JJ Grey & Mofro, Brighter Days, The Live Concert Film, DVD

JJ Grey is genuine. He takes pride in his days growing up in rural Florida. His music reflects the roots and soul of the swampland world he came from. And he's translated it all into music that has the real ring of truth.

That's what I get out of digging on his live DVD Brighter Days (MVD 5729). The main part of the film is vivid concert footage of him and his band Mofro live in Atlanta, 2011. He is on top and the band is a solid killer. It convinced me that his kind of swamp soul is the real deal.

Otherwise there are nice segments where Grey explains his upbringing and his music and how they relate, plays some acoustic tunes and shows you around his Florida stomping grounds.

Grey is the man and this is dope. I mean it.

Studebaker John, Old School Rockin'

The hard kicking Studebaker John returns to Delmark Records for his follow-up album Old School Rockin' (Delmark 818). He is on fire on a series of 14 hard drivin', blues soaked rockers.

It's a trio of John on hard-edged vocals, blazing electric slide guitar and harp, plus bass and drums.

And yeah, he is pounding out some smokers that will appeal to old school electric blues-a-billy and roots rock fans everywhere.

His voice has a touch of the Captain and the Wolf in there when he reaches back for more, and it's just right to kick out the jams. The band is stomping. The originals do what they do with hip riffs and up-front beat.

My oh my and yes indeed!

Hypnotic Clambake for the Shell-Shocked

Today, a look at another jamband and a free legal download from www.archive.org. I must admit I checked out Hypnotic Clambake because I liked the name. They have been together apparently since at least the mid-90s. The show I listen to was from an appearance at the Sunshine Daydream Festival in Terra Alta, West Virginia on July 21, 2000.

They are a curious mixture of country fiddle two-steps played with electricity, some klezmer influences, novelty tunes, and some more rock-oriented items. As for jams there aren’t all that many, with perhaps the fiddle spots the strongest. There are some arranged moments that have some finesse. Their stoner and novelty tunes left me a little flat. The group didn’t strike me as having strong enough material to carry them, although their musicianship is good. Hypnotic Clambake, or at least this particular show, didn't send me through the roof, I’m afraid.

Originally posted on March 31, 2009 at www.gapplegate.com/musicalblog.html.

The Cave Singers Explore Folk-Roots Indie Rock

The alt-indie scene can be exhilarating. Truly anything goes. Anything can be revisited and transformed. Anything can be appropriated, de-appropriated, combined with anything else. . . .

Into this open environment springs The Cave Singers and their recent release Welcome Joy (Matador). They play a kind of folk-infused, rootsy acoustic-electric rock that has a modified deja vu feel. Yes, we've been to similar places before, but not THIS place exactly.

It's a guitar-centered, vocally rough-hewn, originals-oriented band. And it comes together in a way that makes listening a good thing (and with all the music I plow through weekly, I appreciate that!)

They have a direct approach and it communicates. The songs have interest. The band has interest. What more?