Stevie Nimmo - Oran Mor, Glasgow, 5 October 2019

Reasons to be cheerful, part 57.  For Stevie Nimmo, it’s a hometown gig in Glasgow, in front of a busy crowd that are well and truly up for it.  For me, it’s seeing Stevie Nimmo in such good form, after what must have been a really frustrating spell since breaking his right arm a couple of years ago.  Now he’s all healed up, and it’s all smiles as he and his trio lay on a belter of a show.

Stevie Nimmo binds some spells

There’s no new material, unfortunately – part of the fallout from his injury – but with a rejigged set, a new bassist since I last saw him in the form of Kelpie McKenzie, and a less

than surprising guest making an appearance, there’s a palpable energy and freshness to this performance.

They open with ‘Chains Of Hope’, crunching opening chords leading into its churning, thudding riff to pin everyone’s ears back, before downshifting into the breezy ‘Loving Might Do Us Good’.  Moved forward in the set from the home stretch, where it’s been for the last couple of years, it’s still bright and appealing, with Craig Bacon laying down a supple foundation for Nimmo to knock out a terrific, free flowing solo, as usual including a snippet of the Allmans’ ‘Jessica’.

The Allman Brothers’ ‘Gamblers Roll’ isn’t a song that particularly lights my fire, but Nimmo still demonstrates great control and tone on his solo, while on ‘Change’, with its chiming chords and steady backbeat, Kelpie McKenzie’s backing vocals are almost inaudible.  But

Kelpie McKenzie - he's having' a larf

he finds the groove effortlessly as his boss rips out some big chords.

‘Good Day For The Blues’ reinforces the light touch evident on ‘Loving Might Do Us Good’, drifting easily as the lyric suggests, but with direction and dynamics.  Conversely ‘Still Hungry’ is a muscular statement of intent, with Nimmo giving it large on wah wah and then a wailing solo over the gutsy undertow.

‘Running On Back To You’ is one of my favourite Nimmo songs, with its subtle and restrained guitar motif paving the way for a soaring, David Gilmour-like solo, itself a mere appetiser for Nimmo to serve up a second, fierce solo at the end, sweating bullets as he does so.

The guest appearance is of course by brother Alan, and together they firstly dredge up Walter Trout’s ‘On The Rise’ from their past repertoire together, a funky but tough affair on which Alan Nimmo tosses out a very Brian Robertson-esque solo.  In the midst of this Kelpie McKenzie may not have the geezer-ish affability of his bassist predecessor Mat Beable, but Alan Nimmo’s natural exuberance coaxes a big grin out of him.  Then on ‘Pray For You’, another dynamic tune with a great hook, big brother Stevie takes the first solo before

Craig 'Crispy' Bacon - it's smiles all round!

deferring to Alan for another wild solo, before they conjure up some guitar harmonies for the finale, before Nimmo the Younger takes his leave.

‘Roll The Dice Again’ builds tension with its surging riff, before Stevie cranks up a teasing intro to Freddie King’s ‘Going Down, on which McKenzie bubbles away furiously on bass before Nimmo leads the traditional singalong.

Which only leaves the encore of Big George Watt’s epic tune ‘The Storm’, reverb-laden and atmospheric, and featuring a solo from Nimmo that’s an object lesson in tension and release, ‘playing every other lick’ as the saying goes, making terrific use of sustain as he builds themes and produces something that blazes with feeling.

Stevie Nimmo is such a down to earth and humble guy that sometimes he may not get enough credit for just how good he is.  I’ve said before that his Sky Won’t Fall was my favourite studio album of 2016, as much for the variety and quality of his songwriting as the playing.  And tonight is further evidence that his guitar playing can be spellbinding. Reasons to be cheerful – absolutely.

The Nimmo Brothers - Oran Mor, Glasgow, 2 November 2018

No prizes for guessing what music accompanies the Nimmo Brothers as they take the stage.   And they’re not just back in town, they’re in their hometown, in front of a packed sell-out crowd that is ready for a good time. Which the brothers duly supply.

They light the blue touch paper with hard-hitting twin-guitar riffing on ‘Bad Luck’, and follow it up with the ZZ Top-like boogie of ‘The Shape I’m In’, including the first singalong of the night, of which Alan Nimmo comments “That’s fucking garbage”, before demanding an improved effort.  It’s indicative of an atmosphere where there’s already smiles all round, and big fun going down onstage.

