In once sense, Vermont based Jake Lear offers nothing different to the greater majority of upcoming acts on the Blues scene. How many times have we caught an earful of the supposed next Stevie Ray or new Freddie King only to be left distinctly disappointed? With “Lost Time Blues”, his second in a short space of time Lear however offers something that a lot of his peers fundamentally fail to achieve: he manages to live up to and do justice to the legends that he claims to draw influence from. In fact, one listen of opener ‘Streets Of Michelangelo’ brings the listener back to the heydays of hearing SRV’s ‘Couldn’t Stand The Weather’ for the first time, while ‘Leave This Town’ urges to be played in a dimly lit, whiskey stenched Mississippi juke joint. The key to paying homage to your inspirations is the skill of placing your own twist on the influence in question, whilst retaining the primary sound they were so well known for. Lear’s twist on the Texas Blues sound arrives in the form of an underlying folky tone, particularly apparent on standout tracks ‘Ragged And Dirty’ and ‘Bluebird’. With an abundance of guitarists hitting the Blues world in 2009, aiming to be the next Bonamassa, it’s becoming somewhat difficult to sort the best from the rest. Judging by this latest release however, Jake Lear is a name to keep an eye out for. Lost Time Blues? Hopefully not…....

 ....