Archive Review: Omar & the Howlers’ Essential Collection (2012)

For almost three-and-a-half decades, gravel-throated Omar Kent Dykes and his Austin, Texas based band the Howlers have delivered cheap thrills and sonic chills with their high-octane blend of roots-rock, hard-edged blues, and reckless Texas soul. The band enjoyed brief mainstream fame during the Stevie Ray Vaughan-fueled blues-rock boom of the 1980s with the major label release of 1987’s Hard Times In the Land of Plenty, but they’ve mostly gone the independent route since, releasing a dozen studio and live albums on labels like Bullseye, Black Top, Watermelon Records and, most recently, for Ruf Records, becoming a beloved blues institution along the way.
 
Although Dykes has slowed down a bit over the past few years, his storied career as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist continues unabated in these early years of the 21st century. Still, considering all that the man has achieved musically, it’s not too soon to take a look back and remind long-time fans and newcomers alike of what Dykes himself calls “a long and rich journey.” Omar & the Howlers’ Essential Collection is a two-disc, thirty-song compilation that encompasses nearly the entirety of Dykes’ career, pulling songs from as far back as the band’s 1984 sophomore album I Told You So through 2004’s Boogie Man, their last studio record, as well as Dykes’ acclaimed 2007 collaboration with guitarist Jimmie Vaughan, On the Jimmy Reed Highway and various live sets.   

Omar & the Howlers’ Essential Collection

Essential Collection is broken down into two distinct parts – the first disc offers up 15 red-hot slabs of houserockin’ blues, songs that could rightfully be considered Omar & the Howlers’ “greatest hits,” while the second disc delivers 15 equally scorching tracks hand-chosen by Mr. Dykes himself as representing some of his favorite moments with the band. The performances captured by the first CD are like a plate of greasy, BBQ sauce-drenched ribs, satisfying in ways that you won’t realize until you’re hungry for more. Some of these songs are quite familiar, beginning with the rollicking live version of “Hard Times In the Land of Plenty,” an insightful bluesy protest song that rings as true today as it did 25 years ago.

The set also includes performances like the raucous, Bo Diddley-styled “Magic Man,” another live track which is dedicated to the R&B legend, or the more traditionally-styled early effort “East Side Blues,” which evokes a 1950s-era Chicago blues vibe. “Border Girl” is a slice of Texas roadhouse blues that displays a softer side to Dykes’ typically-gruff vocals while also showcasing his underrated but exemplary six-string skills. The jaunty “Big Chief Pontiac” is another variation from the Howlers’ usual modus operandi, a fast-paced Commander Cody-styled rockabilly/blues hybrid with plenty of heart and soul. The swamp-blues of “Muddy Springs Road” features a fleshed-out version of the Howlers with keyboards and the late Gary Primich’s mournful harmonica wails, while the swinging “Jimmy Reed Highway” is the best of a brace of great songs performed with Vaughan.       

Omar’s Picks

If the first disc of Essential Collection is like a delicious plate o’ ribs, the second CD – Omar’s picks – is like a jar of moonshine to help wash the smoky meat ‘n’ gristle down your gullet. The set kicks off with “I Want You,” the song a reckless, ramshackle blues-rocker that offers up wide swaths of piercing fretwork and chiming keyboards above a locomotive rhythm. The slinky “Snake Rhythm Rock” features the late Stephen Bruton’s slippery slide-guitar riffing alongside Dykes’ low-slung vocals and the band’s choogling rhythms. The spry “Work Song” is a throwback to the 1940s, an R&B revue-styled romp that features a sordid tale delivered perfectly by Dykes’ sultry vocals above a swinging soundtrack that includes the soulful hornplay of David “Fathead” Newman and Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff.   
 

The rough-edged, swamp-rock of “Alligator Wine” offers up one of Dykes’ best growling, howling vocal performances above Derek O’Brien’s stinging guitar notes and a deliberate rhythm track taken straight from Muddy Waters’ “Mannish Boy” playbook. By way of contrast, “Stone Cold Blues” wears its admiration for Howlin’ Wolf on its sleeve, the song’s Mississippi Delta blues pedigree outlined by Dykes’ whiskey-throated vocals and the serpentine interplay of Dykes’ and Malcolm Welbourne’s barbed-wire fretwork. The collection’s lone cover song is a lo-fi acoustic-blues reading of Willie Dixon’s classic “Built For Comfort” with Dykes’ reverent vocals matched by Magic Slim’s fluid guitar lines, Ivan Sand’s lonesome banjo fills creeping in at the edges of the song and providing a Piedmont blues vibe to the performance.  

