Slide Guitar Maestro Brian Cober Releases "Austin Wired"

Slide Guitar Maestro Brian Cober Releases "Austin Wired"

February 11, 2014

Brian Cober is the best friend that the slide guitar ever had. He has given the slide guitar a voice and range of capabilities and harnessed them to drive his own brand of streetwise, road-wise blues. He has captured the soul that makes one actually enjoy, in a sympathetic way, his songs of heartbreaks and excesses. Cober began playing lap steel at age 8, and invented his "Double Slide" style at age 15 to give him more versatility. With his band The Nationals, Brian Cober released three acclaimed CDs and has played with Bo Diddley, King Biscuit Boy, Long John Baldry, Jeff Healey, and Eugene Smith - he’s also opened for Johnny Winter, James Cotton, Blue Rodeo, John Mayall, Roy Buchanan and many others.   When The Nationals' founding member Paul McNamara passed away in 2008, Cober began his solo career with a new CD "Real Far Gone". Since then, he has played full time at clubs, Blues Societies, dances, private parties, and festivals including the Montreal Jazz Festival, Bluizo Natkys Festival in Lithuania, La Chute Fest, toured Finland, Lithuania and Israel as well as the southern U.S. Cober is also a longtime fixture on the Ontario blues circuit.   February 2014 marks the release of his new album Austin Wired, which was recorded in Austin, Texas over two remarkable sessions with Cober on guitars and vocals, Big Ben Richardson on bass and Tom Lewis on drums and percussion. Featuring a wide range of styles within the blues genre including “Preachin' The Blues (Blues Walkin' Like A Man)”, the Robert Johnson classic rocked out like a freight train almost off the rails, “Nuestro Viento”, a Latin tinged instrumental, to “Delivery Man”, a cheeky song  about a delivery man who may be delivering more than he should.  Each of the nine songs on Austin Wired represent Cober's best yet and offers the listener the unique and intricate sound of the Double-Slide, then the mastery of his instrument becomes obvious, along with his soulful vocals and great songwriting. Wherever and for however many; listening to Brian Cober is a unique and uplifting musical experience.   www.briancober.com   Listen to "I'm A Bluesman Baby" on Soundcloud

Brian Cober - Austin Wired - New Release review

I just received the newest release, Austin Wired (February 11, 2014)from Brian Cober and it is quite different. From uptempo country to blues and Latin, this is a cool release. Opening with country style rocker, What Will Come, Cober leads his trio of mates into a rabel rousing rukus of sliding fun. Robert Johnson's Preachin' The Blues is given the hard driving beat with train like percussion provided by Tom Lewis. Cober isn't shy to show he knows his way around the slide and this is a super track with plenty of action. I'm A Bluesman Baby has an unusual rhythm pattern and a catchy melody making it a good possible for radio play. Clever use of slide against a subdued rhythm is the key to this track. Woulda Coulda Shoulda has a springy pop sound but evolves into a slow blues like interlude with Big Ben Richardson on bass and Cober on slide doing some innovative stuff. Cool. Nuestro Viento is a spanish style track with a haunting melody. With only simple backing and rimshots, Cober paves a hot path on guitar and really does a nice job. Possibly my favorite track on the release. I Got A Thing has a loose country feel. I want to clarify this comment with, it really reminds me of some of the Frank Black and the Catholics work and if you don't know this band, it is a must. (Black is the leader of the Pixies as well). Find My Way, a solid radio style track has a strong melody and tight composition. Cober really keeps the slide work up and his style is really quite cool. Delivery Man is a blues rock track with certain blues lyrical innuendo. Cober continues to reinforce that he lets his guitar do the most of his talking and it does know how to sing. This is a cool release with some really smokin riffs.

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 Although this track is not from the new release, it does show Cober's work as well as his unconventional slide style: