The latest album from Jerron Paxton is the first to feature all original songs, and it is a joy to hear.
Paxton sings and plays Blues, the real stuff from the Delta rather than electrified, using authentic instruments and phrasings. On this album all the songs are originals, but you could be listening to Leadbelly or Lightnin’ Slim on a Lomax field recording if the sound quality wasn’t so good. The old recordings were subject to the quality of the recording equipment and if you could have brought one of the old masters into a modern studio you would have got recordings as good as this – as clear and as pure. Add to that, Paxton is a terrific songwriter and musician, and the result is a delight for any fan of original style Blues.
His songs have wit and a very personal view of the modern world - In Jerron’s own words, “I write and sing about the culture I come from. It seems a bit neglected.” – and illustrates that both with his words and playing guitar, banjo, piano, and violin, among other implements. His harmonica playing is superb, ‘Little Zydeco’ is one of the few numbers I have heard in years played on the mouth harp with no vocals, rather than treating the harmonica as a slide guitar replacement.
‘So Much Weed’ is a perfect example of Paxton’s modernism – a song about the decriminalisation of marijuana.
The current single is ‘What’s Gonna Become Of Me’ with Paxton on banjo and featured on Jools Holland Later …
In lesser hands, this would be a sterile tribute to the greats, with as much life as a marionette, but Paxton is more than a student of the form, he plays from his heart and writes songs that relate to today.
