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Johnston brings the country blues to a new level of invigoration while he wails and shouts with the natural born instincts of a pure bluesman. He's not too bad for a white boy. Johnston brings traditional country blues to life and revives an old roots sound with a fresh and unique angle in his music. Johnston's sound is sloppy, raw, cunning, and earthy. One of the elements of this album that I truly admire, and this is no easy task for a blues album, is the changing tempo from song to song. Hard electric, country twang, funky beat it's all in Foot Hill Stomp (appropriately titled). Every song comes on its own sweet time, while Johnston bleeds and sweats with soul and passion. Foot Hill Stomp is a compilation of blues songs by legendary artists such as Junior Kimbrough, Jesse Mae Hemphill, and RL Burnside. Jesse Mea Hemphill even sits in on a couple of songs. On "That's No Way to Get Along," Mrs. Hemphill plays the tambourine, and you can hear her shout with joy throughout the song. She sings lead vocals on the final track, "Chicken and Gravy," and again she can be heard talking and yelling as the music moves her. I truly enjoyed the use of traditional instruments like washboards, foot drums, and tambourines throughout this album. These instruments remain steady when the rest of the music pauses, and they take on a life all their own. It is refreshing to hear the main source of rhythm from a tambourine rather than a drum. Johnston generously gives his listeners a nice break from the ordinary, everyday mechanics of music and with the focus of traditional instruments, takes us back in time with a couple of songs. Accompanied by Cedric Burnside on drums for "Work Me Baby" by Junior Kimbrough and "Come On In" by R.L. Burnside, Johnston's music sounds compromised and less authentic. In these two songs, Johnston emulates a sound similar to that of RL Burnside or The North Mississippi Allstars. These songs are saturated with spunk and energy, but I was more impressed with the songs that I would never expect to find in a cover blues album, like "The Shaggy Hound" by Do-boy Diamond, "That's No Way to Get Along" by Rev. Robert Wilkins, "Miss Maebelle" by Rainey Burnette, and "Chicken and Gravy" co-written by Jessie Mae Hemphill and Richard Johnston. Having an emotional connection to blues music and a reverence for traditional musicians, Johnston recognizes and graciously thanks the town of Memphis, Tennessee, Mark Simpson, blues legend Otha Turner, and Jessie Mae Hemphill, whom he lists as "family" on the Foot Hill Stomp CD jacket. To highly recommend this album is not enough. *To find this album is difficult. I can only suggest trying
foothillstomp-at-cs.com
or www.richardjohnston.com
and crossing your fingers. If Mr. Johnston pops up in your neighborhood,
wherever that may be, take a chance and go enjoy an evening of
music that is indescribably fulfilling, ruggedly unpolished,
and completely soulful. |
DO NOT put this CD
in your stereo unless you feel like moving and shaking a little.
It will be inevitable -- whether you're sweeping the floor, entertaining
guests at your barbeque party, or driving through the middle
of nowhere on your way to somewhere I guarantee you will
move. I'm not exactly sure where Richard Johnston popped up from,
but he popped into my mailbox two weeks ago, and I have not been
able to restrain myself from listening to him daily. Rumor has
it his CD release party was a happening event at the New Daisy
Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee. I wish I could have been there.
If the party was anything like what I imagine, then it was similar
to Johnston's sound rough and edgy, and I mean real edgy.
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