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ful feel to ‘Keep On Walking On’ whilst ‘Hard Times’ is a slide infused slow blues.
‘Roll Like A River’ is another gentle soulful song.

‘I Ain’t No Stranger’ is a slow blues and ‘One Rib Short’ is a tongue in cheek take on
the Adam and Eve story. There is more laid back blues with ‘The Seen And The

Unseen’ and more soul vibes with ‘Even Angels Get Too Sad To Fly’. ‘I Don’t Like Your
Chances’ is a great swinging shuffle before the album closes with the ever soulful
‘Watching The Sun Go Down’.

This is a great laid back album perhaps similar in style to something you might

expect from Eric Bibb. Doug has put a band together that manage to capture such a
cool, soulful bluesy style. I particularly like Lynn Williams work on drums and
percussion throughout the album which really helped to carry things along. The
beautiful vocal harmonies from the Shoals Sisters were an added bonus too. As for

Doug himself he has a great vocal delivery with good diction which at times remind-
ed me of Buddy Guy’s voice whilst his guitar work is steady and precise. This is a
really enjoyable album and highly recommend you give it a spin.

Ged Wilson

Richard Townend and the Mighty Boss Cats -
4000 Weeks—Independent

The contemporary wisdom is that there is a genre
of music called “Americana” which is a kind of
shorthand for “I don’t really know what type of
music this is”.

Americana is a blend of country, country and
western (they are not the same!), rock ‘n’ roll, blues,
gospel, soul and pop music and for those old
enough to remember has an aura to it much like
the skiffle of yesteryear. It’s roots are clearly
American but what goes into the ‘folder’ is perhaps
better labelled as simply ‘the good stuff’.

Richard Townsend and his crew are purveyors of Americana of that ilk, but with
added excellence in the form of exemplary songwriting and musicianship and a
certain fire (especially in the harmonies) in the delivery that sets them apart.

Some of the songs can be classed as social commentary. Take for example the word
play of ‘Gulf of America’ and the lyric ‘there’s a gulf in America’ which is not a
geographical observation! Clever. Similarly ‘Don’t Let the World Change Your Heart’
is a contemporary almost therapeutic song about the need to stay above the fray of
every day (political) life.

All of this stuff is delivered with some fine vocal harmonies from Richard and the
boys (Matt Gillam (bass and vocals), Mark Hall (drums, percussion, and vocals), and
wonderful, skilled musicianship. Check it out, you won’t regret it and you may get
a lift.

Ian K McKenzie