Whiskey Island Records artist - Jeff Powers - If It Ain't This It's That - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, If It Ain't This It's That, from Jeff Powers and it's a sliding extravaganza. Opening with a euphoric slide soundscape, Dirt Road Blues/ Beer And Whiskey Coffee and Cigarettes opens up to a ragged blues on a cigar box guitar, not unlike other very successful contemporary raw blues players like Dan Auerbach and Jack White. Very cool. Miss My Ball and Chain has a lot of the characteristics of Son House but with a contemporary spin and a lot of frenzy. Another cool track! Bad Bad Luck (Bad Luck Boogie) really gets the meat grinding. This is one of the few all cb one man band releases that I've reviewed and I really lke it. Of course I've seen Moreland and Arbuckle as well as Super Chikan but this is a different game. Cold Wind In Cleveland has a real basic blues blues structure but with more modern vocal phrasing. Careful What You Wish For continues along the same lines but with more contemporary guitar styling again on the cb. Well I Wish is a real blues romper with roots in the Muddy Waters. This is a great track and a great addition to the release. Went Down To Mississippi keeps it simple allowing the cb do that talking. Wild Child (The Ballad of Brian Power) is really a country ballad with the melody echoed on cb guitar. With a lot of the characteristics of RL Burnside it maintains the raw pureness of country mountain blues. Juke Joint Jam feels like it's right out of a southern juke jam. Powers shows that he has been there and does an excellent job of taking you there with him. On title track, If It Ain't This It's That, Powers takes the feel of a contemporary ballad and plays it in the fashion of original raw blues. Interesting twist. Woke Up Lucky has a really slick slide riff on it complimenting a tight blues rocker in it's simplest sense. Head Over Heels In Love With You (The First Time The Blues) is a very contemporary blues rock composition with a raw edge. Nice ending to a cool raw release.

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