Paul Reddick + The Sidemen - Rattlebag (2001)

I’ve heard a lot of blues music during my ever-lengthening lifespan and I’ve found that most contemporary blues artists fall into one of a handful of categories. There are Texas bluesmen like the Fabulous Thunderbirds, with one foot in rock & roll and the other in Lightnin’ Hopkins. There are the revivalists, like the Tarbox Ramblers, who camp it up old school-style with roots in Mississippi John Hurt, Son House and Robert Johnson. There are the six-string acolytes, who worship at the altar of Stevie Ray and, finally, there are the Chicago stylists with their stacks of Chess wax, following the footsteps of Muddy Waters, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy.

After playing Rattlebag a dozen or so times, though, I have to admit, dear readers, that I’ve never heard anyone quite like Paul Reddick + The Sidemen. With Rattlebag, their fourth album, this highly underrated blues outfit manages to incorporate damn near the entire history of the blues into sixteen rollicking songs. Reddick and the Sidemen have enough rock chops to boogie with the best of them. They also have a firm grasp on the artistic demons that drove hundreds of young men out of the Mississippi Delta and north towards the promise of a better life. The sixteen songs on Rattlebag mix rural blues, the Chicago sound, Texas six-string wizardry and New Orleans R&B into a thick musical gumbo that will satisfy your soul even while tickling your lobes.

Reddick blows a manic harp, sounding a lot like Paul Butterfield tho’ with a grungier edge. His vocals are perfectly suited to the material, gruff and soulful with just the right amount of world-weariness. Reddick is a talented wordsmith as well, infusing the material with a literary style absent from most blues tunes. Guitarist Chris Burgess is a mean six-string maestro, creating rich sounds and distinctive tones while the bass/drums combo of Greg Marshak and Vince Maccarone are capable of both great power and quiet subtlety.

It is the songs that do the talking on Rattlebag, though, carefully crafted compositions like the blustery “Sleepy John Estes” or “Trouble Again” with its infectious rhythms and mad harpwork. The title cut is a monster collection of rampaging riffs and wickedly echoed vocals while “I’m A Criminal” is a down-and-dirty blues tune that simply crackles with electricity. “Pear River Blues” is mesmerizing, Reddick’s voice weaving a rich, soulful tapestry that lulls the listener into a trancelike appreciation of the swamp-rock blues the band is kicking out.

Altogether, Rattlebag is one of the strongest blues albums these ears have enjoyed this year. Paul Reddick + the Sidemen claim that they deliver “hard blues for modern times” and you’d better believe it.... (Northern Blues Music)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Rattlebag from Amazon.com)