They say good things come to those that wait, and it has been a long wait between albums from one of this country’s premier blues men, Darren Watson.
There has been more than half a decade between the release of Watson’s previous album ‘South Pacific Soul’ and his latest ‘Saint Hilda’s Faithless Boy’.
To label Watson as purely a blues man is perhaps doing him a disservice.
He is as surely rooted in the blues as bad whiskey and evil women, but he is also much more than that.
Not only does Watson have perhaps the finest blues band in the country at present, I’m sure that if he had the inclination and set his mind to it he would have the best soul band, the best R ‘n’ B band and probably the best pop band in the country too.
In fact, if he wasn’t such an excellent blues player and worked more in those other genres he’d probably be more famous.
With a thoroughly excellent band behind him (outstanding drummer Richard Te One; totally in the pocket bassist Elliotte Fuimaono; and keyboard player extraordinaire Alan Norman) Watson rides the groove throughout with exemplary vocal and guitar tone that effortlessly blends the soulful, swamp rock, hard biting blues of tunes such as Love Is An Ocean, Got It All and A Desperate Man with the haunting acoustic slide of My Love Will Never Die.
If you’re looking for a blues record full of blistering, meaningless, endless guitar solos than this record isn’t for you.
If you’re looking for something a bit more grown-up and heartfelt… then you’ve found it.
We can only hope that that the wait between ‘Saint Hilda’s Faithless Boy’ and Watson’s next release won’t be so long.
But, if that wait produces such results as this latest one, then it will be surely worth it.
Related Acts:
About the author blues.bass
I’m a Blues Bass Player. I’m not a Jazz player. I’m definitely not a Rock player who doesn’t know better. And I’m pretty sure there’s a difference. I’m a Blues Bass Player. I don’t mean to offend anybody, but that’s the way I feel about it and I’m working hard to try and make sure you can hear the difference in my playing. I love the blues, and I’m talking blues the way it used to be played… Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor to name but a few. This is the music that can make you laugh, make you happy, make you dance, and yep… even cry… sometimes all at the same time. Ask me to mention the name of a blues guitarist and I’ll be telling you Hubert Sumlin, B.B. or Albert King or Buddy Guy. By favourite
