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.

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

 

Chicago Storytellin': Singer-Songwriter Jeff Powers in Concert This Weekend at the Elbo Room

              

Storytellin': Singer-Songwriter  

Jeff Powers   

  Makes Chicago Debut At The Elbo Room - Saturday, October 20 

  

"(Powers is a) poet, troubadour, emigre' returning home with tall tales and hard-lived insights...

from his Hendrix-like blues-based guitar riffs and sixties references in "13 Seconds 67 Shots (Kent State Massacre)" to the Buffalo Springfield-like "Gypsy Girl (Ode To Ani DeFranco)" to the folk simplicity of "Standing In The Rain," the journey is well worth taking."  

                                                                                          Joey Alkes/ALL ACCESS MAGAZINE   

"I know I will take some heat for this, but there are times on his self-titled disc that Jeff Powers  sounds like Bob Dylan...maybe not in terms of how he approaches his vocals, but in lyrical content. On "15 Seconds 67 Shots" Powers conjures up the right amount of disbelief and angst over the happenings of that tragic day, and does so in a Dylan-esque manner."  

                                                                                         Chuck Dauphin/MUSIC NEWS NASHVILLE 

   (Chicago, IL) - Acclaimed Midwest singer-songwriter Jeff Powers makes his Chicago performing debut at popular live music venue The Elbo Room, 2871 N. Lincoln Ave., Saturday, October 20. 8-10 p.m. $5. Info:  (773) 549-5549 or www.facebook.com/ElboRoomChicago.

    Powers combines vocals strongly reminiscent of Neil Young with the wordsmith abilities of Bob Dylan; as well as the passionate anger and love of the late John Lennon with some Eric Clapton-esque guitar work.

   The thirteen tracks on his latest self-titled CD songs encompass elements of Americana, Roots, Blues and some Rock. "These are songs i felt I needed to put out first and they work or sit together, if you will, as a whole," explains Powers.

   Each song tells a story - "Wild Child (The Ballad of Brian Power)" is "a remembrance to an urban legend, someone I grew up with and knew very well... he was an exciting and very funny guy who was also crazy dangerous and deeply flawed." "Gypsy Girl (Ode to Ani DiFranco) "was inspired by a radio interview with DiFranco that I happened to hear."

                                                 Jeff Powers - Brief Bio

     While living as an illegal alien and partying like a rock star in Mexico, City for 7 years, Jeff cut his teeth with various blues bands. Though he moved to Mexico City to perform and teach classical guitar, he soon dropped out of the cozy and well-paid classical world to live and play in the down and dirty clubs, jails and places at the end of dirt roads.

     Barely eeking out a living, Powers would cross the entire city with guitar and amp in hand by bus and subway to get to a gig or rehearsal. During his years there he wrote over two-hundred songs and developed his own style of blues guitar based around his classical technique. 

     After returning to his home town of Cleveland, Jeff formed a blues band and started recording original songs and performing with the band and as a solo acoustic act. Powers has been playing in the Cleveland area for fifteen-plus years in Dead Guy Blues and Clarksdale and also as a solo acoustic artist.

     Besides performing his own songs, Power's sets include music by singer/songwriters like: Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Jeff Buckley and blues by: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and Lightnin' Hopkins. Jeff incorporates finger picking, slide and a loop station to stretch out on lead guitar and give his solo shows a lot of variety.

   Mixed in with Power's original songs some arranging highlights include: a Delta style version of "Voodoo Chile," Jeff Buckley's magnificent version of "Hallelujah," the Stephen Stills' classic "Treetop Flyer" and a Dobro slide version of Charlie Daniels' "Long Haired Country Boy."

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

Whiskey Island Records artist: Jeff Powers - Self Titled - New Release Review

I have been listening to a new self titled release by Jeff Powers. Powers is a classically trained guitar player who has spent more than 7 years out of the country teaching classical guitar and refining his blues guitar styling. Now back in Cleveland for the past 15+ years Powers has been playing with his Blues bands, Dead Guy Blues and Clarksdale. He also performs other sets with more of a folk/rock/blues styling. This recording, is made up of 13 original tracks strongly influenced by singer song writers like Jeff Buckley, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. One track, Wild Child really hops off of the recording as a butt kicker. Ragged singing and rag tag style guitar playing it has a unique charm. Just Because He's Wrong poses an interesting question in life and allows Powers and his band, Steven T. Winston on bass, Mark Tiffault on Drums, Mark Nanni on keys, and Powers vocals and guitars to shine. Ray Of Hope has a haunting quality and is strongly constructed. Hitchhike In The Rain has the rough blues/rock/grunge sound going for it and may be my favorite track on the cd.
Get a chance and check it out.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”