Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Don Scott – Slidin Sideways

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This CD review was originally published in the October 15, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Don Scott – Slidin’ Sideways | Album Review

Self Release

www.donscottblues.com

10 tracks / 40:31

Minnesotan Don Scott has been playing the blues for five decades, and his current blend of roots and blues is unique as it brings the music down to its most basic levels. He has toured the world, both as a solo artist and with numerous bands that include the Dust Bowl Blues Band (a founding member!), Lazy Bill Lucas, Mighty Joe Young, and the magnificent Janiva Magness.

Over the years, Don has cut six CDs, the latest of which is Slidin' Sideways. This is a cool release with six originals, four covers and the bare minimum of instrumentation. Scott takes on the vocals and guitars, with pianist Raul Altamirano joining in on a few tracks. So, there are no drums, bass, keyboards, or harmonica to be found and because of this, these arrangements wind up with a raw roots mood and sound.

This ten-song set is bookended by live tracks that Scott and Altamirano recorded at Loot in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. This beach town is the perfect setting for Don's kind of blues, and he kicks off the album with the title track, an original instrumental. He cranks out five minutes of righteous slide work on his National guitar as Raul adds a bit of his best honkytonk. And the set finishes up with Willie Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle" which gives Raul a bit more room to stretch his legs as Scott belts out the vocals.

The standout cut on Slidin' Sideways is "Some Other Day," a song about the plight of the modern soldier. Scott plays a heavy Spanish guitar under heart-wrenching lyrics of how much more we should be doing for those that have given so much of themselves to our country. This song is followed up by the jaunty "Blue Blake Rag," which is a jolting transition. Don does some amazing guitar work on this one over the steady beat provided by Raul's hammering left hand.

The roundup of covers is pretty cool, and they include cool stuff like Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson's "Kidney Stew," and Roosevelt Sykes' "Persimmon Pie" (how risqué!). But the coolest of these is Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys' "My Shoes Keep Walkin' Back to You," which has also been done very well by Ray Price, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Costello. This is heady company and Don Scott holds his own with just his hard-hitting guitar to back up his plaintive wails of loneliness.

You will find that all of the songs are neat, but there are a few production issues with noise and volume levels that mean this might not be the slickest CD that you have heard recently. Despite these nit-pickings, Slidin' Sideways is a fun album, and Don Scott has talent galore that translates into a wonderful live show. It would be a great idea to head over to his website to check his gig schedule, as he gets all over the country. There are gigs in six states from Arizona to New York on his schedule right now, and you can be sure that more will be added soon.

NAMM 2017: Product Spotlight – Boveda 2-Way Humidity Control System

Aloha!

I am pretty sure that most guitarists know that humidity affects the way their instrument plays, and that long term exposure to environments that are too damp or too dry are detrimental to their axe. But how many actually do something about it? Lump me into that group too, I am just as guilty…

There have been desiccant packs and in-case humidifiers for years, but the user of these products has to know the what the actual humidity is to decide which solution to use, which can end up being a lot of work. The best solution would be a product that works to achieve the optimal humidity without a lot of user input, and it turns out that there is a product like this out there: the Boveda 2-Way Humidity Control system.

I thought the 2-Way Humidity Control system was pretty darned neat when I saw it last week as the NAMM show. Jason, Boveda’s VP of Operations, took the time to walk me through the details of the science and how it is applied, and I am now a believer in this technology.

This is an easy product to use, all you need to do is purchase the starter kit for $29.95, and you will be set within a few minutes. The kit includes four Boveda packs and two fabric holders. The packs are a paper-like material with a liquid in them, so they are kind of squishy. Put one or two of them in the fabric holders and hang them through the soundhole of your guitar or put them in the case and you are good to go -- nothing to soak, no hygrometer, and no drama. When it feels like the contents of the pack have dried out, it is time to replace it.

This sounds kind of magical, but there is legitimate science behind this product. There are a few scientific principles that state that a saturated solution of salt in water will maintain a constant level of relative humidity inside an enclosed chamber. You can vary the salts or type of salts to achieve different levels of relative humidity (for guitars 45% to 50%), put this solution into a bag with a semi-permeable membrane, and it will be able to maintain that lever of humidity inside a closed guitar case.

Thee are a few things to keep in mind, of course. The Boveda packs should last for 3 to 6 months, but if you have a wood case the first set will not last that long. The wood in the case can dry out, and it might need to be hydrated too. It is always a good idea to keep the case closed, even at gigs where you might leave it open, so it does not dry out again.

