Artist:     Kerry Kearney

Album:     Smokehouse Serenade

Label:     Highlander Records

Release Date:     4.13.2019

95

BUY DIGITAL

BUY PHYSICAL

I initially was interested in hearing this, solely because this group hails from Long Island, NY, my music training grounds, which is far from being the blues capital of the world. By the time they had finished “Shakin’ Like Jelly,” their electric blues opener and were rolling down to the Delta with “Long Tall Mama,” the way J.J. Cale would, I was sold. Kerry Kearney and his band are the real deal.

I could be wrong, but I don’t think that blues bands often cover the different styles of blues, like this group does. Most tend to stay in their own backyards and become specialists. Kearney leads his group of merry men across state lines and balances things out nicely with healthy doses of acoustic and electric styles, both of which he certainly can write both music and lyrics for. As a blues guitarist, he knows where the foundation is and when to flick his Bic. Drummer Mario Staiano provides perfect parts and tempos for the bass, keys and harp to hang onto. Then they mix in a few staples like “Statesboro Blues” and “Sittin’ On Top Of The World” and there’s your record. If legendary DJ, Hoss Allen was still covering the entire south with 50,000 watts of R&B, he would say “You want blues you can use? Kerry Kearney has them.”

After several listens, I started looking into this group’s background, ‘cause I knew they couldn’t be new at this and sound like they do. As Gomer Pyle would say “Surprise, Surprise,” they all have credits as long as the Island.

I’ll leave the last word to Leslie West, (who I knew in the ’60s, when he was just a Long Island Vagrant). Backstage somewhere in Suffolk County, LI, while Kerry Kearney’s band was out front kicking’ it, Les turned to Warren Haynes and asked, “Who The Fuck Is That?”

—Ken Spooner

[Editor’s note: This review came with the following note from writer Ken Spooner: “I don’t have the actual release date for this other than this year. I don’t think it matters much… IT’S TIMELESS !”]