Elmore Magazine - Sept./Oct. issue 2009
Australian guitar slinger Geoff Achison seems blissfully unaware that to many, he's simply another bluesman with some smokin' chops. Achison's latest album "One Ticket, One Ride," shows that while he's sown his seed in fertile blues/roots territory, he's a master of soul, driving funk and jazz-inspired ambiance.
Recorded in Atlanta during breaks in Achison's 2008 North American tour, the disc is what he calls "an audio postcard of the U.S." Achison had the "most incredible adventures" traveling from gig to gig without a steady backing band. Instead he used what he called "souldiggers" from various musical communities to flesh out his live sound. His true musical diversity and stylistic range were forced to kick in. That diversity and spirit of adventure infuse this disc.
The killer funk on the album instantly grabs your attention and dominates much of Achison's writing. "Sent to the Edge" throbs with a larger-than-life bass line and the guitar/synth combo that could have easily been a part of Stevie Wonder's repertoire circa 1972. Achison's voice is also a key ingredient to his soulful sound. Imagine Warren Zevon with a decidedly bluesy edge - that's Achison. Bolstered by a rich, warm, jazz-like production value throughout, other standouts include the Dave Matthews meets Allman Brothers melodic spin of "Soul to Soul" an the reggae-flavored "Kinda Makes Sense."
Achison seems more like a singer/songwriter's soul in Jeff Beck's body than an outright blues player, as he may often be billed. A musical explorer with his feet firmly planted in the past, Achison should take his stature in the musical community to the next level with this disc. - Mark Uricheck.
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CMT - Craig Shelburne The funniest person I know is a big fan of the blues. When we went to the Bele Chere festival together in Asheville, N.C., a few weeks ago, we happened to catch an excellent band she's never heard of -- Delta Moon. Now I think they're probably her favorite blues band. So we trekked to Atlanta over the weekend to hear them play the blues club Blind Willie's in their own hometown. I admit that I'm not well-versed in the blues but I can agree that they're my favorite blues band now, too. Singer-songwriter Tom Gray plays lap steel; Mark Johnson tackles the bottleneck slide guitar. Top it off with a bassist and drummer and it's just soooo greasy.
My friend bought a few of the band's old CDs at the Asheville show, only to find out that there used to be some women singers in the band. They're long gone now (hey, it's the blues) so the new album, Clear Blue Flame, captures the way they sound right now. It's a standout, especially the title track, which illuminates the difference between moonshine and whiskey. Onstage, Gray sings like sandpaper yet his voice is compelling enough to make you want to settle in and listen for a few hours. This is a rarity for me because I usually lose interest in the blues after about, oh, five seconds. However, we stayed planted in our church pew for several sets at Blind Willie's and I wouldn't be surprised if another road trip to Atlanta is in our future. I'm up for it.
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Elmore Magazine Webb Wilder - More Like Me
The surf-rock guitar on Webb Wilder's cool cover of Roky Erickson's "Don't Slander Me" is a spacey groove, and when his idiosyncratic vocals plead the title line, there's an inherent craziness at work. It's nutty as a fruitcake and works wildly well. Wilder always came off as a noir character of his own creation: unique, irreverent and witty. The laughs are on him. Yet he can spin off perfectly crafted universal laments with the world-weary aplomb of an erastz Buffett or Crenshaw and make it work.
For his first album of new material in four years, the Will Rogers of roots-rock dips into his 20-year-bag-o'-tricks to juxtapose hillbilly boogie, mid-60's British Invasion-type beauties that wouldn't sound out of place on an old Searchers album, and discreet covers like "Ju Ju Man" from Dave Edmunds' Get It and "She Said Yeah," an obscure 1959 Larry Williams gem that the Animals and Stones also covered.
Is there anything this true Renaissance man cannot do, and do well? He's a singer, guitarist, bandleader, filmmaker, humorist and musicologist. More Like Me rocks in so many different shades, it's Petty/Lowe/X/Hiatt redux with even more humor. It's there in his evocative originals and carefully picked, brilliantly oddball covers. - Mike Greenblatt