This Ain’t No Foolin’ Around

Tony Peyser
Mirror contributing writer

   In his tight tank top, dirty blue jeans and crew cut, Fred Eaglesmith looks like one tough customer. If you told him he was a “sensitive” singer-songwriter, he’d chase you into the next area code. I think of him as Canada’s Steve Earle. Eaglesmith’s hard-edged alt-country sound makes you wonder if his tour bus uses whiskey instead of gasoline.
   An awfully good place to get acquainted with him is Ralph’s Last Show which was recorded live in Santa Cruz with his back-up band, The Flying Squirrels. Not only do you get a sense of how vibrant Eaglesmith is in concert, the double-CD also provides a heck of a good sampling from his four previous albums. The raucous but romantic “Lucille” chronicles a 19-year-old’s wild affair with a woman more than twice his age and his startling reunion with her decades later. “Time To Get A Gun” is so catchy, I’m surprised I haven’t seen TV spots for the NRA with stentorian warbling by Charlton Heston. But Chuck et al would cut out these lines: “Time to get a gun/That’s what I’m thinking/I could afford one/If I did just a little less drinking.” Perhaps most amazing of all is “Alcohol & Pills,” Eaglesmith’s insightful look at stressed out and messed up musicians from Hank Williams to Elvis to Janis and Jimi: “The fame doesn’t take away the pain/It just pays the bills/And you wind up on alcohol & pills.”
   Another terrific live set comes from Bo Ramsey and The Backsliders. With his rough-edged voice, Ramsey plays the blues with a startling jolt in every electrified guitar lick. The opening track, “I Don’t Know,” sounds like The Byrds but with tattoos on it —- jingle-jangle guitars from the urban jungle. “Sidetrack Lounge,” which I reviewed from Ramsey’s In The Weeds studio album, is a syncopated stunner which travels deep into the shadows of the night.
   Halfway through, you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to the part of town that’s full of fun and danger and your parents warned you to never go to. Ramsey’s take on Slim Harpo’s classic “Shake Your Hips” is another gem. This song’s been done many times, including on Exile On Main Street. I mention this because “Likeable” sounds a hell of a lot like the early Rolling Stones when they were more likely to shake their hips than break one.
   New Ground is the latest effort from Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise. And what a pleasant surprise it is. Some Detroit alternative rockers heard a guy singing out on the street and asked him to come join them. Robert Bradley complied and hasn’t left yet. Three young white guys + one older, blind, black sometime street singer = electric blues with soul and rock and roll. In Bradley’s resonant voice, you can hear the echoes of other great singers from Richie Havens to Taj Mahal and Ted Hawkins, another musician who wasn’t a stranger to performing on street corners. “Fast Lane” and “Ride My Wave” will roll right into your heart but the band will already have taken up residency there from the opening track, “Train.” This surging song has the power of a locomotive and beauty of a thousand small town whistle-stops at sunset.
   Miles Of Music has Ralph’s Last Stand album for $17.50 and Bo Ramsey Live for $13.50. CDNow has New Ground for $16.98.
   A trio of people I like and have reviewed are playing locally: Jesse Dayton’s at McCabe’s on February 15, Peach is at Lunaria on Feb. 16 and on that same night Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise will be at The Troubabor.
   The Goofy Band Name Of The Week is … The Skinny Little Twits.