Sometimes I think that Ian Siegal is twins – he seems to play in so many different areas of Blues, constantly on the road and sometimes seemingly in Europe/ Mississippi & Camden simultaneously! Remarkably though, I have never heard any recording from Siegal that is less than professional and of the highest quality, whether he is working with the Dickinsons or Jimbo Mathus, with a small band or solo.
This captures him in Amsterdam with a three piece band and having a great time (as are the crowd). Dusty Ciggaar plays some superb lead guitar and pedal steel alomgside Raphael Schwiddessen on drums and Danny Van’t Hoff on bass and they create a powerful sound behind Siegal’s dark and hard edged vocals.
From the opener, a great version of a Siegal favourite ‘I Am The Train’, you get the sense that the four of them are working as a unit and ripping out some wicked and well grooved music. When they kick into ‘Brandy Balloon’ the funk and the groove is palpable, so much so that it is difficult to just sit and listen – this is what wireless headphones were made for! The four jam like crazy and you can imagine the smiles on their faces as well as the listeners. Siegal pays tribute to some of the artists he has found along the way such as Harry Stephenson and Ripoff Raskolnikov giving ‘Writing On The Wall’ and ‘Temporary’ an outing, definitely in the style of Ian Siegal but impressing with the songs themselves and winning over new listeners to these artists. A beautiful and heart-breaking version of ‘Early Grace’ has the crowd silent, almost reverent, but the next up is a version of Tom Russell’s ‘Gallo Del Cielo’ played pretty straight and delivering Tex Mex like few others can. The guitar on this track is a delight and Siegal’s pronunciation of the Mexican town names is remarkable. I have to say that there are very few versions of Boudleaux Bryant’s ‘Love Hurts’ that I can listen to – Everly Brothers and Dani Wilde maybe – but Siegal, with the assistance of Tess & Joel Gaethe, makes a good fist of it, keeping the emotion but losing the tweeness of so many versions. Closing with a song from a local talent, Rudy Lentze’s ‘Please Don’t Fail Me’, really puts the seal on a terrific set.
Last year’s ‘Man & Guitar’ album was one of the best albums of 2014 and for my money proved that Ian Siegal is one of the greatest British musicians of the 21st century so far. This album isn’t quite up to that standard but it is a brilliant album that bears repeated listening and doesn’t have a weak track on it. Siegal is a master onstage and this album shows another facet of a remarkable talent.
