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Craig Hughes "Pissed Off, Bitter And Willing To Share"
I give this CD, my highest rating, Five *****
Excellent EP... Thoroughly enjoyed it... Highly Recommended...
Best British Blues Album 2009 (Blues Underground Network's Year End Review 2009)
Picked #6 - Top 25 Albums 2009 (Blues Underground Network's Year End Review 2009)
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Craig Hughes' Debut Album Release, "Pissed Off, Bitter And Willing To Share", will be compared to and called a lot things, I would like to call it Tarantino Blues, because believe me if Quentin Tarantino was a blues singer, this is the kind of stuff he would be putting out. With, "Pissed Off, Bitter And Willing To Share", Craig takes the Blues into a new and unique direction, doing so in a way I have not heard before. This is not a reverent album and you will quickly find that out with the opening track, "On A Rooftop With A Rifle And A Scope", and continuing on with the next track, "Everybody's Fault But Mine", in which the opening line is, "Got A Bible In My Hand And I Wish It Was A Beer". For a Debut Release, "Pissed Off, Bitter And Willing To Share", is an exceptional offering and a new take on the Blues and Blues Rock Genre that will be a refreshing delight to all those fortunate enough to hear it. Well done Craig... Looking forward to more... Review by John
Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network) Info & Reviews
Pissed Off, Bitter And Willing To Share" is the first album from Glasgow-based alt.blues/roots guitarist-singer/songwriter Craig Hughes. Following on from the successful EP release "Broke, Lonely And Guilty", the album is a more aggressive and perversely upbeat affair, featuring twelve new tracks exploring the darker side of life - titles include "Dancing On Your Grave" and "On A Rooftop With A Rifle And A Scope" (even the album's sole instrumental "Cuban Necktie" is named after a notorious form of gangland execution). The mood throughout is leavened with a streak of dark humour.
1. On A Rooftop With A Rifle And A Scope Listen To Music Here
In the late 80s and 90s, alt.blues/roots musician and songwriter Craig Hughes paid his dues playing in alternative rock bands, at the same time developing his acoustic blues chops as a street musician. Lots of miserable, cold, wet busking from Glasgow through Central Scotland to the Edinburgh Festival and back.
Great performer.
Craig: I play alt. blues and roots music, think of myself primarily as a guitarist but have seen the dreaded 'singer songwriter' tag applied, not entirely inaccurately... Craig: Started playing guitar at around 12 years old. There was a good scene where I grew up - everything from blues to metal to punk and prog at the same gig, often in the same band. Sometimes in the same song. It was a good atmosphere to learn in. Craig: I first showed a real interest in music when I was a wee boy, and I was really into rock 'n' roll and rockabilly. Loved early Elvis (had a copy of The Sun Collection which my dad gave me the day Elvis died) and at the time Bill Haley was my favourite - my folks took me to a Bill Haley show at a
Rock'n'Roll revival show at The Glasgow Apollo when I was 9 years old. That did it. As the years rolled on I went through a lot of fazes, many of which stayed with me, and ended up in an alternative-rock head-space throughout the 90s - Rollins Band, RHCP, Soundgarden and so on. Now I'm playing primarily solo blues, but it's with that attitude, I think. The biggest influences on what I do now are probably Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III, Skip James, Keith Richards and Chuck Berry. And Lemmy. Craig: The latest release is my first album, 'Pissed Off, Bitter and Willing to Share', which kind of picks up where the EP 'Broke, Lonely and Guilty' left off. Where the EP was made up of fairly melancholy slide-heavy blues, and was pretty dark stuff all in, the album is a more aggressive and perversely upbeat affair - although lyrically it still draws from the darker side of life. Craig: My shows are solo acoustic affairs, but aggressive and full-on - I break a sweat. I play mostly my own material but occasionally throw in covers by anyone from Robert Johnson and Howlin Wolf - which you might expect - through Kris Kristofferson and Jerry Reed to Motorhead - which you might not. I put on some promotions in Glasgow under the banner That Devil Music, which is me performing with one or two other acts - I prefer to promote myself in the city as there are so many rip-off merchants at work in the live scene, particularly at the grass-roots level where everybody's trying to catch a break. Craig: There's a school of thought that has the kind of stuff I do down as some kind of catharsis, which probably isn't far off the mark although I think that's more in the writing stage. Recording can be quite frustrating at times, but there's that great moment when it comes together and you think: cool - that's a proper fucking record, that is! Craig: The album is out now - the CD is currently available from the Channel Nowhere site and my website, where there's all sorts of other fascinating gubbins to catch your eye, and will be available from CD Baby (CD/download) from the end of November 2009. CD Baby is handling digital distribution which takes time to roll out - the EP is already available to download from CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, Lala etc., so look out for the album to start appearing on those stores over the next few weeks.
http://www.myspace.com/craighughesmusic
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