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

A truly career-spanning retrospection, Omar & the Howlers’ Essential Collection showcases the many facets of Omar Kent Dykes and his various Howlers line-ups, the band consistently and joyfully delivering energetic, imaginative, and entertaining blues, rock, and soul with Dykes’ singular voice and talent leading the way. Although I personally would have enjoyed hearing some of the Hard Times In the Land of Plenty tracks like “Border Girl” or “Mississippi Hoo Doo Man” in their original form, major label licensing may have proved to be too costly for a (justifiably) budget-conscious band. 

The lack of the Columbia Records material is a minor cavil, however, and the live versions of those songs are performed with great enthusiasm. Although Omar & the Howlers have long been favorite sons in Europe, where they’ve developed a loyal audience, they remain less well-known stateside. U.S. blues fans should give Essential Collection a listen…while there’s nothing new here for the hardcore faithful, for the casual fan or newcomer the set offers a passionate and heartfelt style of blues as only Omar Kent Dykes could deliver. (Ruf Records, released February 14, 2012)

 

Omar & the Howlers

 

CD Preview: Royal Southern Brotherhood’s The Royal Gospel

Damn, these Royal Southern Brotherhood guys are a prolific bunch…the band is about to release its fourth studio album in a like number of years on June 24th, 2016 when The Royal Gospel hits the streets. Like all of the RSB’s previous albums, The Royal Gospel will be released by the good folks at Ruf Records. The album features a line-up of singer Cyril Neville, guitarists Bart Walker and Tyrone Vaughan, drummer Yonrico Scott, and new bassist Darrell Phillips. Guest keyboardist Norman Caesar provides some tasty B3 organ on several songs.

The follow-up to 2015’s Blues Music Award-nominated Don’t Look Back album, The Royal Gospel was recorded in a mere seven days in February 2016 at Dockside Studios in Louisiana. Working with noted producer David Z, the band played together live in the studio, their chemistry allowing them to capture many of their performances in a minimum of takes. “We walked in not really knowing what we were gonna do,” Philips says in a press release for The Royal Gospel. “Cyril and Bart come to us with chord progressions, tempos, and ideas and we build together. We’d just fall right into the thing and all of a sudden, there’s the song. On this record, we came together as a band. It was a magical thing to witness.”

The Royal Gospel pushes the band’s blues-rock roots even further, taking advantage of Walker and Vaughan’s intertwined guitars to build a more electric sound that rocks. Hard. Listening to a preview of the album, a number of songs stand out. “Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire” burns like an open flame with its scorching fretwork and soulful vocals. “Blood Is Thicker Than Water” features stellar instrumentation, and the intro alone will blow your mind, the song itself a high-octane mix of the Neville Brothers’ New Orleans soul and blistering blues-rock guitar.

“I’m Coming Home” pairs wonky, angular guitar lines with bluesy vox and martial drums to stunning effect while “Land of Broken Hearts” is a monster, a fire-breathing tsunami with torrents of guitar and crashing percussion. “The whole record is geared toward making a joyful noise,” says Neville in the album’s press release, “but while we’re partying, we still need to be thinking about what’s going on around us. It covers what we’ve seen in our travels over the last few years, and what we’ve lived personally as citizens of the world.”

Royal Southern Brotherhood was formed in 2011 as a sort of roots ‘n’ blues ‘supergroup’ by New Orleans music legend Cyril Neville and guitarists Mike Zito and Devon Allman – all three successful solo artists in their own rights – along with bassist Charlie Wooten and drummer Yonrico Scott. The five released their critically acclaimed self-titled debut album in 2012, its blend of rock, blues, jazz, and funk music finding a ready audience. RSB followed with a live CD and DVD, Songs From The Road, later that year, the set subsequently winning a Blues Music Award.

The equally-acclaimed Heartsoulblood album followed in 2014, after which Zito and Allman left the band to pick up their solo careers. RSB didn’t skip a beat, adding Nashville blues-rock guitarist Bart Walker and Tyrone Vaughan, son of blues legend Jimmie Vaughan, and the new roster recorded Don’t Look Back in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. As good as their albums are, though, it’s the band’s entertaining and dynamic live performances that have won them a loyal and enthusiastic and sure enough they’ll be hitting the road again in the wake of The Royal Gospel. Check out RSB’s summer 2016 tour dates below and plan on catching one of the most electrifying touring outfits in the blues today when they hit your town.

