VIN MOTT
ROGUE HUNTER
CAR TROUBLES MADE ME A GOOD BLUES SINGER–GIVE ME CORNBREAD–ROGUE HUNTER–ICE COLD BEER–HONEY–WHISTLIN’ BY THE GRAVEYARD–PATERSON IS CRUMBLING–I GOT THE BLUES ON MY MIND–COUNTIN’ ON THEM CHICKENS–FIRE TO YOUR FLAME–PLEASE MR. DEVIL–GREASER
Another fine bluesman from New Jersey is harpman Vin Mott. He got a drum kit at age seven, and he ain’t looked back. In high school, he settled on the harp, and graduated from the prestigious Berklee College Of Music in Boston. For his latest album, he wrote all twelve of the cuts, and goes over and above the call of the blues on “Rogue Hunter.” Vin is on vocal and harp, with Dean Shot on guitar, Pretty Boy Kirsty on bass, and Matt Niedbalski on drums.
Fans, the more you listen to this 28-year-old bluesman, the more fun you’ll have. The fun starts with a shufflin’ ode to all the lemons he’s driven, and how “Car Troubles Made Me A Good Blues Singer!” “Ice Cold Beer,” with its built-in call-and-response mechanism, is a stone party anthem, and is a damn good reason to “stay drunk all thru the year.” “Honey” lopes along, full of the spirit of Jimmy Reed, and that theme surfaces a bit later with “Fire To Your Flame.” The somber slow-blues of “Paterson Is Crumbling” details how this once-great city has been ravaged by urban blight and hard times.
We had two favorites, too. “Rogue Hunter” re-visits the Bo Diddley classic, “Roadrunner, baby,” into a slide-driven tale of spit and swagger that has our hero feelin’ like a “black bear in the woods!” And, he practically begs ol’ Lucifer to “come on out and play” down at the Crossroads, with the dark humor of “Please Mr. Devil.”
Rare is the artist who can inject such a degree of humor into his blues, but that’s part of the draw of Vin Mott. If you love good ol’ harp-and-slide-driven combo styled blues, getcha a big plate of cornbread and have lunch with a real “Rogue Hunter!” Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow, The Nashville Blues And Roots Alliance.
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