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Blues Underground Network |
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Victor Wainwright & The Wildroots
"Lit
Up!"
Victor Wainwright and Stephen
Dees must have figured if it worked before, it can work out again, and boy
were they right, with the release of their newest collaboration Victor
Wainwright & The Wildroots "Lit Up!". Considered to be a potent
mix of "Power-house blues, Memphis soul, and roots
rock’n’roll", Victor Wainwright & The Wildroots, along with Guest
Musicians Charlie DeChant, Mark "Muddyharp" Hodgson, Chris Stephenson, Bob
Dionne, Ken Titmus, deliver a Sophomore release that is truly second
to none.
"Lit Up!"
consists of 14 solid Tracks with Victor Wainwright and fellow
Producer/Bassist Stephen Dees, writing or co-writing all of the songs. In
addition to Victor Wainwright tickling the ivories on "Lit Up!", he also
does the Lead Vocals, and he does them about as masterfully as any singer
out there today, reminding me a lot of the vocal style of Dr. John. The
backing band for this album, is as their Debut release "Beale Street to
the Bayou", the Wildroots and consists of Stephen Dees (Bass/Acoustic
Guitar/Percussion), Greg Gumpel (Resonator/Electric Guitar), Patricia Ann
Dees (Tenor sax/Backing Vocals), Billy Dean (Drums), and Ray Guiser (Tenor
sax/Clarinet). It does not take that long of a listen, into this
album, to see why The Wildroots are considered "one of the tightest
smokin’ bands on the scene".
The main man
on "Lit Up!" is of course Victor Wainwright and his climb to the top
of the heap of great Boogie Style Piano players and performers is pretty
well complete, as a few recent quotes surely prove. “Victor Wainwright,
wields a mighty left hand and a robust vocal delivery that brims with the
very spirit of the blues. (Sheryl & Don Crow - Nashville Blues
Society), “Extremely diverse with great songwriting, exceptional
arrangements, flawless playing and vocals soulful enough to make Otis
Redding sit up and take notice” (Bill Wilson - Billtown Blue Notes),
“Victors’ piano playing is exciting and soulful, along with his strong
vocals. Victor is a blues star on the rise. ” (Honey Piazza, Rod Piazza
and the Mighty Flyers).
From Top to Bottom, Side to Side, and Front To Back, "Lit
Up!" is just simply put, One Great Album, and in more ways than one, it
will remind you of a least one of the greats, that being Dr. John. Victor
Wainwright and his amazing backing band The Wildroots, have with "Lit
Up!", firmly entrenched themselves as a Blues Force to be reckoned with.
From the Piano pounding opening Track "Big Dog's Runnin' This Town", to
the Soulful Backyard Bluesy singing on "Pile of Blues", "Lit Up!" is one
great ride.
For those of you whom like the Piano style delivery of the
Blues, "Lit Up!" is a must have album to your collection.
Review by John Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network)
Listen To Samples Here...
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