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Royal Southern Brotherhood's The Royal Gospel

Royal Southern Brotherhood's The Royal Gospel Tour:
06/03/16 @ Ruby’s Roadhouse, Mandeville LA
06/04/16 @ Ocean Springs Live!, Ocean Springs MS
06/09/16 @ The Oriental Theater, Denver CO
06/10/16 @ Stargazers Theatre, Colorado Springs CO
06/11/16 @ Snowmass Free Summer Concerts, Aspen CO
06/14/16 @ Zoo Bar, Lincoln NE
06/15/16 @ Barleycorn’s, Wichita KS
06/16/16 @ Shrine, Tulsa OK
06/17/16 @ Uncle Bo’s, Topeka KS
06/18/16 @ Crossroads KC, Kansas City MO
06/24/16 @ Bayou Boogaloo, Norfolk VA
07/08/16 @ Callahan’s, Auburn Hills MI
07/09/16 @ Kalamazoo Valley Blues Festival, Kalamazoo MI
07/10/16 @ S.P.A.C.E., Evanston IL
07/14/16 @ La Fete de Marquette, Madison WI
07/15/16 @ Vegetable Buddies, South Bend IN
07/16/16 @ Bastille Day Festival, Milwaukee WI
07/30/16 @ Big Bend Blues Bash, Pomeroy OH
08/06/16 @ Burnaby Blues Festival, Burnaby CAN
08/12/16 @ Calabogie Blues & Ribfest, Calabogie CAN
08/13/16 @ Donnacona Blues Festival, Québec CAN
08/20/16 @ Calabogie Blues & Ribfest, Calabogie OH
09/10/16 @ Big Blues Bender, Las Vegas NV
09/11/16 @ Big Blues Bender, Las Vegas NV
10/30/16 @ Pennsylvania Music Festival, Lake Harmony PA

Royal Southern Brotherhood 2016

CD Preview: Samantha Fish’s Wild Heart

She’s one of the brightest and most talented young blues artists coming up in the scene today. On July 10th, 2015 the world will receive further evidence of her talents when Ruf Records releases Wild Heart, the third album from singer, songwriter, and guitarist Samantha Fish.

Produced by Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), Wild Heart features an ace backing band including Dickinson on various stringed instruments, drummer Brady Blade, and Memphis session singers Shonetelle Norman-Beatty and Risse Norman. Guitarist Lightnin’ Malcolm and drummer Sharde Thomas also lend their talents in the studio. Fish recorded the album in several distinctive and unique studios, starting at Blade’s studio in Shreveport, Louisiana before moving on to Dickinson’s Zebra Ranch Studios in Hernando, Mississippi. Wild Heart was finished up in Memphis at Willie Mitchell’s famed Royal Studios and the legendary Ardent Studio.

To prepare for Wild Heart, Fish journeyed to Nashville to write with songwriter Jim McCormick, whose songs have been recorded by Trisha Yearwood and Keith Urban. The New Orleans native provided the experience and musical knowledge to allow Fish to fully express herself, and the pair wrote five of the twelve songs on the album, including blues-rock tune “Show Me,” the raucous tale of betrayal “Road Runner,” and the riffish title track. The trip from Louisiana to Mississippi and the Zebra Ranch Studios allowed the young guitarist to experience some flavor of the birthplace of the blues.

In Mississippi she cut a cover of Charley Patton’s “Jim Lee Blues, Part One,” with Hill Country guitarist Lightnin’ Malcolm and drummer Sharde Thomas, granddaughter of Mississippi fife/drum legend Otha Turner. “This session had a whole other vibe to it,” Fish says in a press release for Wild Heart. “The studio is out in the country, no cell service, no distractions. You're just surrounded by nature and guitars.” Fish first met Malcolm when she attended the King Biscuit Blues Festival when she was 17 years old. “Working with Malcolm was a longtime coming as I'd known him since I was a teenager. Hearing hill country blues made me fall in love with blues music and he was one of the first artists who let me jam with him.”

