Artist:     Tas Cru

Album:     Drive On

Label:     Subcat Records

Release Date:     1.31.20

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In typical fashion, blues guitarist and singer Tas Cru lays out a buffet of different styles of blues on Drive On, his ninth album overall and second album for the Subcat Records label, coming on the heels of 2018’s Memphis Song. Make that 11, if you include the two blues-for-kids records he’s made. Hailing from upstate New York, Cru—real name  Rick Bates—prefers a thicker, more soulful sound on the solidly-built Drive On, as the slow-burning, funky title track seems on the verge of bursting into flames.

The fire is contained by Anthony Geraci’s smoldering organ, found in abundance on Drive On. Rusty, metallic slices of Youngblood Gabe Stillman’s slide guitar accent a rousing “Money Talks,” while the brawny and propulsive, single-minded boogie of “Kinda Mess” comes on like a fully loaded blues-rock semi barreling down the road with no brakes and the Allman Brothers blasting from the stereo. Adding some blaring energy, warmth and guttural moans to the proceedings, Anthony Terry’s saxophone, a new addition to Cru’s family, makes its presence known, as does Mary Ann Casale, whose sweet, lovely vocals are most prominently displayed on the twilight ballad “Cry No More” and the gritty, spare duet she shares with Cru on “Devil in Your Heart,” where Cru’s resonator guitar haunts its dark spaces. The smiling Big Easy swagger and sway of “Memphis Blue” has its drunken charms, and “Shookie Shake” gets the juke joint jumping and makes sweat drip from its walls.

Cru knows how to please a crowd. Drive On, Tas Cru, and keep the faith.

—Peter Lindblad