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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