Justin Time Records artist: Brent Johnson - Set The World On Fire - New Release review

I just received the newest release, Set The World On Fire, by Brent Johnson and it's a perfect match of pop, R&B, blues and guitar. Opening with Don't Make A Sound, Johnson establishes right up front that he means business. Simple straightforward solid song writing and clean instrumentation is the ticket on this release. A simple guitar rhythm with a funky back beat and thickness added through organ, make this a very cool track. On Meet Me In The Morning, Alvin Youngblood Hart joins in and a crunchy slide guitar permeates the track. Loose, back country blues guitar riffs set this easy paced "Crossroads" like track quite well. Nice! The Ticket is a high steppin two stepper with that rockin Chuck Berry rhythm. Fun, loosly played guitar riffs keep this track light but add a lot of spunk. Don't Take It With You has a driving R&B style and features cool bass work from Bill Blok. Wayne Lohr lays in a tasty keyboard solo and John Perkins is tight on the drums. So Glad You're Mine opens with a simple guitar riff leading into a R&B style that you might expect from Jimmy Hall. This is a humble track but one that is really quite memorable melodically. Long Way Back To New Orleans features louisiana's own, Sonny Landereth. Perkins gets the street snare cooking and Landreth lays down some really nice slide work. Very cool! Glass Ceiling has a nice funky groove and I haven't mentioned it yet but Johnson has a really solid voice. Wayne Lohr takes a nice organ ride on this track which leads to one of the hottest flat out guitar solo's by Johnson on the track. John Lee Hooker's Meet Me At The Bottom is the most straight forward contemporary blues rocker and I really like the grinding guitar tones on this one. Opening into a cool extended jam with AY Hart this is another particularly cool track. My favorite track on the release, a solid cover of As The Years Go Passing By, reinforces Johnson as both a vocalist and a serious blues guitar player. This 13 plus minute track gives Johnson a really nice opportunity to lay out some of the tastiest guitar work I've heard new for a while and shows a lot of passion. Lohr adds nice tension with organ and also plays a sweet piano solo. Excellent! The Hucklebuck, one of my favorite guitar boogies is up next and Johnson shows his versatility as a guitar player and throws smoke from the strings accompanied by a strong troop of players. Again excellent! The release finishes up with Set The World On Fire, a solid pop style closer with a lot of broad appeal. This release has a number of facets and I really enjoyed a lot of them. Check it out!

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