VizzTone artist: Dani Wilde - Live at Brighton Road - New Release Review - CD/DVD

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Live at Brighton Road, from Dani Wilde, and with it's easy going acoustic set coupled with it's driving electric set, it's quite entertaining. Opening with Memphis Minnie's Bumble Bee, Wilde has lead acoustic guitar and vocal coupled with her brother brother Will on harmonica. This is a smooth contemporary adaptation of this classic track showing how clear Wilde's vocals really are and coupling her own tight guitar work with her brother's adept harp making for an excellent opener. Acoustic ballad, My Old Man is a bright, radio track with a nice melody and warm vocal blending with Kate Cameron and Faye Streek. Very nice. Mike Rutherford's The Living Years is a really nice arrangement of a large radio hit and with nicely blended backing vocals is a really strong contender for nicest of the acoustic set. I can certainly see why she wanted to get this set on disc. Very nice. Opening the electric part of the set is Deeper Than Black built over the classic Junior Wells vamp. Bass line by Victoria Smith sets the pace, Gregory Coulson stirs in the organ, Alan Taylor snaps up the drum kit, Will blows out the harp and Dani throws in a few stinging "Steve Cropper" riffs to give this track some green onion flavor. Very cool! Lieber and Stoller's Houndog gets a Latin mix and Wilde's vocals are nice. Her swinging blues playing works just right when the track gets into full swing with Smith rocking the bottom and Coulson rolling the piano. A cool boogie is Don't Quit Me Baby with some of Wilde's best vocals on the electric set, coupled with a great driving bass line, strong guitar work and ace soloing by Will. Wrapping the release is Refugee, a contemporary pop track with a solid melody. A super radio track with a clean guitar solo, a nice closer for a solid release.

Also included is a DVD with live studio performances and interview. Very nice!

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I'm In The Mood - Dani Wilde & Blues Boy Dan

Dan was born on the 11th of May 1992 in the market town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire. As a young boy Dan grew up overlooking fields, making fires, building dens and enjoying life in the country. Dan did not particularly enjoy school and took to the guitar at the age of 9. Through music, Dan found that he could express himself, and his affinity with the guitar started when introduced to the Blues by his teacher, Richard Pharo. Dan’s guitar skill and understanding of the Blues continued to develop through his school years, playing in various bands and as part of a duo supporting his older sister Claire on open mic nights around the county. When Dan left school he undertook a joinery apprenticeship with the ambition of becoming a professional guitar maker. Unfortunately, this was cut short following a tragic accident in the workshop involving his eye. Although no cosmetic signs remain, he suffered severe damage to the retina resulting in continued deterioration of his sight. Dan now looks back at this as a pivotal moment. It was to alter the course of his life permanently. After seeking solace in the Blues to deal with the aftermath of his accident, Dan decided he would pick himself up and embark upon a full-time music career. The support from his family, along with the encouragement of local musicians and manager Tony Skeggs, spurred Dan on to broaden his horizons and experiment with singing. To the astonishment of himself and others, a voice emerged which has resulted in the label 'Blues Boy Dan'. Word in the local Blues community began to spread, and throughout 2011 Dan found himself gigging twice a week, leading to a video posting on Youtube of his performance of the “Ballad of Hollis Brown”. The video attracted the attention of Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac who tracked Dan down and has since become Dan’s mentor. Dan will be travelling to Nashville in April this year, to record with Grammy award winning producer Vance Powell (Kings Of Leon, Jack White, Willie Nelson), he will also be performing at Glastonbury, and starts a world tour with ZZ Top as support act in June.

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RUF Records artists: Dani Wilde, Victoria Smith, Samantha Fish - Girls With Guitars the DVD - New Release Review