The Chuckle Brothers

But the Nimmo boys can deliver emotionally charged material as well as rockers, as with the ‘Long Way From Everything’, which starts off sensitively before Stevie delivers a searing solo - knackered arm and all - over the solid rhythm foundations provided by Craig Bacon’s drums and Mat Beable’s bass.  Alan then chips in with his trademark pin-drop solo to total hush, ahead of a howling conclusion.  Similarly 'If I Could See Through Your Eyes' is a lovely ballad that clearly comes from the heart, matched by Peter Green-like subtlety on his guitar solo.  ‘Waiting For My Heart To Fall’ meanwhile, is heralded by spangly guitar work, and peaks with four successive, impassioned solos, two from each brother.  It’s an epic, barnstorming affair, that suggests these guys were born to be here, doing this, right now.  And on material like this the fact that they are both excellent, soulful vocalists also shines through.

They can funk it up too of course, on the likes of the breezy ‘Gotta Slow Down’, with meaty chords in the middle eight, and a lengthy party time solo that makes laughter and dancing unavoidable, while ‘Still Here Strumming’ is a tougher brand of street funk.

They go all the way back to their Backwater Blues Band days for a song that’s new to me, featuring a sledgehammer riff and Stevie on slide, as well as a guitar face-off that displays well nigh telepathic understanding.

A funky bass intro from Mat Beable announces the arrival of set closer ‘Black Cat Bone’, a ten minute affair full of lick trading and of course their octopus-like “I’ll play your guitar, you play mine” signature moment, to top off an irresistible show.

Just how irresistible is demonstrated by the scorching encore of ‘Ain’t No Love (In The Heart Of The City)’, on which the crowd bawl out the singalong section in a manner that defies Alan Nimmo to repeat his earlier banter.  And as it ends Craig Bacon immediately cracks out a brisk tempo to ignite their spanking reading of the Allman Brothers’ ‘One Way Out’.

It’s not quite Guy Fawkes Night, but the Nimmo Brothers delivered bucket loads of fireworks with this performance.  It was a show brimming with simple enthusiasm, that gave the punters exactly the reunion celebration they wanted.  And it does make you sigh over the fact that they didn’t achieve more success back in the day, because in all seriousness they produce a twin guitar blues rock experience to rival just about anyone.  Both Stevie and Alan Nimmo have other fish to fry of course, but let’s hope the Nimmo Brothers project resurfaces again in due course.  Altogether now, we’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when . . . .

The Blues Enthused Christmas Stocking 2017 - Part 2

So here it is, Merry Christmas.  Everybody having fun?

Part 1 of the Christmas Stocking shared some goodies from names who were new to me in 2017 - including Ash Wilson and the Starlite Campbell Band, who were responsible for two of the best albums of the year.  So who else lit up the year for Blues Enthused?

Toronzo Cannon, the most famous blues playing bus driver in Chicago, paid a flying visit to

Toronto Cannon plays tartan blues

Britain for a few dates in January and delivered a cracking show based on original material

rather than old standards.  Drawing heavily on his most recent album The Chicago Way, he demonstrated his talent for contemporary lyrics, both serious and funny, to go with his top quality guitar playing – and top quality band.  But for me the highlight of his set was the wild rendition of ‘John The Conquer Root’, from his 2013 album of the same name.

The brothers Nimmo had a traumatic year, to say the least.  Alan Nimmo suffered repeated vocal problems, causing King King to cancel several dates earlier in the year, and then take three months off from touring in the autumn.  Elder brother Stevie Nimmo, meanwhile, was in fine form as he and his Trio toured in the early part of the year.  But then he went and broke his arm in a cycling accident in the late summer.

The show must go on though, and Blues Enthused interviewed Alan Nimmo in the run-up to the release of King King’s latest album. Exile & Grace continued the band's steady rise, though for me it fell a tad shy of their best.  Irresistible rockers like ‘(She Don’t) Gimme No Lovin’’ and ‘Long Time Running’, and emotional epics like ‘Broken’ and ‘Betrayed Me’, certainly hit the motherlode.  But ‘Find Your Way Home’ strayed a mite too close to REO Speedwagon ballad territory for me, and closer ‘I Don’t Want To Lie’ felt lightweight.  But hey, the King King boys are back on the road now, and new songs will undoubtedly catch fire in a live setting.

