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has gone home. The boogying ‘Hunker Down’ draws on the advice given on the radio during hurricane

     season on Bill’s Florida home, ‘I Want It All’ is a brassy, rocking blues and ‘You Ain’t Fun Anymore’
     has something of a Rolling Stones feel to it, whilst ‘Indianola’ is a nicely restrained tribute to BB King,
     who Bill first met in 1972. OK, this is not strictly speaking a traditional blues set, but it is close enough
     and very, very enjoyable.
     Norman Darwen

     (www.billblue.online)




                                          Pierce Dipner & Shades Of Blues – Get Out Of Your Life (Inde-
                                          pendent)



                                          Pierce Dipner is a young singer and guitarist out of Pittsburgh, PA

                                          with  a  no  nonsense  blues  sound.  The  title  track  is  a  fine  blues
                                          shuffle, driven along by organ and a kicking rhythm section, whilst

                                          Pierce  has  a  declamatory  vocal  and  provides  some  meaty  guitar

                                          work. The next number of this four track CD EP is ‘Roamin’ Wom-
                                          an’ with a powerful, crunching rhythm, a sax solo by keyboards

     player Jason Kendall, and hints of Freddy King in his early 70s “Shelter” period, leading into the

     more brooding ‘Don’t Get No Sleep’, which reminds me just a little of vintage Led Zeppelin in the
     vocal  and  arrangement.  The  only  cover  version  on  this  release  confirms  that  suspicion  of  an

     influence from Freddy King, being a version of the heavy ‘Going Down’, close to Freddy’s version in
     some ways and different in others. It is a fine performance, as is the EP overall.

     Norman Darwen
     (www.piercedipner.com)




                                          Wildmen Bluesband – “Wildlife” (Independent)


                                          Wildmen Bluesband is a five-piece Dutch blues outfit founded by
                                          guitarist Jos De Wilde in 2011, with the tough-sounding female lead
                                          vocalist Saskia De Nijs adding a distinctive voice. The set opens with

                                          the rocking JB Hutto-flavoured slide guitar blues of ‘Good Friend’,
                                          showing that the band-name is an accurate description, whilst the
                                          following  track,  ‘Cryin’’  is  a  slow  blues  that  has  vocals  a  little
                                          reminiscent of Etta James in her southern soul style and of Janis
                                          Joplin.  Leon  Russell’s    churning  ‘Boogie  Man’  is  the  set’s  only
                                          non-original, and the slow ‘Devil’ is a more than a little reminiscent

     of the blues-rock sound of the very early 70s, with the leader’s guitar work over the fine cushion of
     the  rhythm  section  and  Ruud  Vuijk’s  subtle  keyboards.  ‘Make  The  Best  Of  It’  is  a  funky  BB
     King-inflected blues number with a tinge of Stevie Wonder even if Saskia herself is listening to Robert
     Johnson’s ‘Love In Vain’, as she tells us, and ‘When The Day Ends’ flits between BB King and Cream.
     ‘One Forever’ is a fine, jazzy blues shuffle with a cool organ break, ‘Texas Rumble’ is an unusual blues
     driven along mainly by the excellent bass and drumming of Mark Van Lieshout and Mark Meijran
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