This new CD titled I Get Blamed For Everything I Do has a vintage blues sound all the way through. This blues trio has been breaking a lot of ground and touring relentlessly since breaking off from another blues band called Hoodoo Revelator.
Not using a bass player works wonders for this trio. The old fashion guitar sounds full, loud, and snappy without a bass guitar underneath it. The drummer gets to do more without a bass player absorbing its timbres. Opening number “Chicken Head Man” sets the groove with its snappy blues guitar licks, frenetic drumming, and singer/harp player’s Jay Scheffler’s whiskey-soaked gravel voice. You can picture these three guys tearing it up at juke joint. Drums keep on pounding. Blues-drenched guitar riffs keep on pealing off. The singer keeps his focus on that low, down and dirty delivery that has tons of life experience indelibly etched on his vocal chords.
“So Good To Me” has a funkier feel, with guitarist Jim Chilson keeping the rhythm at a comfortable, lively, percolating up from the beat feel. Listen closely and you can hear drummer Dave Darling meticulously building the foundation. His beat and his smacks around the beat are each played with careful attention to detail, adding up to a smoky, swampy shuffle. That is the magic behind the success of Ten Foot Polecats. They create a lot of music with only three players, and they know how to construct tunes that have a lot going on within a simple framework. Giving a blues fan a lot to sink his teeth into is a winning idea.
“Tears On My Windshield” gives Darling a great opportunity to force the song forward at a quick pace. From there, Chilson pays out a cool, irresistible rhythm that could get blues fans on their feet without slipping into funk or R&B. It’s good to hear the vintage sound played with such a hip feeling in its old time rhythms. On “Big Road” drummer Dave Darling gets to bump up the bopping groove all by his own self, and his use of bass drum and tom gives the sound all it needs to create a low end feeling. Pacing is crucial here, and Darling masters the steady flow of rolling foundation. If there is any such thing as a rolling foundation, I’m sure this drummer boy invented it.
The original songs on this CD were all written by Jay Scheffler except for one called “Scratch Ticket” Scheffler co-wrote with his trio mates. An instrumental, “Scratch Ticket,” finds Scheffler doing some fantastic harmonica work, and Chilson’s guitar rhythms make you want to sway to an old fashioned two step. The Ten Foot Polecat’s covers of songs by James Ford, Tommy Johnson, Son House, Jessie Mae Hamphill, Charley Patton, and RL Burnside fit right in with the originals because Scheffler writes in a style similar to those blues giants.
This trio kicks it into high gear on barn burner “Dryspell,” its high flying harmonica melodies and a driving, pedal to the floor rhythm guitar kicking it like there is no tomorrow. Scheffler’s rough gravel comes off appropriately evil in this song about killing floors. Chilson eventually gets so aggressive that you can picture him breaking strings when he plays this live. He doesn’t go for subtly here. He goes for train speed, ,and he is willing to let that train take him wherever it wants to go, even if that means driving off the rails into oblivion.
“Brokenhearted” is a slow but heavy, heartfelt blues ballad that gives Scheffler a chance to take control of every nuance of this tune. His vocal sets the tone for the artwork. His slow gravel voice guides Chilson and Darling in finding the pace and feel and getting them into the pocket of what he’s doing on this Jessie Mae Hemphill classic. “I’m Going Crazy” is another up tempo piece with enough aggressive grit to make people want to fight or get out of the way.
The trio mellow it out on “Couple More Miles,” a travel song about travails on the road. Scheffler’s vocal is charismatic in its steadiness and Chilson’s softly unfolding electric guitar melody is almost hypnotic. The easy going vocal—more talking than singing—gives the album’s energy a chance to chill before going back into the chirpy breeze of “Squeeze,” the heavy grind of “Bar Hoppin’,” the rock and roll riff of “Peavine,” and the Chicago style stomp of “See What My Buddy Had Done.
Ten Foot Polecats are going to be around for a long time. After taking the Boston blues scene by storm, the trio have toured successfully around the country. One listen to I Get Blamed For Everything I Do and you’ll know there is no stopping these boys.
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