Stacy Mitchhart – No Rhyme Or Reason
This is a slick, well-recorded set of roots-driven blues built on a soulful foundation. The 17th full-length LP from Tennessee Blues purveyor Stacy Mitchhart (vocals/lead & rhythm guitars). Produced by Grammy winner Tom Hambridge (drums/percussion/bgv), the 12 tracks were conjured up for No Rhyme Or Reason (Drops April 17/Dr Sam Records/47:39) – no pun intended.
I don’t think he’s in it for the glitz & glamour as the CD art depicts. The songs tell a different story. “Good One Time” is drenched in a well-arranged funk dalliance. Tight as a weaved basket. The vocals have good intonation & phrasing. Many are performed with finesse. “Bad As You” is a good blues composition with basic lyrics that could’ve been a bit edgier & dirtier (not vulgar). No criticism as far as the vocals – Stacy knows the terrain.
“You Sure Look To Me,” with Gretchen Wilson, is sultry, but it’s more “entertainment,” not the blues. If rearranged, it could be bluesier. The playing is excellent. Stacy & Gretchen sound good together. Whereas “Flip It To The Other Side” is pure blues with creativity. The crisp, heavy percussion & Charlie Musselwhite’s harmonica complement Stacy’s incisive vocals. “We Blew It” is a blues that’s funky with shades of Boz Scaggs, Elvin Bishop & Duster Bennett. Its instrumental fumes attract like barbecue rib smoke.
Some tunes have a great vibe. The playing is always stellar & Stacy’s voice is solid. Some lyrics & arrangements spawn a pop-blues flexibility that’s close to commercial. That perpetuates Robert Palmer’s grooming rather than a stark blues texture. Blue’s tradition is compromised. “On My Dying Day” is more in the wheelhouse. Somebody’s got to mess up this guy’s hair a little & put a spilled bottle of Old Crow whiskey at his feet. He could be a bluebird, a buzzard, or an oriole – which feather does he wish to fly with?
The only criticism: he may be a little too clean, Martinized, homogenized, & pasteurized. But you can’t judge a book by its cover, can you? Truth, grittiness & soulfulness are in residence. Recorded at Soundstage Studios in Nashville, Stacy adds soul but he needs some Don Nix aesthetics & get someone like Furry Lewis to add pepper to the stew (as Don did). This singer has all the cards; he certainly has the cigars & might replace Kinky Friedman or Jim Croce. Two stogie smokers. But don’t hold the cigar like a cigarette.
Highlights – “Good One Time,” “Bad As You,” “Flip It To The Other Side,” “We Blew It,” & “On My Dying Day.”
Musicians – Kenny Greenberg (guitars), Kevin McKendree (keys), Tommy MacDonald & Rob Cureton (bass), Kyla Jade & Rachel Hambridge (bgv), Max Abrams (sax) & Julio Diaz (trumpet).
Color image courtesy of The Factory Photography. CD @ Apple + Amazon & https://www.stacymitchhart.com/