Once again, I am very sorry about the infrequency of posts. I have just been incredably busy recently, and havn't had time to breath, let alone blog about music (I was up till 4am last night wrestling with sql server 2005). But the good news is that I have a new laptop, and as such, all my old music has come out of storage and is once again on my harddrive where it belongs (got an HP Pavilion dv9000, which comes with dual 110 gig HDs, which is a huge change from my old 40 gig dinosaur). So, to apologize for the lack of posts, I will give you guys two of the best old-time bluesmen around nowadays. (the other one will come tomorrow.)
Alvin "Youngblood" Hart is the kind of artist that renews your faith that the old music is too universal to ever truely die. He has a nice mix of origional music in the traditional style, and traditional music with his own personal touch, which is exactly what folk players are supposed to do.
The album kicks off with the title track, Big Mama's Door, and from the first slide I sat up and started paying attention. There is something about slidwork on a national that just cant be beat, it has a more aggressive tone then acoustic, but more warmth and character then an electric. In short, perfect for the blues. Big Mama's Door is a phenomenal song, but then Joe Friday starts, and I knew I was a fan for life. One of my all time favorite blues songs, there are not many people who could play (or sing) a song like that.
The album continues after that with many old friends (France Blues, Thing's Bout Commin My Way, Pony Blues, Hillbilly Willie's Blues), and plenty of new ones. I guarentee anyone who loves bottleneck will instantly fall in love with Alvin Hart, and if you arent and would like to get into the genre, this is a great place to start.
