The latest from Mark Harrison and his band, and possibly his most heartfelt album yet.
Mark Harrison is a Blues/Roots performer with a goodly number of years at his trade. And, for my money, he is one of the most unique musicians around today. He has an incredible depth of knowledge of Blues music of the thirties onwards, and he write music in the style of some of the legends, but entirely in his own vernacular.
He is joined on this by his regular band of Charles Benfield on Double bass & harmony vocals and Ben Welburn on drums & percussion and backing vocals. Guy Bennett is an old acquaintance of the band and chips in with some electric guitar and keyboards. Harrison himself plays a Resonator guitar from the thirties, a twelve string guitar and, for the first time, an electric.
As usual, the songs themselves are stories, perhaps about modern life or Blues lore or personal memories, and all sung in his dry and slightly Midlands accent (he is from Coventry originally).
This time around he touches on items such as ‘Them And Us’ – the difference between those who actually create and the others who ‘manage’ companies without any understanding of what goes into the making of their product.
As usual, there are a few umbers about Blues legends – ‘Sonny Boys’ ( the occasion where the original Sonny Boy Williamson met an imposter and came off worse), or ‘Fancy Hotel’ or ‘The Onliest One’. There are also a few numbers that speak to his own philosophy of life and a few that are just about living today.
The whole package is a joy on the ear. Three superb musicians using their instruments rather than samples or ‘Toolkits’, a bakers dozen songs that have melodies and hooks – some that will have you dancing, some nodding wistfully and a few that will have you raising your fists and roaring.