Still in her mid-20s, Fish already has two critically-acclaimed albums under her belt – 2011’s Runaway and 2013’s Black Wind Howlin’ – both produced by bluesman Mike Zito. She was honored with a “Best New Artist Debut” Blues Music Award for Runaway, and she’s shared stages with legends like Buddy Guy and Tab Benoit. Wild Heart is further proof of her talent and dedication to the blues; you expect to hear a lot more from Samantha Fish as the years go by.

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Samantha Fish's Wild Heart

Royal Southern Brotherhood Visits Muscle Shoals

The award-winning roots ‘n’ blues outfit the Royal Southern Brotherhood has gone through some changes as of late, but they’re happy to announce that the band is back in the groove and ready to rock! The RSB’s third studio album, Don’t Look Back: The Muscle Shoals Sessions, will be released digitally on May 26th and on compact disc by Ruf Records on June 9th, 2015.

Don’t Look Back was recorded at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama – the same room where giants like Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and Otis Redding, among others, made their musical magic. The sessions were overseen by Grammy™ Award winning producer Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, George Thorogood) and feature a new Royal Southern Brotherhood line-up that is lead by the legendary Cyril Neville, whose incredible musical pedigree includes the Neville Brothers and the Meters.

Following the departure of guitarists Mike Zito and Devon Allman following the release of the band’s 2014 album HeartSoulBlood, the Royal Southern Brotherhood brought in two new talented gunslingers in Nashville-based bluesman Bart Walker (whose 2013 debut album Waiting On Daylight is pretty darn great) and Tyrone Vaughan, the son of the great Jimmie Vaughan. The band’s line-up is rounded out by frontman Neville and the awe-inspiring rhythm section of bassist Charlie Wooten and drummer Yonrico Scott. Dumpstaphunk’s Ivan Neville (Cyril’s nephew) added keyboards to the album while former Wet Willie soul-shouter Jimmy Hall brought his raging harp to the party.

As for the new album, well, Don’t Look Back doesn’t veer far from the signature RSB blend of Southern rock, blues, soul, and funk that has quickly earned the band a growing worldwide audience. Working in the storied FAME Studio, however, helped the band achieve a transcendent creativity that, with the addition of a pair of talented artists on guitar, broadens and sharpens the overall Royal Southern Brotherhood sound.

In a press release for the new album, producer Tom Hambridge says “we got to Alabama and dug deep down in the dirt of Muscle Shoals and created this wonderful gumbo of sound. It’s easy to get creative with a band when everybody is open and flowing in the same direction. This band has such a positive energy around it. They are truly a brotherhood and it was a joy producing this album.” Not surprisingly, the band will hit the road in support of Don’t Look Back, and we have the initial slate of tour dates below.

Summer of RSB tour dates:
05/02 @ New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, New Orleans LA
05/02 @ Saenger Theatre, New Orleans LA
05/15 @ Stargazers Theatre, Colorado Springs CO
05/16 @ Lost Lake Lounge, Denver CO
05/17 @ Taste of Durango, Durango CO
05/19 @ The Orpheum Theater, Flagstaff AZ
05/20 @ The Rhythm Room, Phoenix AZ
05/23 @ Simi Valley Cajun and Blues Festival, Simi Valley CA
05/24 @ Semi-Annual Blues Festival, Oroville CA
06/19 @ Blues on the Fox, Aurora IL

Royal Southern Brotherhood 2015, photo by Jerry Moran

CD Review: Devon Allman's Ragged & Dirty

Devon Allman – Greg Allman’s son – has kicked around the blues-rock scene for a decade and a half now, first as frontman of Devon Allman’s Honeytribe, and later as one of the main creative voices in the roots ‘n’ blues supergroup Royal Southern Brotherhood. It’s been obvious from the start, however, that Allman has long been searching for his own sound – whereas the Honeytribe album Space Age Blues evoked more of a jam-band vibe, his proper solo debut, 2013’s Turquoise, was a tasty gumbo pot full of Southern soul, blues, funk, and rock that showcased Allman’s talents as a songwriter.

Devon Allman’s Ragged & Dirty

With his sophomore solo effort, Ragged & Dirty, Allman takes another all-important step towards crafting his own unique musical vision, the guitarist setting aside his Southern roots for a moment and sojourning to Chicago along a well-worn path traveled by so many bluesmen before him. Working with seasoned veterans from the bands of Charlie Musselwhite, Billy Branch, and Buddy Guy, Allman and producer/musician/songwriter Tom Hambridge have put together an electrifying collection of songs that dredge up half-forgotten memories of 1960s-era Chi-town soul and blues and vintage ‘70s rock riffs while somehow retaining a contemporary essence.

