Written by Don Crow - Nashville Blues Society
Tuesday, 04 December 2007
MATT WALSH - HARD LUCK- RAW TONE RECORDS
At a Blues Awards show a few years back, we heard Charlie Musselwhite remark that "the line is getting shorter." He was referencing the ravages that Father Time had taken upon the true "elder statesmen" of the blues who had passed on. Many fans wonder just where the blues is headed, and, "who's gonna carry our bidness on" in the future. One such young man poised to help fill the void is the tremendously talented Matt Walsh. Now living in North Carolina and teamed with fellow Tar Heel Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin handling the production duties, Matt has released "Hard Luck" on Raw Tone Records. It is twelve all-original cuts of rompin', stompin' good-time blues in the true spirit of the masters who have come and gone.
Matt is a fireball on the guitar, too, with licks as hot as his blazing pompadour. This set is predominantly blues, although Matt also learns toward rockabilly and 50's rock and other "roots" styles, including a cool exercise in the "Piedmont" style of flatpicking with "Woody's Rag." The leadoff cut, "Leaving My Baby," is a rockabilly raveup, where he tells his no-good lover that "the curb is yours, and the road is mine." Bob Margolin adds guitar on this track, and slap-back bass is courtesy of F. S. Ventre. On "Why My Baby Ain't Around," (because she hooked up with the Devil himself!), Matt's slide wails like the proverbial hellhound is on his tail, and second guitar is added by another (very) young gun, twenty-year old Matt Hill. Love at first sight is the story behind "One Look," employing a rhumba beat. The classic goodbye tale, "Breakin' Up Over You," is done Sonny-and Brownie style, with Matt on the National steel and Rene Aaron on harp.
Our favorites, though, were the butt-rockin' "Goin' Out," seemingly written for folks like us who use music as therapy, to get away from life's troubles for a while. And, Matt's clever lyrics are the star of "Pointless Blues," which includes some fine mandolin work from Max Drake and a second vocal from drummer Chuck Cotton. It's done in the good spirit of the age-old "dozens" game, each man trying to "one-up" the other over the same woman, only coming to realize that, in the end, they both "got played!"
Matt Walsh deserves a national audience to bring his immense talents to the masses. With this release, here's hoping all his "Hard Luck" days are behind him! This is one that's definitely....Keeping the faith!! Sheryl and Don Crow.