J Roddy Walston And The Business - Self Titled (2010)

Who the hell is J Roddy Walston? I have no idea, but he fucking rocks. The album kicks off with "Don't Break The Needle" and a rolling piano that recalls old time rock n' roll in the vein of Huey Piano Smith or Fats Domino before the guitar plugs in and cranks up a giant amp. And it only gets better from there, as he heads for the hills on "Pigs & Pearls" for a country rocker with a great front porch singalong chorus. "Brave Man's Death" (mp3) starts off with a tinny ice cream truck keyboard before ratcheting it up with scratchy, yearning vocals. "Use Your Language" mixes in some down-home garage blues. Overall, this is a fantastic album of good timing piano-based rock n' roll.

If there album is any indication of their live performance, Walston might just burn Dante's down before the Dirty Dozen Brass Band can take the stage on Sunday night. And if you stick around afterward, it looks like the Sinferno dancers will continue the New Orleans experience. See you there.

James Hunter - The Hard Way (2008)

The first time I heard James Hunter's first album, "People Gonna Talk" I lost $20 bucks due to his whiteness, but I wasn't mad at all. He has an old school early 60s/50s sound that definitely delivers on "The Hard Way". Now don't get me wrong, I love today’s new bands, strip clubs, pop music, and gangster rap, but to me, if I was stuck on a island with a couple of records, it would have to be guys like Wilson Pickett, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Fats Domino. So needless to say this album is right up my alley. Songs like "Corina", "The Hard Way", "She's Got A Way", and "Hand it Over" have been playing non stop at mi casa for the past two weeks. Hunter has a smoky voice that complements the horns of Hand and Badau perfectly, not to mention, Hunter can a play a cord or two as well. Oh yeah, is that an organ piano I hear? You better believe it. Wow, it is almost impossible to overestimate how much this album rips.