Dirt Road Band – Righteous (CD 2024)
formed the band about five years ago and it was intended as
a side job. A well-guarded side job, you have to say. Only when Steve
Walwyn was shown the door by "Dr. Feelgood" and initial rumors,
excuses and lies made the rounds (again!), the new job of the ex Dr. Feelgood and
"Dr. Feelgood" guitarist gradually came to light. I have no idea what
the reasons for Steve Walwyn's dismissal (after 32 years of service) were, but the
"reasons" seem pretty hollow and mendacious and above all I had a
déjà vu and that is Pete Gage.
Well, it was July 2024 and after some start-up time, DRB (as
they also call themselves) came around the bend with their debut. For the most part, you have
already heard the songs on the internet (except for me, I have become a total internet music objector). But the little I had heard involuntarily was
impressive. You can't skip so fast without something sticking. But the DRB website is a good place
to start. Under Dirt Road Band you can find everything you
need/want to know about your favorite band.
As I said,
Steve Walwyn, 32 years of service with Canvey's Finest (of which neither Canvey nor Fine for a
few years). The rest of the team, after Pete Gage's forced departure, always seemed to me at odds with reality and, I admit it, Steve Walwyn was one of them. As a guitarist a big number, but as
someone who was tempted to make the stirrup holder for Kevin and Phil,
unfortunately went for the ride and was held responsible just like the rest. Of course, I had still bought his solo
album "Instinct To Survive" from 2015 and his earlier ventures
(pre-Dr. Feelgood) still remain in my collection.
What is
interesting about DRB's "Righteous" is the musical direction, which
they themselves describe as hard, punchy blues rock. Yes, you can do it, but
for me it's quite a surprise (and a good one at that) that Steve doesn't carry a Dr. Feelgood
backpack. It's actually blues-rock in the style of the genuine English
R&B scene. 100% to the point and as a bonus, all 10 tracks are originals written by either Steve Walwyn or Horace Panter. And all of them are high level songs. If you like the trio
format in blues rock, you've come to the right place. Another surprise is the vocal delivery. The aforementioned solo "Instinct To Survive" cannot be
compared to this CD and of course I know what an excellent Axeman Steve Walwyn
is, but his vocal performance impressed me.
His
comrades-in-arms have the Specials or Badfinger in their CV, amongst others.
So no amateurs and you can hear that. Tight is of course the attribute that you use as a tag. "Worry No More" is a boogie as served by the best and perhaps the track that is probably most reminiscent of Dr. Feelgood. Some
guests also shine on the CD:
It will be a bit difficult to experience the band live. Most of it takes place in the U.K. and as I noticed, there were also a few gigs in Spain. One can only hope that the tours will spread a little more in the direction of the rest of Europe. Unfortunately, the distribution of the CD is not really state of the art, not even Bandcamp offers a physical copy. Download yes, but I got my CDs directly from the band (available under the link mentioned above) and this is easy peasy. The first 250 copies are signed. Ah yes, something I noticed, with 10 tracks on the CD and a running time of just over 45 minutes, that's quite long for an R&B (British style) offering, but extremely entertaining.
Cheers
Roland
P.S.: This piece was originally written in German and I used the translation tool in Word to make life easier for me. It looks strange and I believe I must iron some quirks out. But that is for another day. Let me know wether the meaning comes through.
P.P.S.: I touched the tex up here and there. Much better in my opinion now. But I do admit it, translation software has made quite a leap forward.
P.P.P.S.: And here is the original (if you want to brush up on your German language skills) Dirt Road Band – Righteous (CD 2024) – Rockzirkus-Blog
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