Meanwhile it was great to catch up with Stevie Nimmo for a chat back in March, and see

Not The Nimmo Brothers, honest

him continue to perform live in the autumn, broken arm and all. This gave fans the chance to see a unique line-up of the 'StevieNimmo Trio + 1' – the +1 being brother Alan, who took over on guitar for the tour while being hors de combat himself on the vocal front.  Stevie’s injury will delay the recording of a new album, but to hell with that – that bike crash was a sore one.

On a more positive note, the European Blues Award for Best Band went to Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado, and for my money the Danish outfit are well worth it.  Their latest album Change My Game has strong songs, light and shade, and some big fat riffs, while Risager himself has a great rumble of a blues voice.  They delivered on the live front too, though I still think they could hit top gear a bit more often.  Still, I’m looking forward to a jaunt to see them on home turf in Copenhagen in February.  And in the meantime, here they are with the stonking ‘Maybe It’s Alright’.

US guitar honcho Eric Gales only has a top gear, and a turbo-boosted top gear at that.  His new album Middle Of The Road was good, but live he was something else altogether.  In my old age I’m less invested in guitar veneration, but it has to be said that Gales was total catnip to the guitar nuts who had assembled from near and far – and entertainingly so.  Here he is at the Dallas Guitar Show, with a mash-up of ‘Don’t Fear The Reaper’ and ‘All Along The Watchtower’.  Get your air guitar out!

If you want a real rock’n’roll thrill though, you need to go to a master like Steve Van Zandt.  His Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul show in Glasgow was one of the absolute highlights of my year, a riotous bouillabaisse of soul and R’n’B and rock’n’roll from a guy who’s imbibed and digested enough popular music to be a walking radio station.  Van Zandt

Samantha Fish - the Queen of '17

may be incongruously bashful with his between songs patter, fidgeting with his rings and his bandana, but when they count in the next song he and his band are a genre-busting, straight from the heart, Technicolor delight.  Here they are from that Glasgow gig, with ‘I Don’t Want To Go Home’.  They got that right.

And so to the Queen of 2017.  People, I give you Samantha Fish.  Two albums from her this year, of very different hues, and there are some who baulk at them because neither was the heavy duty electric blues they wanted.  Nuts to that.  Chills And Fever is one of my favourite albums of the year – a concept album, but not as prog rockers know it, Captain.  Dusting off a heap of rhythm’n’bluesy soul and pop tunes from the vaults, Sam Fish added stinging guitar and her own inimitable voice to create something that went way beyond a covers album.  “That’s the human condition,” she said in an interview.  “Love, desire, heartache . . . .”  I think Miami Steve would approve.

Then she released a semi-acoustic album, Belle Of The West, that got into songwriting, Americana style, painting pictures and creating moods with some deliciously subtle arrangements.  While your average blues rocker sticks to their knitting, here’s someone pushing boundaries.

And to top it all off, on her European tour young Samantha managed to blend all this with material from her previous album Wild Heart and rock everybody’s socks off onstage.  She’s hard-working, she’s fun, and she knows her own mind.  There’s more to come from Sam Fish.  As the lady herself put it, apropos of something else, “I guara-damn-tee it!”  So let’s give it up for her oil can guitar version of ‘Gone For Good’, in this video lovingly assembled by a fan.

That was the year that was.  Roll on 2018!

You can find Part 1 of the 2017 Christmas Stocking here.

Stevie Nimmo Trio - Oran Mor, Glasgow, 22 September 2017

Like the old TV comedy show Not The Nine O’Clock News, this is of course Not The Nimmo Brothers – it’s the Stevie Nimmo Trio Plus The Other One.  With Stevie Nimmo having suffered a nasty broken arm in a cycling accident, Alan Nimmo has been drafted in to play guitar on this UK tour, but it’s still the Trio’s regular set that’s on offer.  Having both Nimmos onstage and interacting does, however, change the dynamic – especially on home turf.

