| The
Fat Possum Juke Joint Caravan Live @ The Montage Grille
3/4/04
The Fat Possum Juke
Joint Caravan steamrolled into town on March 4th to deliver
some no nonsense blues to an appreciative crowd. On the
bill were Paul "Wine" Jones, T-Model Ford and
Kenny Brown. While over a thousand miles from their home
base the trio played some ferocious down-home blues as if
they were in a Mississippi juke instead of the classy supper
club surroundings of the Montage Grille.
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Up first was Paul
"Wine" Jones who's cut two typically raucous records
for Fat Possum in "Mule" (1995) and "Pucker
Up Buttercup" (1999). setting the template for the
next two artists, Jones was backed by just a drummer, no
bass needed. After a quick minute intro, Jones felt things
weren't sufficiently loud enough and proceeded to crank
the amp to earsplitting level. Satisfied, Jones unleashed
some hellacious guitar boogie. Sure there may not have been
much in the way of variety in his playing but he sure tore
it up on tunes like "If You Love Me Like You Say",
"Nobody But You", "Diggin' My Potatoes"
and originals like "Mad Dog on My Trail" and the
blistering "Pucker Up Buttercup."
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Up next was T-Model
Ford who was sufficiently fired up despite being God knows
how old. I spied that the Fat Possum gang had a duffel bag
filled with cash and Jack Daniels that they dipped into
liberally. Backed by just his faithful drummer Spam, T-Model
managed to fill the place with his propulsive, clattering
guitar, making an ungodly amount of noise for a two piece.
Ford hollered out the blues and created an almost hypnotic
effect with his chugging guitar work. The music was perfect
for dancing and the dance floor quickly filled as Ford blasted
through "Feel So Bad", "Yes, I'm Standing"
(his version of "Mean Old Frisco"), did his best
Howlin' Wolf impersonation on "I Asked For Water"
and gleefully shouted "shake what you got" and
sang "Bad Man" like he meant it (title cut off
his excellent 2002 release).
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Wrapping up was Kenny
Brown backed by Cedric Burnside on drums. Cedric is the
son of R.L. Burnside and Kenny Brown has played with R.L.
forever with Burnside often calling him his adopted son.
Brown has paid his dues and it showed. Displaying a bit
more melody than the previous acts, Brown ripped through
slide soaked numbers like Burnside's rollicking "Miss
Maybelle" and "Shake Em' on Down" both from
his stellar "Stingray" (2003) record. A real highlight
was "Laughing To Keep From Crying" a number he
learned from his first mentor, Joe Callicott, and fine but
neglected Mississippi guitarist. Cedric Burnside displayed
some phenomenal drumming throughout and laid down an incredible
drum solo.
All in
all the Fat Possum
Juke Joint Caravan delivered just what they promised with
a stomping, stripped down and loud set of good time blues.
You can make a case that the music was repetitive and sloppy
but you know what? It sure sounded good. If the caravan
rolls through your town jump on board!
-Check out
these related links:
Fat
Possum Website
Montage
Grill Website
T-Model
Ford: Bad Man Review
Kenny
Brown: Stingray Review
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