The Rhythm River Trio – Just Honky Tonkin’ Around
Rhythm Bomb Records RBR 5774 {2014}
Honky Tonkin’ Around – Teardrops From Your Eyes – Honky Tonk Blues – Monday Mornin’ – Wild Side Of Life – Love Come Back To Me – Bear Cat – Rhythm On The River – Rockin’ and Flyin’ – So Did I – Gone and Left Me Blues – I’ll Go My Way.
The other good surprise to come from Great-Britain in the recent months are the Rhythm River Trio. Actually, this drummerless trio formed by David Short (vocals, rhtythm guitar), Morgan Willis (lead guitar) and Bruno Pannone (double bass) is not that recent, they got together in 2009, but I just discovered them with this album called Just Honky Tonkin’ Around, their second lp.
It was recorded at Sugar Rays, a brand new recording studio that seems to come straight from the fifties and ran, among others, by Pat Rayford. The result is an album with a superb warm and mono sound.
But a vintage studio wont turn lead into gold! For that it is better to have great musicians… and the Rhthm River Trio certainly are. They are a tight little ensemble with a superb singer who sings with heart and class. And both he and Willis can write solid originals that stand well next to Hank Williams and Eddie & Hank Cochran. Nothing less.
So what about the music they play? It’s a highly enjoyable mix between the honky tonk of Hank Williams and the early rockabilly sides of Charlie Feathers with some Sun influences and a bit of blues (they cover Ruth Brown’s Teardrop From My Eyes and Rufus Thomas’ Bear Cat). They have a guest steel guitar (Jeff Mead who played with Sonny George) on a couple of tracks, Pedro Duarte plays harp on Bear Cat and Pat Rayford sang backing vocals on Jimmy patton’s Love Come Back to Me.
Available here.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis