Chris Barnes – BadNews Travels Fast
This set is another vintage-oriented energetic slinky blues exercise that’ll never cease to get toes to tap & beer bottle caps pulled. There’s a bit of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band tradition mixed with early J. Geils Band, a sweep of Elvin Bishop, a dash of Iron City Houserockers & early Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes (“I Ain’t Got the Fever No More”).
There’s plenty of sawdust & soul pathology that adds a nice touch to Chris “BadNews” Barnes’ vocals. With 11 gravy-soaked blues tenderloins on BadNews Travels Fast (Drops April 26/Gulf Coast Records/45:00) recorded in Nashville, TN & produced by multi-Grammy winner Tom Hambridge (drums/percussion/bgv/co-writer). This is Chris’ 5th LP.
The contemporary blues set has lots of provocative asides with creative vocal see-sawing expertly applied with other vocalists. There’s a hint of Tom Waits & Canadian Tom Wilson in the vocal narrative “You Right Baby.” A fiery piece like an evangelist taking his expose into the blues field. But the instrumentality is sleek with a savvy torrent in a shade of Chuck E. Weiss combined with (wait for it) Captain Beefheart. In a word, Chris Barnes lassos it all tightly & brings it in without blisters.
All fun aside, Chris goes serious with “A Bluesman Can’t Cry.” A cohesive intense tune B.B. King could’ve done with his intermittent blues licks & deep voice. But Chris shines here & it’s interesting, different & dramatic without pomposity. One thing is certain — with an artist like Chris mining the blues genre the music isn’t going to fade quietly. It isn’t done with an air of novelty either. Chris doesn’t rely on blues songs performed a million times. Instead, he unleashes originals with a tinge of vintage-ness & authenticity.
Barnes goes hot with a swing-era brass uppercut of “The Juice Ain’t Worth the Squeeze,” — a borderline novelty tune performed with an arrangement that’s nothing short of excellent. When a blues performer can be this entertaining it’s value added. The entire performance is fiery & fun & amply capturing the mojo of the old musical genre. Mom & Dad knew what they were doing in the 40s. Barnes reminds us. Then he tosses in an equally compelling “Bluesballer Baby,” & goes all 50s. There are guest musicians peppered throughout the set adding lots of luster.
Chris doesn’t escape the novelty temptation but saves those as the last 2 tracks on the CD & does perform them with the same formidable musicianship.
Highlights – “Badnews Travels Fast,” “True Blues,” “You Right Baby,” “A Bluesman Can’t Cry,” “The Juice Ain’t Worth the Squeeze,” “Bluesballer Baby,” “His Majesty The Baby,”
Musicians – Kenny Greenberg (guitars), Mike Rojas (keys), Max Abrams (sax), Steve Patrick (trumpet), Tabitha Fair (bgv) with Jimmy Hall (harmonica), Sugaray Rayford (vocals) & Walter Trout (guitar).
Front CD image courtesy of Laura Carbone. CD @ Apple Music & https://www.chrisbarnesnyc.com/