I give this CD, my highest rating, Five *****
Excellent CD... Thoroughly enjoyed it... Highly Recommended...
Great Blues/Rock At It's Very Best...
Dave Perkins puts his music, especially the Blues, on the pedestal it
deserves... Blues Underground
Network
I just received a copy of Dave Perkins latest CD Pistol City Holiness, and overall I really like it. This CD will be getting heavy rotation in my CD player for sure.
Dave Perkins is one of those musicians who has "crisscrossed the map of American music." And it shows, this CD is well crafted and the presentation shows a deep understanding, respect and love of playing, especially playing blues music.
The overall sound of the CD is very bluesy, that is propelled by a big bad harmonica, some smoking boogie woogie piano playing, whaling electric guitars and very good singing. Perkins lyrics are steeped in the blues, but fresh as he delivers them with confidence and style. There is no doubt that Mr. Perkins is a student of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.
I really enjoy how many of the themes of blues, folk, gospel, and rock music are blended here to make a coherent whole. Which again speaks to how good the lyrics and the delivery are here.
With Pistol City Holiness, Perkins comes full circle to his first love—the blues. “The blues was the first music to capture my imagination,” says Perkins. “It grabbed me because it was something other—alien—and, yet, at the same time, deeply familiar. I’ve never gotten over it. I’ve worked in a lot of different styles of music, but my approach to each one was and will always be shaped by the blues.”
I really enjoy the harmonica playing of TJ Klay, and the piano and organ playing of Reese Wynans on this CD. As a matter of a fact that is what stands out about this CD, the playing is top level. And Dave Perkins' singing and electric guitar make this a pile of red hot smoking blues rock. Just the way you like it.
Track Listing for Pistol City Holiness
1. Break (starts and ends with some blistering Harmonica)
2. Going Down (singing and guitar playing)
3. Cherryfish & Chicken (nice harp and organ work)
4. Revival (nice gospel themed blues rock here)
5. Long Eleven Road (love the interplay of harp and guitars)
6. Bottles and Knives (barrel house at its best, great piano)
7. Train at Night (foot tapping blues song, reminds me of Muddy)
8. Flown (one of those sad heart ache blues songs)
9. Tiger Texas (good Texas blues rock, lyrics)
10 Devil's Game (sweet little blues song, cool acoustic guitar)
11. Preacher Blues (great lyrics, more religion and spirituality)
12. Mercy in the Morning (great singing, harmonica and organ playing here)
Other Info...
With Pistol City Holiness, Perkins comes full circle to his first love—the blues. “The blues was the first music to capture my imagination. It grabbed me because it was something other—alien—and, yet, at the same time, deeply familiar. I’ve never gotten over it. I’ve worked in a lot of different styles of music, but my approach to each one was and will always be shaped by the blues.”
Reflecting on the creation of Pistol City Holiness, Perkins says, “I wanted to make an album that brought back the excitement I felt when I first heard Muddy Waters, Cream, Fred McDowell, and Peter Green. And, I wanted to record with the musicians I shared the most history with.” Featured on the album are three of Perkins’ longest running musical relationships—Richard “Hombre” Price, Reese Wynans, and Mel Watts. Their musical association is decades deep. Like Perkins, each of these players has a significant performance pedigree with ties to artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Lucinda Williams.
Pistol City Holiness builds on the model of the traditional Chicago blues band, where guitar, piano, and harmonica play important roles as solo instruments. Along with Perkins’ guitar and Wynans’ piano and organ, TJ Klay fills out the section on blues harp. Around those foundational elements, aspects of techno, southern and alternative rock are interwoven to create a bracing, muscular take on blues-inflected American music.
Much like his sound, Perkins’ lyrics are simultaneously traditional and innovative. Perkins brings a contemporary poetic sense to his treatment of the blues even when dealing with age-old themes. Long Eleven Road is the story of a blue-collar family’s forced dislocation in pursuit of illusive employment. In Break, Perkins speaks for the frustrated, hard working person denied their piece of the American dream; Perkins sings, “The taste of life is oh so sweet—they’re finding money in the street—some folks live a life that’s charmed—some folks can go through hell unharmed. But, hard luck days have caught me in a corner for a kill—why does the road seem to always run up hill? I want a break that I don’t have to make!” Two of the album’s songs revisit a topic that has been present in the blues since the beginning--religion and spirituality. With Preacher Blues, the womanizing, cult-of-personality preacher is Perkins’ target. On a more positive note, Revival speaks to the healing power of community for the prodigal son. Perkins’ songs, Flown and Bottles and Knives give fresh perspectives on the difficulties of relationships. Here, Perkins anchors the album by working with what has traditionally been the first topic of the blues—love, or, the lack of it.
A brew of musical energies, Pistol City Holiness blurs boundary lines between styles, and makes an artistic statement that speaks to the variety and depth of Perkins’ experience—musical and otherwise—all while keeping the blues as the emotional, musical, and spiritual center.
About Dave Perkins
Dave Perkins is an artist whose musical journey crisscrosses the map of American music. Perkins’ work as a guitarist includes playing bluegrass and swing with fiddle-great Vassar Clements, Texas renegade-country with Jerry Jeff Walker, singer-songwriter pop with Carole King, alternative rock with Chagall Guevara, folk with Guy Clark, blues and jazz with violinist Papa John Creach, reggae with Mystic Meditations, and industrial hard-core with Passafist. Then, there were the occasional odd jobs, such as accompanying Ray Charles on his “3/4 Time” video. If there is a style of American music that calls for guitar, chances are Dave Perkins has played it, and played it with passion and skill.
