ManHatTone Records artist: Brad Vickers & His Vestapolitans - That's What They Say - New release review

I just received the newest release (October 27, 2015), That's What They Say, from Brad Vickers & His Vestapolitans and it's a lot of fun! Opening with Tampa Red's Seminole Blues with it's rockin boogie style. Vickers on lead vocal and bottleneck slide, Margey Peters on bass and Bill Rankin on drums this is a cool opener. Ledbelly's Don't You Love Your Daddy No More? has a super Bourbon Street feel. Vickers again on lead vocal and slide and Dave Gross on bass and mandolin, this track features real nice clarinet work by Jim Davis and bari sax work from Matt Cowan. If You Leave Me Now is a crisp rag track with Vickers on lead vocal and guitar with Charles Burnham on fiddle and Margey Peters on 2nd fiddle. Very cool! Shuffle track, Everything About You Is Blue features Vickers on lead vocal and Burnham with fiddle lead and soloing, backed by Peters on vocal and bass and Rankin on drums. Country rocker, Another Lonesome Road, blends Vickers lead with Peters on harmony. Her walking bass line drives the train and Cowan and Davis produce the heat on horns, anchored by Dave Gross on percussion. Cool! Really stripped down, almost Lou Reed like, That's What They Say is really a cool track. Vickers has this track in the palm of his hand with compact vocals and distinctive rock guitar riffs played acoustically. Very nice! Mountain Sparrow has a very rural country feel with Vickers on guitar and vocal, Dave Gross on bass, banjo and mandolin and Peters on fiddle. Spiritual track, Fightin', gets Vickers, Peters and Mikey Jr all involved for a real round sound. With handclaps and basic percussion, this is one of the strongest tracks on the release. Don't You Change A Thing is a simple country rocker with a slight cajun feel with Vickers on lead vocal, Gross n bass, Peters on fiddle and Rankin on drums. Wishing Well is as much as you can say in 44 seconds featuring Peters and Vickers on vocal, and Peters on fiddle. Mama's Cookin', a boogie track features Peters on lead vocal. Gross on bass, Matt Cowan and Jim Davis on sax hold down the bottom and Rankin keeps the drums on the light side allowing the track to swing. Twenty-first Century Rag features a duet with Vickers and Peters. Charles Burnham plays lead fiddle and Peters on second is backed by Gross on bass and Rankin on drums. Nice and easy with country fiddle, this is straight up. Rockin' The Secret takes a full departure with a hard driving bass line by Peters and hot hor backing by Cowan and Davis. Gross is on piano and Vickers lays down cool guitar riffs as well as lead vocals. Swing track, Having A Ball, has a great bass line by Peters and some smoking electric guitar riffs by Dave Gross. Almost venturing into Commander Cody territory, this is my favorite track on the release. Wrapping the release is In For A Penny, a really solemn track with Vickers on bottleneck slide. Gross is in on guitar, mandolin and drums but it's the vocals by Peters, Christine Santelli and Gina Sicilia on vocal that gives it it's special feel.

   

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