The Delta Generators are in regular rotation at The Acton Jazz Cafe, and that upscale venue was wise to bring them back after their successful gig there last April. Last night’s gig on February 6 found Delta Generators rocking the house with pulse pounding, driving, beat-driven down and dirty modern takes on the Mississippi Delta blues idioms. If Cream took the blues and made them rock, then Delta Generators took them back and made them bluesy again.
Opening with their original, “Black Ice,” these four created a lot of sound with just one electric guitar and a rhythm section. Charlie O’Neal’s guitar was drenched in blues feeling, smooth, flowing, and pristine. Bass player Rick O’Neal, Charlie’s brother, got a knobbier bump out of his axe as he went along, pushing the song to a solid finish while singer, Craig Rawding, road a perfect edge between rough and smooth. He doesn’t have a whiskey-soaked voice or a honey coated sweet one. He’s somewhere in the middle, and that let’s him do all kinds of songs range and dynamics.
Believe it or not, things got even better with these boys as the evening went on. Quite a few of the numbers played were of a groove oriented blues nature, with solid, danceable beats from the rhythm section. Rawding often handles the vocals with aplomb, wrapping the lyrics to covers and originals around the rhythms and Charlie O’Neal often cuts through the dramatic, dynamic tensions with a bluesy coolness in his phrases and riffs.
Another original, “Comin’ Home,” found Rawding hitting these deep guttural qualities in his voicing that really rocked the house. It’s good to see a local band(Worcester) that can move a crowd with a singer’s unique abilities. There are no blues cliches going on with Delta Generators. Fresh takes they had on classics like “Crossroads” with Charlie O’Neal cranking out an indelible rhythm in his phrasing until drummer Jeff Armstrong played a solo with a lot of good feeling and fulsome sound in each smack.
Despite their fresh takes on classic material it is Delta Generators’ original material that makes one wonder if they could be a national hit like the White Stripes. They had 24 originals on their set list. On their song “Way Down” Rawding got as deep as the ocean with his earthy belt in this slow burner while mellow octave guitar leads from O’Neal seemed to snap out of the sound system with tasteful restraint. Eventually, “Way Down” craftily sped up with rock and roll aggression, and was powered by some magical furnace, like the devil himself got a hold of these boys and set fire inside their souls. Soon, the four gracefully returned to the original slow burner pace, as if they exorcised their inner demons with a musical preacher and became easy-going again.
O’Neal’s slide during original “Straw Dog Strut” rang with beauty and truth during this mid-tempo groove that let the guitar stay high in its register. Their own “Hard River To Row” had an extra bass line or something special in between the bass notes that made a pleasant rumbling after taste. “Canebrake” gave Rawding another opportunity to keep things hip by singing his lyrics just inside the twisty rhythms. Inside “Canebrake” Delta Generators played a medley of Credence’s “Born On The Bayou,” Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin‘,” and the Memphis Minnie vintage blues “When The Levee Breaks” to show off their influences a little.
Armstrong pounded out three different solos last night and each was filled with groove and a rolling grace that only a top talent could pull off. Working with Rick O’Neal in the rhythm section allows Armstrong to fuse with the band instead of just driving it forward all night. On “Every Day I Have The Blues” rapid fire bass notes are matched by speed and feeling in the drum kit. The guitar seemed to be the rhythm here while the rhythm section made huge textural sounds running the gamut from nuance to power runs. This rhythmic pair put songs together like gourmet chefs put together
fine meals.
Covers from different blues eras allowed Delta Generators to showcase a mastery over many blues idioms. “Sugar Coated Love” by Larry Lester found nimble notes blowing out of Rawding’s harp and “Give Me Back My Wig” gave the rhythm section another chance to bump up some fun. “Number Nine Train” by Tar Belly Slim had a shuffle beat to imitate the choo-choo chug and the guitar came in at the right time as the pistons scraping. O’Neal’s lead became country blues and that train couldn’t help picking up speed heading downward and around a bend. During “Don’t Mistake Kindness For Weakness,” O’Neal’s guitar took it down low with some solid rhythmic phrases, slowly taking the notes a bit higher before settling into a comfortable lead solo with the rhythm section keeping their driving, knobby thump right behind him.
Delta Generators made everybody in the room happy and they compelled several people to dance. Audience members could be heard whispering to each other all evening about how good the band is. The boys also brought in a decent size dinner crowd for a very cold February night during a very difficult economy. Delta Generators have no place else to go but up.