The show opens with Are You Gonna Go My Way, a Lenny Kravitz track loosely based on Procol Harem's Whiskey Train. The girls are all in short skirts and heels with Fish front and center but I can tell you these girls mean business! Vocals are shared by Fish and Wilde with each taking a verse and then trading off lead riffs. Both girls play tele's but Wilde plays a conventional Tele with a cutting sound and Fish a Tele special with humbuckers for a fatter sound. On Don't Go Making Me Cry, a Wilde original, Wilde takes the lead on vocal and plays some smokin' riffs on this R&B flavored track. She has an unconventional picking style, more like a bass player and makes it work well for her. Next up is James Gang's (Joe Walsh) Funk # 49. This is a classic rock track and both Wlide and Fish take a crack at the mic. Smith is really holding down the bottom well with her 4 string P bass and she gets a chance to show her chops a bit on this track. Next up is Red Blooded Woman, another Wilde original. Fish takes a breather and the band operates as a trio. Wilde has a very solid voice and her clean guitar tone and palm muting technique is especially noticeable on this track. Wilde looks to be playing through a Blackface Twin and the tone is right on. Fish rejoins for Screamin' Jay Hawkins' I Put A Spell On You. She takes the lead on both guitar and vocal and makes it her own. I really think that she does a nice job on it keeping with the basis of the original but putting her own flavor on it and not overdoing the theatrics as some others have done recently. The guitar refrain on this track really smokes. Fish follows up with an original track, Leaving Kind loosely based on Rollin' and Tumblin'. Fish plays a few short riffs on slide in conventional tuning. On Money To Burn, another Fish original, Wilde plays some really sweet guitar riffs sounding very San Francisco based including some nice harmonic overtones. Fish's vocal are really strong on this track but the guitar work by Wilde on this track is the ticket. Fisk does play a pretty hot riff of her own on this track through what appears to be a tweed deluxe. This is a really cool track. I've only had the pleasure to review one of Wilde's recordings but if she plays like this often, I am anxious to hear more! Falling, a Wilde original, gets back into the R&B styling. Wilde really does have a solid voice and it does carry her tracks well. Wilde's guitar picking style is unconventional enough that I find myself studying her work. Kind of a mix between a bass player and Derek Trucks. Nice track...really! Juice Me Up, another Wilde original, is a straight up rocker. Fish and Wilde trade riffs and Smith and drummer Denis Palatin keeps a tight ship. Smokey Robinsons' Who's Loving You of course keeps things in the soul vein and Wilde keeps the lead vocal role. Wilde has obviously studied this musical style because she executes it like she has lived it as opposed to some plastic cover as is often seen in contemporary blues covers. Up next is Fish original Down In The Swamp. I really like the repeating vamp by bass player Smith on this track and it gives Fish a really nice platform to sing and rip over. Mississippi Kisses, a Wilde original, shows Wilde in a different guitar light on a fast boogie track. Want to turn this track up if for no other reason ...just to hear Smith on bass. Wilde and Fish alternate throwing down guitar riffs and this is a great track! Wilde takes a break and a Fish original, Other Side of The Bottle is up next. A slinky little track, Fish shows a different vocal style and it's very effective. Wilde returns for another Fish original, Runaway. Fish takes her most aggressive solo of the evening and actually kicks off her heels and walks the audience to play in the crowd. The end is here and the concert is concluded with Steve Miller hit Jet Airliner.

The bonus section includes a really nice acoustic track featuring Wilde singing in a Breman record store accompanied acoustically by Smith and Fish, candid dressing room interviews with the girls and footage of the band setting up and signing autographs.  I gotta tell you, this is a really strong recording and the news is Dani Wilde! Everyone knows that Fish can really play and sing but Dani Wilde really turns up the heat and comes out of the shadow on this recording.

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Girls With Guitars Live - Wilde/Smith/Fish - New release Review

