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Blues Underground Network |
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Big Shot Reub And The Reloaders
"Roundhouse
Blues"
Over the last several years I
have done over 300+ Reviews, so needless to say, not a lot of music
crosses my desk nowadays from Artists that I am not familiar with. There
is however, the rare occasion that I find myself staring at a CD of an
Artist for whom I have never heard of. I naturally get a little skeptical
and find myself going into detective mode. I get even more skeptical when
I find pretty well nothing in the CD and on the Internet that gives me any
good idea of whom the Artist is and where they have truly come from. Such
was the case with Big Shot Reub And The Reloaders, whose newest release
"Roundhouse Blues", hit my desk a few weeks back. From info gathered on
their Reverbnation Page, which contained nothing more than the songs
I were about to listen to on the CD, and the CD's Immediate Release notes,
I plopped the CD into the player and hoped for the best and low and
behold I was pleasantly surprised with just how good of an Album
"Roundhouse Blues" turned out to be.
The Reub in Big Shot Reub And The Reloaders, refers to
Reuben Vigil, whom with his band, call San Diego their home. The members
of Big Shot Reub And The Reloaders, together and as individuals, performed
and played in various San Diego bands before joining forces to record
"Roundhouse Blues".
"Roundhouse Blues" consists of 10 Tracks, all Originals
and all Composed and Arranged by Reuben Vigil, the Guitarist and Vocalist
for Big Shot Reub And The Reloaders. In addition to Reuben the other
members of the band include Jodie Hill on Bass and Ric Lee on Drums.
Special Guest Glen Laughlin is credited with doing the Choir Vocals on
Track 3 "Viva Bracero". Charlie Watts, the multi-Grammy winner, whom also
is probably best known for his spectacular work on Fleetwood Mac's
"Rumours, was responsible for Mastering "Roundhouse Blues", which was
Produced and Engineered by Glen Laughlin.
In the Release Notes for "Roundhouse
Blues", they have some of Reuben Vigil's influences listed as, "B.B.
King, Elvis Costello, Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix"
and after listening to to this Album, I must say that I picked up
quite a bit of those influences throughout. I also picked out something
very obvious about Reuben Vigil, and that is, that he his an
extraordinarily good Guitarist, whom is not afraid to show off that skill
throughout this Album, especially on Track 5, "C", an instrumental,
bordering on a classical theme and Track 2 "Love Comes Knockin', in
which his Guitar comes off with flavors of Stevie Ray Vaughan. In
addition, Reuben Vigil's music is also a nice diverse mix, even including
a Latin song for Track 3 "Viva Bracero", “a tribute to the unskilled
laborers that helped rebuild America after the Great
Depression
”.
Overall, I was very impressed with
"Roundhouse Blues". The first sentence of the release notes for this Album
said, "There is a quality slinger on the Blues horizon, and you should
know his name: Reuben Vigil". From the music I have just been
listening to on "Roundhouse Blues", I must say that I am in total
agreement with that statement. "Roundhouse Blues" has proven to me that
Big Shot Reub And The Reloaders are a new band with a great
leader, whom really knows how
to write songs, sing them, and play some awesome Guitar, and along with
the rest of his band, they have managed to make a fan out of
me, as I am sure they will for all that have the good
fortune to give them a listen.
Review
by John Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network)
Additional Info
Tracklist:
1. So Much Inside Me
2. Love's Come Knocking 3. Viva Bracero 4. Celestial 5. "C" 6. Big Shot Roll 7. I Don't Drink 8. Love Is A Memory 9. Time Was 10. Survive
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