Delta Generators have released their debut full length CD Hard River To Row, and without surprise to anyone who has seen them live, it is one of the best local blues CD s of 2010. Everything is just right on this disc. Delta Generators are one of those rare bands that go beyond talent to arrive at charisma and that extra something that just makes listeners take a strong liking to it.
The title track, “Hard River To Row” comes in with a solid, involving groove. From there, it is a steady blues bop, with singer Craig Rawding using range and restraint to keep the energy simmering just below the surface. Pile on Charlie O’Neal’s spirited, juicy guitar leads and you have an even-tempered, friendly tune introducing you to their disc.
Hard driving and tasty, “Too Many Cooks” showcases Charley O’Neal’s overtly crunchy chords ring out with purposeful stride. The rhythm section of drummer Jeff Armstrong and bass player Rick O’Neal(Charlie’s brother) move it forward like a mighty engine.
“Field And Plow” utilizes a Bo Diddley beat as a foundation for Charley O’Neal’s freight train powered slide guitar work. The blend of slide and fuzzy bass and snare fries this tasty nugget in extra gravy. A song called “Canebrake” feature’s Rawding’s voice at its deepest, most meaningful emotive timbre. Underneath, there’s more of Charlie O’Neal’ tender bluesy phrases, guitar lines so precise and incisive you can feel them deep in the soul, working on the listener the way this music was originally intended to back when Robert Johnson went down to the crossroads.
Rawding’s voice has a smoother but more commanding presence in his slower song, “Someday,” riding the breezy guitar melody with understated grace. Hearing his voice hold a note is just a treat for the ear, and soul. Likewise, Charlie O’Neal’s raw, earthy, yet gentle guitar phrase plays out with a self-assured casualness, like the musician hadn’t a care in the world during this day in the studio. A fifth musician, John Cooke, plays his organic B3 behind and around the guitar lines beautifully, in this song and through out the disc.
“Give Me Some” jumps right in with the players building an electrified Delta rhythm before Rawding kicks in with his old-fashioned holler-singing approach. Nothing in these northern New England woods comes closer to true blues than Charley O’Neal’s jumpy, down and dirty guitar phrases. Mellowing things out with “Let The Boy Down Easy,” Rawding glides plaintively over a gentle cushion of easy-going guitar picking. You can really feel the paternal concern in the singer’s voice as he pleads with a woman to take it easy on a young man who is not nearly in her league.
A rollicking, stomping blues number they call “Don’t Uncork The Bottle” is appropriately titled. This song should have a warning label “contents under pressure” as it plays out like a compressed energy struggling to bust out of some superficial casing. You can almost picture the song squirming and wiggling its way out its container. Jeff Armstrong’s drumming is full of moving fills, and Charlie O’Neal’s vintage sounding guitar cries out a for realness that makes the listener think he’s gone back in time to an earlier blues period. Listening to the drums underneath that guitar and you realize just how much a cornerstone Jeff Armstrong is in this four piece band. He offers a lot of rowdy fun with his raucous beat and many other things he keekps going on at a breakneck pace.
“Love You Tight” is another Delta Generator spread of sharp, tasty guitar licks, drums in the right places with extra wallop, and Rick O’Neal’s punchy bass lines anchoring and smoothing out the sound. Rawding gets a real groovy cool and response going with his backing singers, further conjuring that old time music that just ain’t around no more.
“Hardly Working” comes closer to R&B, only the beat is a little heavier. Rawding turns the chorus into something catchy and hooky enough for radio play. You’ll want to dance and move to this one and it could actually, for a few pleasant moments, make someone feel better that they’ve been hardly working. “Follow You Down” rolls gently forward on the strength of Rawding’s smooth croon. His handsome, solid vocal sounds lofty as a choir over the space created by Charlie O’Neal’s quietly picked and twisty guitar melody and the understated rhythm section.
Skipping along with a perfect shuffle beat, “Reverend’s Daughter” features Charlie O’Neal’s guitar pressing out a suggestive and sneaky phrase. It’s the perfect accompaniment to lyrics like “Her body’s 18 but her minds much older than that.” The tune cleverly unfolds around and over the shuffle. A call and response chorus and grueling harmonica contribute to the theme as well as the texture. That Delta Generators can play this well together in a quiet, mid-tempo groove shows how much control each has of the overall dynamics, timbre, and tone.
“Coming Home” finds Charlie O’Neal grinding out that train sound on his guitar, echoing the locomotives that bound the early industrial age. O’Neal’s chords ring out with authenticity here while Rawding’s belt, Rick O’Neal’s thumping bass lines, and Armstrong’s speedy numerous rolls are icing on the cake.
The CD closes out perfectly with a slow acoustic blues version of the title track, played and recorded special on vintage instruments and early sound equipment. Delta Generators have made yet another recording that smacks of authentic vintage influences and is infused with a lot of fun.
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