Ragged & Dirty kicks off with the stomp ‘n’ stammer of “Half The Truth,” a Foghat styled dinosaur-rocker that offers big rhythms, slippery guitarwork, and an infectious groove. Hambridge plays the drums, hitting the cans with an effect like a machine gun’s recoil while Allman gets funky with the git and keyboardist Marty Sammon adds background flourishes from his Hammond B3. It’s an energizing song, and probably goes over gangbusters in a live setting ‘cause it simply jumps off the turntable, grabs you by the ears, and demands that you pay attention.

Penned by Hambridge and country-rocker Lee Roy Parnell, “Can’t Lose Them All” is probably the closest that Allman comes here to his legendary father, not so much in his vocal delivery but rather in the overall sound and texture of the song, which simply glows with heart and soul. Allman’s stinging fretwork here is fluid, almost jazzy, but provides many shades of blue while his vocals are similarly sultry as the band delivers a subtle groove in the background. Hambridge custom-wrote several songs for Ragged & Dirty, and “Leavin’” is one of the best, a twang ‘n’ bang roots-rocker that features Allman’s acoustic strum and Bobby Schneck Jr.’s leads, the two players’ guitars intertwined to create a mesmerizing effect.

Ten Million Slaves

Allman proves himself a fine interpreter of other artist’s work here, beginning with a loving cover of the Spinners’ R&B classic “I’ll Be There.” Allman’s taut, soulful guitarplay here is surpassed only by his emotional vocals, which manage to capture the feeling of the original while adding a few tears to the lyrics; Wendy Moten’s background vocals offer a nice counterpoint while Sammon’s keyboards bring an air of elegance to the arrangement. Allman tackles bluesman Otis Taylor’s difficult “Ten Million Slaves” with reverence and authority, his vocals dropping into a lower register to properly capture the serious story told by the lyrics. With Felton Crews’ heavy bass line throbbing in unison with Hambridge’s tribal percussion, Allman’s somber vocals relate the tragic tale of African slaves being brought to America. The anguish of the lyrics is underlined by Allman’s scorching fretwork, which offers a thinly-veiled menace throughout the song.

The title track of Ragged & Dirty is an old Luther Allison cut, and Allman does it proud here. He and the band develop funky groove for the tune, Allman’s slightly electronically-altered vocals adding a nasty edge to the words, his high-flying guitar perfectly welding psychedelic-rock and blues together for a powerful rendition of a classic Allison performance. Allman penned a few original tunes himself for the album, the best of these being his ode to the Windy City, “Midnight Lake Michigan.” A late-night blues jam with a rock ‘n’ roll heart, just about everything on this instrumental – from Allman’s imaginative, scorched-earth guitarplay to Sammon’s moody keyboard fills to Hambridge’s explosive drumwork, and everything in between – is simply perfect, the performance telling a story without uttering a word.

Allman’s other originals also excite, from the funky rocker “Blackjack Heartattack” to the traditionally-styled “Back To You.” The former is a rapid-fire, foot-shuffling blues-rock Godzilla with an undeniable groove, monster fretwork, and a feedback-tinged wall of sound while the latter is a throwback to the Chicago blues sound of the 1970s with strong vocals, expressive guitar licks, humming keyboards, and a solid, if subtle rhythmic backbone. The album closes with the acoustic blues tune “Leave The City,” Allman’s “back to the country” screed offering nuanced vocals, supple resonator guitar pickin’, and Hambridge’s minimal percussion. It’s a fine closer, with a strong albeit gentle vibe that displays another side of Allman’s multi-faceted musical personality.      

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

There’s no doubting Devon Allman’s enormous talents, which are frequently overlooked in discussions in favor of his familial pedigree. Sit down and give Ragged & Dirty a spin, though, and you’ll discover a young artist that is blazing his own musical path, not necessarily following in his famous father’s footsteps but rather creating his own intoxicating blend of blues, soul, and rock ‘n’ roll. Ragged & Dirty is Allman’s best album to date, but given the road he’s walking, my guess is that the best is yet to come. Grade: A- (Ruf Records, released October 14, 2014)

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Devon Allman's Ragged & Dirty