THE SMOKE WAGON BLUES BAND
LIVE IN HAMILTON
INDIE POOL SMBBCD05
AIN’T NO SUNSHINE–HEN HOUSE HOPPING–INTRO JOSEPHINE–JOSEPHINE–WRONG SIDE GIRL–I CAN’T CHANGE–FINE FURRED MOMMA–INTRO BARTON STREET–BARTON STREET BLUES–SMOKE WAGON BOOGIE–LONESOME WHISTLE BLUES–LAWYER INTRO–FEELING OF THE WITCH–BLOW WIND BLOW
The Smoke Wagon Blues Band formed in 1997, in hamilton, Ontario, and, since then, have been nominated for a Hamilton Music Award three times for Blues Album of the Year and by the Toronto Blues Society and the Maple Blues Society for Best New Blues Artist, so they are no strangers to some serious accolades. Add in world-wide airplay and rave reviews everywhere, and you can see these fellows can bring the heat to some fine blues. And, even tho they are a great studio outfit, they pack an even bigger punch onstage.
And so it is with their latest album, “Live In Hamilton,” which finds them rockin’ the house at Hamilton’s Stonewalls Music Hall on May 4, 2013, in front of a very-appreciative crowd that obviously knows good blues when they hear it!
Smoke Wagon consists of Corey Lueck on harp and vocals, Mike Stubbs on guitar, Nick Succi on keys, Gordon Aiechele on sax, Jason Colavecchia on bass, and Tibor Lukacs on drums. They start the party with a sax-heavy eight-minute romp of “Ain’t No Sunshine,” where virtually everyone gets a chance to solo, and sets the tone for the rest of the night. In this intimate setting, the fellows get relaxed and in the groove, trading solo after solo throughout this seventy-plus-minute set.
They sprinkle familiar songs that everyone knows with their own fantastic material. Absolutely nothin’ beats the barnyard shuffle of “Hen House Hopping,” or the gold-fever funk of “Josephine.” The crowd gets into the call-and-response of the “Smoke Wagon Boogie,” and they offer up a cool “country” song with “Barton Street Blues,” a tale of Abel, a “lady of the evening” and her various charms! They close the set with the piano-heavy “Feeling Of The Witch,” (instantly-recognizable by that killer riff), and a sweet “Blow Wind Blow.”
The Smoke Wagon Blues Band find ample room amidst their arrangements for both Corey’s harp and Gordon’s sax, often in the same song, one of the many things we enjoy about this band. “Live In Hamilton” is everything a live album should be–excellent material and musicianship, with everyone–onstage and off–having a great time!! Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow.
donandsherylsbluesblog 