In the Annals of Blues the phrase "Mississippi meets Memphis" must surely occur 1000 times, but thanks to The Bush League, we can happily chalk up a thousand and one, because this album can only be described as such.
Recorded in Memphis with friends and guests from both places, these tracks highlight a band long in love with Hill Country blues - a band that here combines the gritty rhythm of North Mississippi with the soulful shine of Memphis, yet retains its own sense of place and presence.
The Bush League hails from Richmond, Virginia (RVA to the locals), and while we don't have the grand and mighty Mississippi, we do have the James, and she is every bit as dearly loved.
And speakin' as a man who has himself spent many an hour with his toes in her waters and his hands on the strings, I hear - from the first riffs of "River's Edge" to the final hollers of "What's Wrong with You?" - not only the sounds of two faraway musical meccas, but the steady rollin' heart of my own hometown.
Most of all, I hear GROOVE, and groove is good.
But if there's one thing a human being needs more than groove, it's SOUL, and I hear that, too - not just the Memphis soul, oozin' out like sauce from a sandwich, but the indefinable human essence connecting us all, from Richmond, Virginia, to North Mississippi, and way on back to West Africa, where the blues truly began.
Soul makes your skin tingle; it makes you want to dance even though you're dog tired; it makes you forget your crap job, your evil ex, or your damn landlord. Soul is what gets you through the blues and makes life worth living. If you could use a little of that, go on and fire these tunes up.
The Bush League has plenty to spare. ~Smokey B.