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The album opens with ‘Back To You’ and the band carry all the power of the Bran-

don Santini original. The classic ‘Rollin’ & Tumblin’ gets a good workout with a nice
organ break from Stephen Brandon. ‘Bitter Man’ a DC Blues original takes things
down a little with some more lovely keyboards. The guitar and keys pull together a

really nice vibe with a great riffy groove on JJ Grey’s ‘Mississippi’.

The Bo Diddley classic ‘Who Do You Love’ gets the funked up treatment to good ef-

fect and Paul’s vocals really shine on this one. There is also a trip back to the
1970’s here with a drum solo no less! The album closes with a good old style 12
bar shuffle to get the feet tapping on ‘Nervous Man’ another self penned tune.

When making a live album there are always challenges you don’t necessarily face in
the studio. You do not have the same production and editing tools to work with and

on occasion the timings and balance here seemed to slip and become a little dis-
jointed although the energy did shine through.

With a live album I like to get the feeling that I’m there in the audience and this is
usually created with the natural reverb the venue gives off as well as the chatter,
clapping and cheering in the background and whilst there were hints of this on the

last track it seemed to be missing overall. Perhaps I’m being too critical here hav-
ing been spoilt with classic live albums in the past from the likes of Humble Pie,

Rory Gallagher and Colosseum to name but three. On this evidence though you
must go and see DC Blues live if you get the chance and I’m looking forward al-
ready to their next release.

Ged Wilson

Dave Arcari—Devil May Care—Buzz Records

Dave Arcari is well known on the British blues circuit
and beyond for his own distinctive style of Alt. Blues. He

is also a great ambassador for roots music in Scotland
too so I am keen to hear his latest offering.

The album opens with the title track ‘Devil May Care’ a
song based on local folklore. A great slide guitar riff

drives this along underpinned with the drums of Chris
McMullan which gives off a flavour of Seasick Steve, I really liked this one. ‘1923’ is
a moving tale of his father’s exploits whilst the political observations in ‘Time Will

Come’ have a slight Bob Dylan vibe about them.

Dave reworks the traditional Scottish favourite, ‘Loch Lomond’ with Jamie Wilson

on violin and locals helping out singing along with the chorus. There is a sense of