My first impression when I saw this CD was: "What the Hell?" When I read that it was "swampy slide guitar blues", then I went: "Alright! Yes! Needless to say this disc has been very popular in my palylist.
Sauce Boss is an American by the name of Bill Wharton and he has just released his eleventh album. Not only that, but Bill is also a philanthropic character for he has traveled throughout the States for twenty years, playing and cooking in homeless shelters. I've progressively become more and more interested in blues music myself, while mostly turning my playing into that great style. Hot'N Heavy came in as a cool candy for my ears. This is Southern blues and "Marquis de Swamp" puts your feet right there, in the swamp with its samplings and nice slide guitar work. That is one of Bill's specialties; I mean this dude can slide around the neck with a casual and melodiously sloppy style. All of this is very inspiring and groovy, as us old folks would say. Lots of good ol' bluesy melodies make this release a very pleasant disc to spin. There are a few short compositions that bear a certain funk style and, as far as I'm concerned, they are mostly fillers. The titles are: " Okra", "Hot Sauce", and "Chicken in the Gumbo". That is the only criticism I have to say about this fun album, because all the other tunes are fun to listen over and over. Besides the already mentioned opening tracks, the highlights are: "Rusty Blues" (sloppy/bluesy slide guitar, yes!), "Lonesome Rider" (steel guitar, slide solos that make me to ride the Everglades on those special boats), and "Crazy Bout Ya Baby" (acoustic and slide, yes, yes!) and the country styled closer: "Somewhere Down the Road" (banjo, acoustic /steel guitar). I'm curious to find out if Sauce Boss has done some more acoustic stuff in the past and/or other bands are more into that style, because I'd like to get my bluesy paws on those releases.
If this review does not make you want and desire to listen to this album, it's simply because you're not a blues fan.
Publisher's Note: for more information on Bill's music, as well as his line of delicious Hot Sauce's, please check the link below.
Track listing:
1 – Marquis de Swamp
2 – Rusty Blues
3 – Get Naked and Surf
4 – Okra
5 – Lonesome Rider
6 – That's How it Feels
7 – Gonna Be All Right
8 – Don't Know How to Tell You
9 – Hot Sauce
10 – Crazy Bout Ya Baby
11 – Andouille
12 – Old Dog Eared Copy
13 – Hot' n Heavy
14 – Chicken in the Gumbo
15 – Somewhere Down the Road
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