Walk an imaginary line between Carolina-men Jimbo Mathis and Pink Anderson, trace it through Holly Springs, Mississippi, ending somewhere on the ragged, beer drenched, and smoke laden carpet your band used to practice on in the garage - welcome to 'Magnolia Land,' Davis Coen's 6th and latest blues release.

Known primarily for his finger-style guitar work in the veins of Mississippi John Hurt., Libba Cotton, and Fred McDowell, Coen diverges for some out of the pocket blues a la North Mississippi hill country, Muscle Shoals, Chicago, and his own strange Carolina brew.

'Magnolia Land' was recorded at the unjustifiably little known Delta Recording Studio in Como, Mississippi (Jimbo Mathis) whose treasured, old-assed ribbon mics have recorded everyone from Elvis Costello to Afrissippi to George Brock to virtually every relative of the late Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside. And let me tell you, the production is probably my favorite part of this album - it's so warm and so live that you'd swear you could hear the 6L6's buzzing through your high-fi.

The album opens with a very Kimbrough-esque "Tired and Lonesome," a reworking of Coen's earlier "Ain't Even got a Rock to Lay My Head On." Dark and full-bodied, this hill country blues is rounded out with some tasteful Hammond organ work by Lance Ashley. "Change in the Weather," however, doesn't quite do it for me. One might begrudgingly call it southern soul, something that Eddie Hinton might have pulled off, but here the arrangement is loose and it's a little outside of Coen's vocal range.

"Anna Ann," the third track, is arguably one of the strongest on this disc - a danceable, slide-driven Coen original that might imaginatively have once been on R.L. Burnside's setlist (if he ever used one). Coen dips in the Elmore James bag for the traditional "Country Girl Blues," although the slide work is a little more reminiscient of Kenny Brown.

"Nothing to Hold on to" reminds me of "Change in the Weather" - there's a lot of instrumentation, particularly drums and guitar, that could have left more room for Coen's voice, although his Guy Davis vocal stylings don't really work here anyway. What I do like about this song (credited to T. Coen, by the way) is the soulful progression and the theme imparted in some of the best lyrics on the album: "I reached out for success, my spirt burned/Everybody wants me now I've learned./I'll never go to New York looking for some city job/The concrete world is corrupt/And the business man is hard/You're the only one who cares if this boy works or if he starves/That's why I love you."

"Goin' Away Baby" is a pretty stripped and straightforward cover of the Jimmy Rogers version. Except with more reverb. And "Natchez Burning" is less a straight cover and more a fairly standard Chicago shuffle.

One of the coolest, most well-tracked, and best arranged songs on here is "Wrong Side of Town." If you liked "Busker's Blues" off of Coen's earlier 'Ill Disposition' you'll like this one.

All in all, Coen assembles a veritable A-team of Mississippians north of Vicksburg including Jimbo Mathis himself, Afrissippi's Kinney Kimbrough (Junior's son) and Justin Showah, Olga on washboard, Lance Ashley, and Darren Dortin for an album that is decidedly unique and laudably old-school. There is a loose, sort of disjointedness that you find throughout a lot of these songs, sometimes working in Coen's favor and sometimes not. But there's plenty of soul and an undeniable honesty coming from someone who is pushing the boundaries just a bit farther. If you're familiar with Davis Coen, this is worth checking out if for no other reason than it's different. If you're not familiar with Davis Coen, this is worth checking out if for no other reason than it's different.

Reviewer Reid Doughten

Davis Coen releases rootsy new album 

Magnolia Land is the place to be

Davis Coen

Magnolia Land

(Soundview)

Charleston-based singer/guitarist Davis Coen dives deeper into the Mississippi Delta on his brand-new studio album Magnolia Land, a swingin' and deeply soulful 12-song collection recorded over the course of the last two years.

Coen has a strong reputation for being able to pull just about anything from his sizeable mixed bag of traditional blues songs — from lonesome and dusty country blues to urban/Chicago-styled stuff to hillbilly twang. Here, he sings and plays with focus and confidence, picking up where he left off with last year's charming and scruffy Blue Lights for Yours and Mine. He tracked this cool new stuff at Delta Recording Service in Como, Miss., with James "Jimbo" Mathus (of Squirrel Nut Zippers, Knockdown South) at the helm and on occasional bass and guitar.

It sounds like a full-band effort with drummer Darren Dortin and guest timekeeper Kinney Kimbrough laying down beats on every track. Other special guests include assist Justin Showah (of Afrissippi) and organist Lance Ashley. A few covers made it into the set, including Howlin' Wolf "Natchez Burning" and Muddy Waters' "You Gonna Miss Me." Coen's original tunes range in style from old-school boogie (the upbeat "Anna Ann" and "Eyes Like Diamonds") to funky juke-joint soul ("Wrong Side of Town" and the surprisingly romantic "Nothin' to Hold on To").

