PREACHER BOY THE NATCHL BLUES.
PREACHER BOY AND THE
NATURAL BLUES
Blind Pig Records BPCD 5017
GUTTER AND PEWS
Blind Pig Records BPCD 5034
Maybe it aint in the water but it sure is in that West Coast air. Just as the likes
of Beck stir up old country forms and brew up a new rain-dance with their
mixture of pre-war country/swamp/rock/punk here comes another brother
covered in dust if he aint walked straight out of the desert he should have!
Telling stories, just like Waits, this younguns got a voice like gravel- hes 29
going on 75! Its a voice to drag the imagination back to the levee, back to the
dust blowing across Son Houses guitar. The sound of a bottleneck being worn
down. Hell, Cold Mountain Music shivers with the ghosts of early Gun Club
(when they were very good) and the best of the Gibson Brothers ( Columbus,
Ohio model not the disco crowd) and even Waits pre-operetta days.
Also reminds me of way, way back Blind Willie Johnson, Charlie Patton,
pre-war, pre-electric. Last of all theres the Captain himself and Cooder
influencing these tunes a sort of zig-zag spell.
Chris Watkins a.k.a. The Preacher Boy is part of a design collective way out
west in the sun just search the web for Mediaband. Yup things are getting
mighty interesting in them tecno-shacks out there. Theres electricity rattlin
the tin and buzzin strings spookin the crows. Theres been a whole lot of
feeble white blues give Watkins his due though best damned try Ive heard
since Cave went orchestral, Jon Spencer went wah-wah and John Campbell
went to the other side.