The Blues Overdrive - Overdrive Live! - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Overdrive Live! from The Blues Overdrive and it's really solid. Recorded at one of Denmark's biggest and most prestigious festivals, Smukfest, TBD opens with Death On The Highway with it's laid back JJ Cale or Eric Clapton style country blues rocker feel. Martin Olsen fronts the band on lead vocal and guitar with Brother Birck on bass, Louisian Boltner on drums and Andreas Andersen on lead guitar. On shuffle track, Three Time Lover, the band gets a cool groove going with extended soloing by Andersen. One of my favorite tracks on the release is Ball & Chain (not Big Mama's) but with a strong San Francisco sound, lush ringing chords and interesting guitar work by Andersen under Olsen's vocals. Very nice. With a touch of hill country sound and a heavy bass rhythm, Bob Dylan's High Water (For Charley Patton) is a really strong track that really draws me in. Excellent! With a straight up rhythm, Everybody Was Rocking has the spirit of early rock and roll well endowed with slick rock n roll guitar riffs. With a Latin flavor, Cherry, the band starts out quiet with vocal, bass, easy guitar riffs, cymbal and tom tom but builds steam winding the guitar out as it goes developing a real nice tension. Wrapping the release is smoking boogie, I Was Wrong, with a cool walking bass line, a super guitar jam and some of the best vocals on the release. This is a really nice closer and one that leaves you wanting more.

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Gateway Music artists: The Blues Overdrive - Clinch! - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Clinch! by The Blues Overdrive and I really like it! Opening with suspenseful track, Pistol Blues, this Danish band really understands it's craft. With a feel of North Mississippi and easy instrumentation by Martin Olsen on guitar and vocal, Andreas Andersen on guitar, Thomas Birck on bass and Lars Heiberg on drums these guys create an invite to their cool blues interpretation. Rolling Thunder steps up the rock feel but maintains the stripped down feel with cool double stopped guitar riffs. Cool! Shuffle track, Three Time Lover, starts to show more of the richness of Olsen's vocals and Olsen and Andersen compliment each other nicely as they trade lead/rhythm guitar riffs. Duke Robillard steps up with a signature solo of his own blending right in. Very cool! A little twist of Latin in the rhythm give Woman Of Love a more pop blues feel. Simple guitar riffs and overtones of JJ Cale make the track smooth and breezy. John Nemeth's Daughter of the Devil is one of my favorite tracks on the release having a bit of a Kimbrough feel. With it's swampy feel and tight guitar riffs (featuring Robillard) this is certainly one of my favorite tracks on the release! Jealous has a cool shadowy sound and maybe a track of early Black Keys. This track is infectious and with it's slightly out double stops is extremely effective in creating tension. It even has an underlying almost western guitar themed solo... excellent! Joel Patterson joins on Cherry providing a cool lap steel aura. With it's Latin rhythm this track is airy and fun. Another of my favorite tracks is blues rocker, Lay Your Burdon Down, again with a real stripped down feel and almost a John Kay feel. Vibrant guitar riffs on this track and tight drumming from Heiberg gives it an almost Jimi Hendrix blues taste. Very smart! Living Here With You is an excellent track with a JJ Cale style. With it's light funky rhythm and Mark Knopfler style lead guitar penned against it's David Gilmore like vamps, this track is sure a winner. Excellent! Wrapping the release is Aurora, a thick and greasy track with really rich guitar tones. Olsen's vocals are really soulful on this track and with it's strong blues flavor and even John Lee Hooker like blues riffs, is my favorite on the release. This is an absolute sleeper of a release that needs to be heard! Check it out!!

   

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Gateway Music artists: The Blues Overdrive - New Release Review

I just received a new self titled release from The Blues Overdrive, on of Denmark's most talented blues bands. The release is made up of 10 original tracks and one never released track by JJ Cale. The opening track, Death On The Highway, is a jazzy boogie style track with head boppin' guitar riffs. Out In The Country has a lot of the musical characteristics of a Jim Morrison composition. Dual lead guitar players Martin Olsen and Andreas Andersen share the space rather than vying for it. I Was Wrong is a really uptempo shuffle track and gives the band great opportunities to riff away. bassist Thomas Birck and Drummer Lars Heiberg lay down a solid bottom for strong lead guitar slinging. Ball and Chain is a stripped down slow blues very reminiscent of early British blues including vibrato enhanced guitar effects over a solitary vocal track and chorded rhythm guitar with simple guitar leads. I really like this track. Puts me in mind of some of the early creative work by Kim Simmonds and Peter Green. Mr. 16 Tons (Blues For Thorup) is a tribute to Danish blues legend Peter Thorup who was a pioneer on the Danish blues scene and lead guitar player for Alexis Korner. This is a cool track along the creative lines of "Help Me" but at a different tempo and with musical changes in the melody creating a whole new feel. Oh yeah, there are some familiar licks in there but this is a cool track. One of the things that I like best as I listen to this recording is the "real" quality of the music as opposed to the hyper fidelity that I hear so often that sounds plastic. Too Blind To See is a simple blues rocker with a straight forward vocal track and a solid instrumental return. I Need Your Lovin' is a real European style rock/blues track which has it's roots in Seattle. Immediately I like the "Stone Free" echo and the band keeps the track together with crisp guitar riffs over solid unpretentious rhythm. Keep it simple! JJ Cale track I Got Myself A Woman retains the simplicity of Cale from his earliest period and the band builds on the theme musically as is often customary in boogie bands. I like this technique and I'm glad to see bands doing it again. Big Fat Woman is a strong Texas 12 bar blues with a serious swagger. Thomas Foldberg adds some complimentary harp work on this track which makes for a cool compliment. Done Tryin' again has that sound that was so prevalent in Europe at the beginning of the blues reemergence (60's). I'm glad that Blues Overdrive has maintained this sound. Feelin' Kind Of Blue is the final track on the recording and has a noticeably more modern sound. It's almost like taking away the screen door to clarity. It has a bit more of a sophisticated sound but still retains that euroblues quality that I like with the rest of the recording.
 Nice job!  

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”