Coen states in a press release that this album is his first "to stray completely from my much-visited Piedmont acoustic guitar style ... for electrically charged arrangements rooted deeply in the musical environs present around the Hill Country and nearby Memphis." Capturing a healthy sample of that hilly vibe, he renders "Country Girl Blues" — one of several old traditonals on the album — convincingly with his salty, deep-note singing. When he sings, "She started leavin' early in the morning/Didn't get back until the break of day ... I didn't like that!" Davis sounds like some old, lonesome man on the porch scratchin' his head and sipping his bourbon, frustrated and heartsick. His waling slide guitar licks help paint the sad picture. Peppered with bad-ass Hammond B3 licks from Ashley, lead-off track "Tired and Lonesome" is among the many highlights of this impressive blues collection.

New Album "Magnolia Land" Available Through ITunes for  download, individual tracks or complete recording.   Also available for purchase through CDbaby.

(Click Album cover on lower right hand side of Davis Coen Myspace page for link and more information.)


Davis Coen's new 2009 release "Magnolia Land" was recorded in early-2007 and mid-2008 at Delta Recording Service in Como, Mississippi. The sessions were overseen by Jimbo Mathus, the studio proprietor, who joined in also on bass or electric guitar on many of the essentially live recorded studio cuts. Session musicians also include seasoned North-Mississippi regional blues players, such as sure-handed drummer Kinney Kimbrough and bassist Justin Showah (both currently of the touring band Afrissippi).

"Magnolia Land" is the first Coen album to stray completely from his much-visited Piedmont acoustic guitar style. Now Carolina-gone-North Mississippi he showcases his flair for electrically charged arrangements rooted deeply in the musical environs present around the Hill Country and nearby Memphis where the recording sessions took place. Several tracks including the album opener "Tired And Lonesome" also add the Hammond Organ accompaniment of Lance Ashley, who appeared also on on Coen's previous, 2008 release "Blues Lights For Yours And Mine".

The 12-track album release features half Coen-originals, and the rest traditional blues, with a few interpretations of classic artist's such as in Howlin' Wolf’s "Natchez Burning" and Muddy Waters’ "You Gonna Miss Me".

Coen, out of South Carolina, has toured southeast and mid-south U.S. extensively since his teens as a solo artist and with various small combos, sharing concert bills or opening for classic blues artists as James Cotton, Junior Wells, Koko Taylor, Big Jack Johnson, Bobby Rush, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, T-Model Ford, Eddie Kirkland, and Britain..s John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers.

1. Living Blues Radio Chart For 9/1/08
   Johnny Rawls,  Red Cadillac, Catfood
   
   Watermelon Slim And The Workers,  No Paid Holidays, NorthernBlues
   
   Li'l Ed & The Blues Imperials,  Full Tilt, Alligator
   
   Janiva Magness,  What Love Will Do, Alligator
   
   Byther Smith,  Blues On The Moon, Delmark
   
   Jackie Payne & Steve Edmonson,  Overnight Sensation, Delta Groove
   
   Buddy Guy,  Skin Deep, Silvertone
   
   Chris James & Patrick Rynn,  Stop And Think About It, Earwig
   
   Irma Thomas,  Simply Grand, Rounder
   
   Pinetop Perkins,  Pinetop Perkins & Friends, Telarc/Blues
   
   Boyes/Brill/DelGrosso,  Live From Bluesville, Blue Empress
   
   Maria Muldaur & Women's Voices For Peace,  Yes We Can!, Telarc
   
   Super Chikan,  Sum Mo' Chikan, Chikan Howse
   
   E.G. Kight,  It's Hot In Here, MC
   
   Liz Mandeville,  Red Top, Earwig
   
   Travis "Moonchild" Haddix,  Daylight At Midnight, Earwig
   
   James Hinkle,  Some Day, Blue Lights
   
   Homemade Jamz,  Pay Me No Mind, NorthernBlues
   
   Flattop Tom,  Don't Cheat The Feet, Palamar
   
   Los Fabulocos ,  Los Fabulocos Featuring Kid Ramos, Delta Groove
   
   Sonny Landreth,  From The Reach, Landfall
   
   Davis Coen,  Blues Lights For Yours & Mine, Soundview
   
   Scott Ellison,  Ice Storm, Earwig
   
   Robin Rogers,  Treat Me Right, Blind Pig
   
   Curtis Salgado,  Clean Getaway, Shanachie

Chances are you have heard South Carolina-based Davis Coen but didn't know it.

     Coen has spent most of his young career in the background of some impressive blues productions.  He contributed instrumental tracks to PBS's landmark series The Blues and backed up the late, great Jess Mae Hemphill as well as opening for luminaries such as James Cotton, the North Mississippi All-Stars, Eddie Kirkland and others.

     With his fifth solo release, Blues Lights For Yours and Mine, Coen shows that he has the chops and talent to break out as a solo act.

     Coen's latest release opens the Basement With The Blue Light, a Hammond B-3-driven toe-tapping original that introduces the listener straight off to his worldly sounding voice and well-timed guitar work.  Coen's voice is best served by his uptempo choices here from covers of Jack Of Diamonds to Don't Let Your Deal Go Down, and even his bouncy cover of Professor Longhair's Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand.

     Blues Lights For Yours And Mine in the end is a pleasant mix of originals and covers, as Coen convincingly showcases a variety of styles, able to deliver nice acoustic turns as well as down and dirty blues- just check out the moody, attitude-driven original Accelerated Woman for further proof.

                                                                                         - Dave Ruthenberg