Kicking off as usual with the tough and muscular ‘Roll The Dice’ and ‘Still Hungry’, Nimmo

Stevie Nimmo - a great little mover

junior certainly gets to grips with the gutsy riffs.  But it’s on the epic ‘Running On Back To You’ that they really gel.  Stevie tells the tale of how he came up with the idea for the song while on a motor biking trip with his brother, who got very pissed off with the constant interruptions to their journey while he captured his thoughts.  But none of that stops him going “full Kossoff” – Stevie’s code for Alan being totally in the zone - on a stunning rendition of the first solo.  Not for the last time either, as it turns out.

Introducing ‘Change’, Stevie admits it feels strange to be performing without a guitar, and says he considered equipping himself with a kazoo, but was told “if I did, and I quote, I’d get booted in the baws”.  But he certainly seems relaxed, despite the constraints of a swollen arm in a sling, and as bassist Mat Beable leads the audience clapping on ‘Good Day For The Blues’ he’s getting right into it.  More importantly, whatever awkwardness he feels doesn’t get in the way of him delivering on the vocal front throughout.

I’m not entirely sold on Clapton’s ‘River Of Tears’ as a song, but the lead guitar intro is a delight – even if it looks like Stevie is giving Alan reminders of the notes rather than just whispering brotherly sweet nothings in his shell-like.  The younger Nimmo needs no coaching on the solo though, which leads into the convincing emotional crescendo of the ending, on which drummer Craig Bacon also kicks up a storm.  It’s a good warm-up for the roar that is ‘Chains Of Hope’, on which they collectively get heavy as lead.

The Other One goes full Kossoff

Bacon launches the jam fest that is ‘Lovin’ Might Do Us Good’ with an offbeat drum break, while Alan plays around with the riff a little on the intro, before letting rip on the jam section, leading Stevie to comment that if you’ve got to get a stand-in “then why not get the best fuckin’ guitar player going?”  But then he would say that, wouldn’t he?

The set closer ‘Going Down’ shows them getting heavy and funky at the same time – funkin’ heavy, if you will, with Stevie peering over Alan’s shoulder as he solos, and Alan going head to head with Mat Beable as they insert a quote of the chunky riff from King King’s ‘More Than I Can Take’.

For an encore they give us ‘The Storm’, by Glasgow legend Big George Watt, which has become a staple of the Trio’s set.  It’s a widescreen classic that deserves a wider audience, and with any luck Stevie Nimmo will record it for his next album.  But in the meantime Alan Nimmo, who like his brother learned much from Big George, does it justice by conjuring up a simply huge amount of sustain on a howling solo.

However relaxed Stevie Nimmo looked in the course of this performance, I’d wager that he’s still having to contend with a fair amount of pain from that broken arm at times.  But the show didn’t just go on, it went with a bang and a good deal of humour – the mark of true professionals.

The Evening Session - Edinburgh Blues'N'Rock Festival, 29 July 2017

It’s 5pm at the Corn Exchange, and the Edinburgh Blues’N’Rock Festival gets down to serious business, as Gerry Jablonski And The Electric Band take the stage.

This, I have to say, turns out to be the most enjoyable set I’ve seen to date from GJ and co, despite – or maybe because of – the fact that it only runs to 50 minutes or so. Leaning heavily on material from Trouble With The Blues and a forthcoming EP, it maintains the balance throughout between Jablonski’s guitar and Pieter Narojczyk’s harp that is their trademark, without lapsing into spells of AOR as they're sometimes prone to do.

Jablonski and Narojczyk - slaves to the rhythm

They’ve always been capable of turning out strong material, and that’s certainly evident tonight, from the opening new song ‘Heavy Water’ to the closing favourite of ‘Slave To The Rhythm’.  Jablonski himself is on fine guitar soloing form too, cranking out a couple of scorchers on ‘Two Time Lover’ and ‘Soul Sister’, and contributing an intro to ‘Dancing With The Angel Of Love’ that draws on ‘Nessum Dorma’ in a style redolent of Gary Moore.

As usual, Narojczyk is a force of nature.  Prowling the stage with an in-yer-face intensity isn’t enough for him on ‘Hard To Make A Living’, and as Lewis Fraser drives it forward with rampaging, booming drums he leaps off the stage to get closer to the audience.  On ‘Two Time Lover’ he repeats the trick, before climbing on a table in the midst of a group to deliver his solo.  It’s typical of the bristling energy he brings to the show from start to finish.

