lines being fluid and melodic over the relentless skipping rhythm section.
‘Missy’s Strut’ is a funky nod of appreciation to The Meters and ‘Higher Plane Pt. 1 and Pt. 2’ is a
13-minute song that builds up to a screaming guitar climax. I thought that this was an interesting
record that showcases both JD’s expansive guitar playing as well as the highly competent rhythm
section but at around 38 minutes long it is a tad short.

Graham Harrison

Eddie 9V—Capricorn—Ruf Records ASIN —B0BKCWP3LC

I loved Eddie’s last two albums which were raw blues with the
enthusiasm of youth and showed the influence of a number of
blues greats without actually sounding exactly like any of them.
This new record moves more to Southern Soul and it was recorded
at Capricorn Studios in Macon Georgia (home to the Allman
Brothers Band, the Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, Percy Sledge
and Bonnie Bramlett etc, and again it references various soul
genres and artists. ‘Beg, Borrow and Steal’ gets us under way with
riffing brass like a Stax throw back and ‘Yella Alligator’ has a more

modern groove that reminded me of the funky modern blues of G.