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REVIEWS

Billy Truitt — Abstract Truth (J T Dreamwave Music)

(www.facebook.com/billy.truitt.9)

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Billy Truitt is from Idaho and has
associated with the likes of Jack Ely of The Kingsmen fame, and
these days with The Vegas Strip Kings, who have had good reviews
in these pages. Some members of that group also help out here
(saxman Jimmy Carpenter is probably the best-known), and yes,
this will be a favourable review too.

The opener, ‘Who’s Been Trying’ is a good-timing danceable
roots-rocker, whilst ‘No Light Blues’ is a little slower and features some fine guitar work. ‘Truth
Comes Home’ is accordion-driven, adding something of a zydeco feel whilst the guitar work adds
a blues-rock tinge. Waylon Jennings’ ‘Waymore Blues’ is just that, a tribute to Jimmie “The Singing
Brakeman” Rodgers, but a straight blues nonetheless (and some of the lyrics may be borrowed
from Furry Lewis)—Carpenter has a meaty solo on this one too. Country-flavoured blues is

courtesy of ‘Hobo Flatts’, with country harp and pedal steel guitar over a shuffle rhythm.

Billy delves even further into different musical forms with the curious, reggae-flavoured
‘Salvation Or Hell And Famous Potatoes’, and ‘Preacher Stole My Angel’ is straight-up up-tempo
country. The set closes with the seven minutes plus of the jazzy instrumental ‘Ragtime Eastern
Cowboy 22’, allowing all concerned their minute in the limelight. A rather intriguing set, this one.

Norman Darwen

Hervé Lechâble — L’inutile Et L’agréable — Independent

(www.hervlechable.bandcamp.com)

Now this is a nice set, with the title translating as “The Useless
And The Pleasant”. Hervé is a French singer and acoustic guitarist
based in Paris. This is not strictly a blues set, but it certainly put
me in mind of the 60s folk scene, when the blues was an integral
part of any artist’s repertoire. Such is the case with Hervé.

More than half of the album fits into a blues bag. There is the
aptly-titled ‘Harmonica Blues’, and others fit quite readily (try
‘Suzie Blues’), though sometimes there is a jazzy approach and a
lot of whimsy in some songs — and once or twice his approach recalled the Beat poets.

There’s some sax, accordion, bass at times, and a couple of tracks fall into the “musette” category
— French café music to you and me — which in this case I guess can be classed as roots music.
Then again, ‘Chat Toujours’ is a rather fine piece of southern rock… yes, Hervé believes in keeping

his audience on its toes.

As I said at the beginning, this is a nice set. All the songs are in French, of course, but if what
you’ve read interests you, then do investigate.

Norman Darwen