Review by Jon Birch
Blues musician Seasick Steve emerged onto the scene back in
2006 with his debut solo album, Dog House Music. Helped by a storming
performance on Jools Holland’s annual Hootenanny, the record took off in a big
way, bringing authentic and honest electric blues to a new generation.
Hubcap Music is Seasick‘s fourth studio album in seven years.
A decent output for a young up and coming band but, when you consider Seasick
Steve is now in his early 70’s (he puts himself at either 71 or 72), it becomes
even more impressive. Having waited all his life for the opportunity to share
his music, he’s certainly making the most of it.
Having left home in his early teens, Seasick Steve’s life
has taken him to a myriad of high’s and lows’; jumping freight trains in search
of work, flitting through San Francisco in the 60’s, busking for change in the
Paris Metro before working as a session musician for some of the biggest names
in the music industry (he’s notoriously coy on this subject “because I hate name dropping, and
anyways, they was just jobs.”).
Much of the album is typical Seasick Steve. His forte is driving,
foot stomping, electric blues and you’ll find it hard to sit still when he gets
going. As you would expect of a musician with so much life experience, he
continually draws on his own experiences and those things close to his heart; ‘Down
On The Farm’, is a Bluesy ode to his love of the country life and, on ‘Self
Sufficient Man’, a thumping 12 bar blues, he sings ‘I've been taking care of
myself, since I was 13 years old’; an honest account of having to grow up
quickly in a tough world.
Raw electric blues may be at the albums heart but the soul
is provided in the softer moments. Possibly the stand out track of the record, ‘Purple
Shadows’ is a stunning duet with Country star Elizabeth Cook and Over You, is a
Bluegrass ditty on the inevitable end of a relationship. Seasick even show’s
his soulful side on ‘Coast is Clear’, complete with trumpets and saxophones.
Whereas many of his contemporaries, such as Jack White and
The Black Keys, have developed a sound inspired by the old time Blues Players,
Seasick Steve somehow feels more authentic. He is an old time Blues Player. You know what you’re going to get with
Seasick Steve; let’s be honest, there’s no danger of his style evolving.
However the stand out moments here easily rank up there with his best work, and
it’s an album that you’ll find more depths to each time you listen.
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