Delta Generators have been on a roll since they won the Boston Blues Challenge in 2008 and landed in the top ten at International Blues Competition in Memphis months later. Their appearance at Brighton’s Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ & Blues last Friday night marked the debut of an exceptional band at an exceptional venue. Like my bowl of chili went well with my andouille burger, the band and the venue were a perfect match.
Delta Generators opened the show with a simmering tension filled blues instrumental and slowly, but monumentally, worked it up into something up tempo and energetic. They soon got a little bit funkier in a mid-tempo groove with vocalist Craig Rawding crooning in an easeful soulful groove. Rawding packs an emotional punch with every verse launched by his uncommonly strong voice. Bassist Rick O’Neal’s thick, smart low end runs hit with palpable meaning as he made it felt around the room. Drummer Jeff Armstrong played a tight solo, using a few pieces to execute his bold, hard hitting style.
Still keeping things low key for the dinner crowd, Delta Generators pushed out another hefty down tempo groove. This time though, Rawding injected even more emotion into his effective belt before guitarist Charlie O’Neal, Rick’s brother, slipped in an edgy, blues drenched guitar line. C.O. let the notes flow out of him and his guitar like he had something he wanted to come out of his heart and soul and express itself before the whole human race. C.O. played flintier guitar lines in the next number, letting loose, releasing a torrent of high pitched notes that might have made one think his instrument was crying out.
Rawding kept his steady vocal on the bulls eye of the human heart when he went into “The More I Find Out, The Less I Want To Know.” The instrumentalists behind him offered interesting shadings of emotional foreboding. It was a beautiful expression from a song that takes its listeners to an emotional place they wouldn’t want to go in real life. Delta Generators soon lightened the mood with a little bit of country blues. Southern flavored picking guitar picking style resulted in a juicy, flinty phrase in support of Rawding’s earnest, sincere voicing.
Rawding whipped out his harmonica for their exciting song “Canebrake” from their second album Hard River To Row. This singer was practically moaning out the song’s intensity as the rhythm section served up a thumping march toward destiny. C.O. played tasteful licks over the driving groove, conjuring images of blues guitarists past and present with his instrument’s expressive, high-pitched cries.
Mellow mid-tempo “Some Day” from Hard River To Row offered a pretty melody that expressed, in simple terns, all the force of its truthful lyrics. It carried one off with the band and its casual, breezy approach. After dinner hour, Delta Generators unleashed their more rocking blues.; wailing guitar, heavy harp lines and the rhythm section thumping to beat the devil. “Field And Plow” was more rocking, stomping blues, with C.O. playing a juicy, greasy slide guitar line over a heavy handed rhythm section.
Later, C.O. played an even more brisk slide guitar phrase that motored the song before cranking out a thick stabbing lead phrase. Like a live wire on a wet pavement, the phrase had a mind of its own. His solo spot found him making whistling guitar lines fly out of his amp. “Devil In The Rhythm,” one of the most popular songs in their catalogue, played like the foot stomping good time piece it is. C.O.’s ringing slide notes and the stomp groove proved irresistible. Rawding belted with true oomph in his vocal projection, riding the bracing charge like nobody’s business.
The instrumentalists began the second set jamming on blues idioms, offering a treasure trove of riffs. Eventually, Rawding went back to the microphone to do his thing, and, God, what incredible voice he showed on “Night Of The Johnstown Flood” from the band’s third CD, Get On The Horse. Rawding’s powerhouse vocal carried all the way through the song, knocking down anything that dared to get in its path. He filled the space left open by sparse, quiet instrumentation. People were enrapt by the power of his voice and the power of his story.
Rawding’s hefty vocal was a plus on the title track to Delta Generators’ second album, “Hard River To Row.” Having lost none of his steam after the previous bonfire of a song, his expression had a full, loud dynamic, and that was before he whipped out his harmonica to play jittery licks alongside his band mates. “That Evil,” from their first album, found C.O. playing speedy slide guitar over a shuffle beat. It was a tight, compact number drenched in blues and fun to follow with foot stomping action. “Diablo Rock” was a high energy, high impact oldie rock and roll style song with C.O.’s slide notes going crazy.
Delta Generators wrapped up their show with a couple of standards, “One Way Out” and “Shake Your Money Maker,” returning them to their blues roots with their old school chops while leaving them fun for more modern audiences. Just when the band thought they were done for the evening, they were strongly requested to play an encore. They replied to several calls for one more song by whipping out “Get On Your Horse,” the title track from their latest album. Rawding rode the vocal 
melody line like a cowboy breaking a horse. The instrumentalists, too, wowed by kicking out an and explosive blues hit.
Delta Generators likely added another room to their touring roster last Saturday night. They rocked Smoken’ Joe’s like only a Smoken’ Joe’s band can. Hopefully, the venue’s much beloved owner Wendy Dodd will see the light and bring them back as soon as possible.
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