As a counterpoint Jablonski has a tendency to indulge in a bit too much goofing around, hopping about during solos in a manner that doesn’t quite fit with the weapons-grade harp-blowing of his partner.  But he does bring a strong vocal to the party, and is capable of ripping into a muscular riff on the likes of ‘Fork Fed Dog’, while Grigor Leslie also delivers a squelchy, funky bass showcase on ‘Trouble With The Blues’.  So it’s a big thumbs up to the whole crew for this outing, and I look forward to hearing that new EP.

Next up, Miracle Glass Company turn out to be the surprise package of the day.  Coming on to a squall of feedback, the Edinburgh trio turn in a thumpingly impressive performance running through songs from their 2016 debut album MGC1.  Mining a psychedelic seam,

Miracle Glass Company go all cycle-dealer

their material is shot through with echoes of everyone from CS&N to late period Beatles to the Eagles to the Byrds – hell, I’ve even got notes about the Monkees and the Stone Roses.

A constant throughout all of this is the quality of their vocals.  Each of them – William Douglas on bass, Austen George on guitar and Andy Duncan on drums – contributes lead vocals at some point.  But collectively they also grab the ear with a succession of classy three-part harmonies.

The material and the playing have a similar impact, and variety with it.  So ‘T.R.O.U.B.L.E’ delivers a Beatle-ish melody garnished with rumbling drums, prickly guitar followed by a hazy solo, and manages to sound both forceful and imaginative.  Douglas contributes both heavy bass and a Macca-like vocal turn on the sunlit Sixties style pop of ‘Big Beat’.  ‘Miss Rain’ has a spacy, Hendrix-ike intro before turning into mellower Byrds territory, with a great middle eight feature more of those marvellous harmonies, followed by a suitably country-style guitar solo from George.  ‘Little Country Thing’ is neatly structured, with a tripping beat and lovely little guitar fills.

The closing ‘Turnaround’ takes it all to the max, with a thudding beat and quirky passages leading up to a wig-out mid-section where they dip their toes into jam band waters amid a storm of drums and guitar.  This was my first encounter with Miracle Glass Company, but it sure won’t be the last.

If Miracle Glass Company don’t have a whole lot to say for themselves in the course of their set, when the Stevie Nimmo Trio come on stage the main man immediately begins to engage with the audience, enquiring if any of them are going to get their arses out of their seats without him badgering them.  And as the riff of ‘Roll The Dice’ ring out, people do start to filter onto the dance floor, in time to witness Nimmo crank out a fierce guitar solo.

Stevie Nimmo - out of the black and into the blues

If the audience eases into proceedings in response to Nimmo’s banter, it’s evident that the band are also in relaxed form and enjoying themselves.  Nimmo in particular seems to be in the zone, unfurling a gut-wrenching solo on the gritty ‘Still Hungry’, and then yet another belter on the hypnotic ‘Running Back To You’, where propelled by Craig Bacon’s drums they whip up a storm of a crescendo.

‘Change’ cools things off and lets everyone take a breath before they interrupt the stream of songs from Sky Won’t Fall with the semi-countrified cover of Storyville’s ‘Good Day For The Blues’, from Stevie’s earlier semi-acoustic album The Wynds Of Life.

‘Chains Of Hope’ dirties things up again over bubbling bass from Mat Beable, before the good time tour de force that is ‘Lovin’ Might Do Us Good’.  Starting off in a light funk mode, it morphs into a cavorting Southern rock jam that has smiles on the faces of the band as well as the audience, even before the now traditional injection of a snippet of the Allmans’ ‘Jessica’.

Just to put the tin lid on it, they wheel out ‘Going Down’, with what seems like an extra funked up intro.  Nimmo does justice to the weight of the riff, and gets the crowd on board for a chorus or two before they put the pedal to the metal at the end, the three of them leaning their collective big feet on the gas.

A few couples even attempt to swing dance to the muscular likes of ‘Still Hungry’ and ‘Chains Of Hope’.  That, I imagine, isn’t something they’ve seen much before.  But it’s testament to the finesse of Nimmo and his boys, delivering loud blues rock with a light touch, and once again producing a good day for the blues.