It is not possible to overdo things with the Boveda packs. The more you put in the case, the longer they will last. The science will not change, and they will continue to constantly adjust to the target relative humidity. It is a good idea to use the fabric holders that are provided in the starter kit, as they are soft and will help contain leaks should you happen to poke a hole in one of the packs. Also, keep in mind that Boveda sells these products with different target relative humidity levels for tobacco, food storage, and herbal medicines, so make sure you order the right stuff.

I think the Boveda 2-Way Humidity Control system is pretty slick, and it is cheap insurance to help prevent your instrument from cracking and warping. As I said, the starter pack is around $30, and you can buy 4-packs for $15.98. They supply this product to D’Addario too, so you might see them in their packaging at your local music store. For more details or to purchase online, go to bovedainc.com

Mahalo!

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Doug Otto and Hurricane Harold – Blues at Barkin’ Jack’s

Good day!

This CD review was originally published in the February 19, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Doug Otto and Hurricane Harold - Blues at Barkin’ Jack’s

Self Release

10 tracks / 36:53

A lot of new blues music has to be described in terms of the other genres that have influenced its sound, for example, blues-rock, country-blues, and the old standard: rhythm and blues. There is no struggle to figure this out with Doug Otto and Hurricane Harold’s new CD, Blues at Barkin’ Jacks. This release is mostly blues at its most basic level – guitar, voice, and harmonica, and all of it is played with a remarkable brilliance. No drums, bass or keyboard were needed to achieve their goals, and the effect is really cool.

Both of these gentlemen hail from the Twin Cities, and those long cold winters in the great white north have apparently given them the opportunity to hone their chops! Doug Otto provides the guitar and vocals for this project, but he also finds plenty of work with his own bands, the Getaways and North Country Bandits, as well as sitting in with the No Accounts. Hurricane Harold Tremblay is a master harmonica man (a mentor of Curtis Blake), and co-founder of Cool Disposition. He also hosts a weekly blues show on KFAI radio in Minneapolis and leads the All-Star Revue, which features some truly fine artists from Minnesota – he is a genuine renaissance man.

Blues at Barkin’ Jacks has ten tracks that are mostly covers of wonderful vintage blues tunes, along with three originals that were written by Otto. It was recorded live in the studio with no overdubs and no more than two takes for any song. Jeremy Johnson did a wonderful job of engineering and mixing the guys’ time in the studio, and the final product has a clean sound that makes it sound like these guys are playing in your living room.

After starting off the set with a slow-driving rendition of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Asked for Water,” the duo plays the first of the three originals, “Broken Thoughts.” Otto’s writing on these songs has more of a roots and country-blues theme, and all of them are well suited to his pleasant tenor vocal range (which makes him sound a bit like Eric Clapton). His songwriting is mature, with good imagery and phrasing, which can also be found on “Heart to Heart” and “My Time is Moving Slow.” The latter gives Tremblay a chance to sing harmonies, which is a cool effect as his voice lends a unique droning effect. This is the standout track in the album, without a doubt.

The rest of the songs are straight-up Maxwell Street blues material, as can be heard from Muddy Waters’ “Long Distance Call,” which uses subtle electric guitar chording with a heavy bass beat while Harold shows off his fine feel for the harp. Otto’s guitar tone is outstanding on Skip James’ haunting classic “Hard Time Killing Floor,” and he also delivers a surprisingly good falsetto vocal performance, which is a hard thing to accomplish for most singers.

The classics continue with Lonnie Johnson’s “She’s Making Whoopie (in Hell Tonight)” which would be a hard song to write today, but in 1930 there were no political correctness police to contend with. There are also a couple of well-done Robert Johnson tunes, “Hell Hound on My Trail” and “Kind Hearted Woman,” that are delivered in a wonderfully laconic style.

Despite the good craftsmanship these gentlemen showed on the cover tunes, the originals are exceptionally special, and are the highlight of this disc. A full-length album of Otto-penned originals would surely be a good listen, and hopefully this pair will have the chance to continue their work and head back to the studio to give us a bit more of this wonderful stuff.

There is a lot to like about Blues at Barkin’ Jack’s, and Doug Otto and Hurricane Harold really delivered the goods. Their bare bones live sound is clear, and the selection of tunes that they assembled works well together. There is no mistaking this album for anything but the blues, and you should certainly give it a listen!

Mahalo!