David Starr – Must Be Blue
This is Colorado-based & Arkansas-native David Starr’s blues studio album, which rolls out some assertive blues covers & a few originals. The album also features John Oates (Hall & Oates) on background vocals.
10 pieces exemplify Must Be Blue (Drops April 25/Quarto Valley Records/37:37) produced by David (electric, acoustic & slide guitars/vocals/bgv) with Mark Prentice (bass/keyboards) in Nashville. The songs in Starr’s showcase often show an unflinching, formidable, skillful display on songs like J.J. Cale’s “Bringin’ It Back,” followed by “Just Got Back From Baby’s.”
The Cale tune rocks nicely with a Steve Earle rockin’ flavor. Then the Bill Ham-Billy Gibbons tune offers plaintive harmonica bursts with a sharp guitar lead with good tonality. Heavy organ chords fill the spaces – mindful of the bluesier Lee Michaels recordings from the late 60s like “Stormy Monday.”
Starr doesn’t run out of gas, though; he follows with the rich & heavy “Lonesome Train” that’s as satisfying as a tasty greasy burger with fried onions served down at Kelsey’s bar with a pitcher of cold beer. This is excellent. A blues with a fiery mandolin, cannon-fire drums & if Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn” was rearranged into a ball bustin’ blues — this would be it. Cover your jewels, gentlemen, this is going to be a wet towel-fight on the cold tiles tonight. Great song.
David squeezes out an original in “Listen To the Rain,” – “give me something I can call my own, something you can’t take away…” served up soulfully with female voices Ray Charles’ Raelettes would envy.
“Ezra Came To Call” is another original — J.J. Cale crossed with Kinky Friedman. Raw & gutsy. “Time Is a Thief,” by the Cate Brothers of Arkansas, is a wonderfully original, written & performed piece. A powerful organ lays down the necessary thickness while David decorates the rest with the clarity of his accessible voice.
The set is also entertaining, which helps a listener to appreciate the music. “I Wait For Mine” has a catchy guitar right from the start (good mainstream single contender) with striking backup vocals that frame David’s singing. The band is extraordinarily tight. Starr takes an old genre & finds new things to express with a determined voice blessed by a distinctive band.
Highlights – “Bringin’ It Back,” “Just Got Back From Baby’s,” “Lonesome Train,” “Listen To the Rain,” “Ezra Came To Call,” “Time Is a Thief,” & “I Wait For Mine.”
Musicians – Greg Morrow & Matt Bubel (drums), Reese Wynans (keyboards), Joe Starr, Dan Dugmore & Jeff King (electric guitars), Pat Bergeson (electric & acoustic guitars/harmonica), Erik Stucky (mandolin), Rob McNelley (slide guitar) & Michelle Nicolo Prentice (bgv).
B&W image courtesy of the Richlyn Group/Facebook. CD color image by Jason Denton. An 8pp stitched lyric insert is included. CD @ Apple & Amazon + https://www.davidstarrmusic.com/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Song Premiere: David Starr “Lonesome Train”
