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CD58
THE DOWNCHILD BLUES BAND
A MATTER OF TIME-THE DOWNCHILD COLLECTION
Blue Wave Records
www.downchild.com
The Downchild Blues Band was formed in June 1969 by Don Walsh and was named after the song Downchild recorded by Sonny Boy Williamson #2. Although they have been together for over thirty years and have recorded thirteen plus albums and toured the US, they are still relatively unknown outside of their native Canada, but they are showing no signs of slowing down. Their latest CD, A Matter of Time - The Downchild Collection is a testimony of The Downchild Blues Band's commitment to the blues.
The album features 72 minutes of playing time and twenty of the best songs they have written or covered in the last thirty years including three songs that have never been released on CD before. The first track is a uptempo swing blues with horns called It's Been So Long, an original by Don Walsh. It's followed by a cover of Joe Turner's T.V. Mama `a la Elmore James with Don Walsh on slide guitar. As well as being an excellent lead and slide guitarist, Walsh is also very talented with the harmonica playing in the style of Sonny Boy Williamson and James Cotton. Vocals are handled by a number of different people because over the course of thirty years line-ups change and people pass on, but they include Walsh's brother Rick "Hock" Walsh and Tony Flaim. Their current vocalist is Chuck Jackson who has been with Downchild for the past ten years and wrote two songs on this album, Annie's Got A Sister and Dew Drop Inn.
The album has a variety of feels and tempos and can be best described as a cross between West Coast Jump and Southside Chicago blues styles. Overall, A Matter Of Time is a great introduction to probably the best and most enduring blues band to come out of Canada.
Eric Black
Blue Country 101FM
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