I just received the new release, Girls With Guitars Live from Dani Wilde, Victoria Smith and Samantha Fish. This is a 2 disk set, one audio and 1 video and each of the disks has something that the other doesn't. I like that. Today I'm going to exclusively review the audio portion and will get the video reviewed as quickly as possible. The release opens with a butt kicking cover of the Stones' Bitch. I remember as a kid requesting this track on the radio , yeah we used to do that, and they couldn't play it because they couldn't say the name! This is a great rocker to open the show. Don't Go Making Me Cry, is an R&B based track with some fiery guitar work pushing things along nicely. Red Blooded Woman is a modern style 12 bar blues which could see a lot of airplay. It has the universal modern blues styling and extended guitar soloing to attract broad interest. Screamin' Jay Hawkins' I Put A Spell On You is always a welcome addition and in this case it is handled with a bit of a different vocal attack more with the sensitivity of Janis as opposed to the full out push that has been seen in other recent remakes. The guitar work on this track is also played on the down low with a San Francisco flair. The guitar tone is very warm and the solo's unpredictable. Excellent! Leaving Kind, based loosly on the Rollin' and Tumblin' sound, another track that could generate a bit of airplay has solid vocal work as well as smooth slide work under the track. Money To Burn has a really cool style which definitely has it's roots in the 60's. It puts me in the mind of Season of The Witch that Michael Bloomfield did at the Fillmore and also maybe influenced by work by Steven Stills and Led Zeppelin. It's a different song altogether but the groove and ambiance is there. A definite favorite. This is a long cooker giving Fish some leeway to burn! Juice Me Up, definitely on the lighter side and more of a radio track which could again draw broad audience. A guitar duo on this track cements the interest by concert goers. Smokey Robinson's Who's Loving You gets a solid soul treatment with clean smoky vocals. There is some gritty guitar work on the tail of this track that is again noteworthy. Down In The Swamp has a heavy lead instrumental melody which I like pretty well. The tone of the guitar on this portion of the track is really cool. There are a number of guitar things happening here at once and it doesn't sound crowded but complimentary. The lead guitar work on this track is nicely done. Mississippi Kisses has more of a jazz feel but with some ripping guitar lead. This is a nice track to get each of the players upfront and swinging. The recording concludes with Steve Miller's Jet Airliner. The track is sure again to be a great concert crowd pleaser.

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Bitch - Girls With Guitars

The name says it all. “Girls with Guitars” – the 2011 Ruf Records Blues Caravan Tour – presents three of the scene’s hottest young female guitar slingers on a single stage.
Over the past six years, the Blues Caravan has toured successfully in the UK, USA and throughout continental Europe. This unique triple bill revue has helped introduce bright new stars such as Ana Popovic and Joanne Shaw Taylor to an international audience. Following in their footsteps on the 2011 tour is a trio of dynamic, up-and-coming blues talents: Dani Wilde, Cassie Taylor and Samantha Fish.
Hailing from Brighton, England, Dani Wilde sings the blues with the old-school fervor of Aretha Franklin, but also takes a cue from contemporaries like Duffy and Joss Stone. The singer/songwriter/guitarist has just released her second album, Shine, a collaboration with renowned producer Mike Vernon (Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac). She has shared stages with luminaries like Robben Ford, Candye Kane and Koko Taylor. Says Paul Jones of BBC Radio 2: “Dani Wilde's voice is astounding, with a unique raw passion and energy. She sings with more conviction and passion than old legends from the Mississippi Delta.”
At the tender age of 21, Samantha Fish is already a hot property on the live music scene in and around her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. She discovered the blues almost by accident as a teenager, but it has since become her singular mission in life. Her high-heeled, rock-edged performances have won her a loyal local following and carried her to venues like Rosa’s Lounge in Chicago, where she opened eyes during the 2010 Chicago Blues Festival. 2011 seems destined to be her breakout year.
Proud to call herself the “Daughter of a Bluesman,” multi-instrumentalist Cassie Taylor has appeared on eight critically-acclaimed albums by her father, Otis Taylor, and accompanied him on tours all over the world. She was also a featured vocalist on Gary Moore’s 2008 release Bad For You Baby. Still just in her early 20s, Cassie has been hailed for her commanding stage presence and “heavenly” voice (Boston Globe). Her music ranges from heart-wrenching ballads to hard-driving blues. Like her father, Taylor doesn’t shy from topical subject matter, nor shrink from breaching musical boundaries.
This trio of young, passionate performers is backed by a top-flight band of road-tested professionals for more than two hours of live blues excellence.
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New on Ruf Records: Shine - Dani Wilde - New Release review

I just received the new release "Shine" by Dani Wilde. The release has a smooth club like environment with tasty guitar licks and solid mellow vocals in a very clean presentation. Nine of the 11 tracks on the release are new and written by Wilde. The release is produced by renowned Mike Vernon who has produced a lot of the British greats including Mayall, Clapton & Fleetwood Mac. The recording is strongly airworthy and vocal.

It is well put together and solid. I'm certain it will find a broad audience of listeners.

Enjoy!
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