One Dime Band shucks their live duo approach for a full band experience in the studio. Their new album Side Hustle wastes no time exploiting the multitudes of talent available to them in the greater-Boston/New England blues scene.
Opening with title track “Side Hustle,” One Dime Band’s John Brauchier’s guitar work and Paul Gallucci’s vocal combine with a Johnny Blue Horn trumpet and Mario Perrett saxophone blowing smooth, soothing soulful horn lines through the hip soundscape. Local keyboard maven Alizon Lissance taps out a soulful organ line beneath those horns and Brauchier’s nimble lead guitar work. Holly Harris’s bulbous percussion works slap out another fun layer of groove. Together, it’s a pastiche of easy going blues music that stirs the emotions while motivating the toes to tap, the head to bob, and the fingers to snap.
“Blackfoot Sun” slows things down to milk more soul out of Gallucci’s raspy drawl. Boy, does this guy know how to put his heart into his voice and into his lyrics. He blows a weepy mood harmonica line that pulls the listener deeper into his blues vision of the world. The listener feels transported into the Mississippi Delta of an earlier time with the way that harmonica and drummer Romeo Dubois keep digging hard into the groove.
Rockabilly styled “Mockingbird Way” gains traction with its biting electric guitar grit. The oldies influenced vocal sounds like a ghost from 1950s rock and roll radio. That voice has a purity that keeps it in an earlier time period and the guitar notes rippling through this number are plentiful and totally cool.
Slow, bluesy slide guitar song “What You Done” tells a detailed story with painterly description. Gallucci’s tender rasp and Brauchier’s juicy strum conjure a feeling of front porch acoustic blues. This is a song that old blues men could have played out in front of their houses on Sunday mornings. Alizon Lissance’s melodic accordion sounds as beautifully old time as the slide notes being pressed out of Brauchier’s six string.
“Ain’t No Faker” has a fun, catchy call and response thing going on, making it a likely crowd pleaser at the One Dime Band live shows. Galluci’ss deep, guttural vocal, raw and strong, contrasts well with Lissance’s barrel house piano. Gallucci also means business on harmonica, a swaggering line that blows with force, capturing the spirit of the no faker in question. Brauchier’s flinty electric guitar line keeps this one deep, rooted in the genre. It’s a treat to hear both harp and guitar dueling out their inner tensions.
“Dr. Shine” rides along to Paul Kochanski’s electric bass guitar. That hip low end run, knobby and slow, gives Brauchier a platform to play his downtempo electric guitar over. The two instruments play like a private alleyway conversation between two street hustlers. This sly, mischievous approach, makes for a kitchie cool number. It also makes a good home for Gallucci’s quiet rasp, a voice that talks from out of a darkness with alluring charisma.
Inspired by 1920s jazz, the breezy “Brooklyn Town,” like other songs on this album, transports the listener back to a simpler time. Gallucci sings it like a jazz crooner, considerate pacing, in the space Dubois leaves open with his simple hoof beat on the traps. Kochanski’s upright bass piles onto that thick beat while Johnny Blue Horn Moriconi blows a lazy Sunday afternoon feel. All of the busy old time instrumentation and period vocal take make the listener picture New York City during The Great Gatsby era.
“Backbell” makes for an excellent oldies rock and roll, the 1950s influence can be felt and heard in this beat driven action packed song. Gallucci belts as Mario Perrett blows a torchlit saxophone line, one that rides the groove like a crazy man on steroids. Lissance plays her Jerry Lee Lewis style well, giving Brauchier a run for his money during his racing pace picking style.
Down tempo slow boiler “Soul To Keep” features a duet between Gallucci and Robin Hathaway. The two burn with soulful expression, using their rangy voices to find the low down and dirty feeling of the song. Brauchier’s guitar line smolders, hinting at greater tension as his phrase burns slowly forward. Every voice and instrument here come together perfectly, all adding up into one expression of bluesy color and tone.
“Babylon Clouds” greases its own wheels with Gallucci’s swaying harmonica line. After starting out with a loosey goosey feel from his harp, Gallucci finesses his lyrics with a rasp as loose as his mouth organ, from which he derives some greasy sustains. The swaying harp leads the band, causing as much looseness from the other players here. This is the hippest song on the album because of how well the primary two players makes this move with a slippery zeal.
“Cemetery Waltz” moseys along to Dubois’ light slaps on his drum kit. Over that delicate beat is greasy slide, Illana Katz Katz’s whispery blues fiddle , and Tim Curry’s backing vocal. As Gallucci moves through his lyrical twists, each of these instruments milks the down tempo emotive grist out of this piece. It just drips with feeling and talent.
Instrumental “Rib Grease” was co-written with Johnny Blue Horn Moriconi and Mario Perrett. Big trumpet assertions and hip saxophone swirls give this a 1960s vibe, jazzy jumps within tight formations. A guitar lets loose with brittle notes and a keyboard oozes soul within the tight framework of this piece. It’s a collection of blues instruments that sound better as a whole but can also be appreciated by focusing attention on one player at a time.
Close out track “Gator In My Pond” is a foot stomping blues. Driven by Romeo Dubois’s hefty beat, loaded with harmonica muscle, earthy piano boogie, a thick bass line, and shards of sharp blues guitar, the gumbo of instrumentation moves with authority. With so many tasty nuggets packed into one tune, one best get out of its way or join the rollicking fun.
With Side Hustle, One Dime Band and their friends have got one of the year’s best local blues CDs. Well crafted songs are tastefully fleshed out with authentic blues vocals and instrumentation. Recorded at Studio 329in Glenville, New York, Woolly Mammoth Sound in Waltham, Massachusetts, and Wachusett Recording in Princeton, Massachusetts, it abounds from the speaker with true blues appeal.
Album release party Saturday, March 23, 2024, Boston Harbor Distillery, Boston, Massachusetts. Doors 8:00 pm. Show 8:30 pm
