Craig Erickson – Modern Blues (CD)

Craig Erickson is a true groove master. He’s been true to the heavy, groovy blues rock since his debut “Roadhouse Stomp!” in 1992. It’s been a few years since his last physical album "Sky Train Galaxy", which was released in 2015. “Modern Blues” is really an example of what you read is what you get. Of course, “modern” can mean a lot of things. In this case it’s not about samples, machine generated grooves or auto tune abominations. It more the vibe. It’s blues and it’s rock and it doesn’t sound dated, which would qualify as “modern” in my book. The guitar is definitely in the forefront, and it’s Craig handling both guitar, bass, keyboards and vocals, only taking some help from drummer Jeff Sipe. I’ve always felt Craig has a pretty strong Robin Trower vibe to his vocals and playing, and it’s no different this time around. The vocals are pretty relaxed, yet rough, but no high pitch screaming, rather the missing link between James Dewar and Billy Gibbons. The guitar playing shines throughout the album and some songs that kinda stick out to me is the incredibly cool fuzzed out “Bring Love Back Again” with its funky vibe and brutal guitar licks and also the heavy, yet dynamic “Brokedown World” with its subtle but really beautiful Uni-Vibe Strat tone. I also can help to mention another song that sticks out a bit, which is “Wildfire”, which starts out a bit reminding of vintage southern rockers The Outlaws, but goes into a more funky direction. A really cool number with some intense and outstanding guitar solos with a cool fusion oriented vibe to them. Highly recommended!

Label: Fervor Records 

Country: USA

Year: 2023