Artist:     AJ Fullerton

Album:     The Forgiver and the Runaway

Label:     Vizztone

Release Date:     3.26.2021

87

BUY DIGITAL

BUY PHYSICAL

For most of us, award-winning singer/songwriter/guitarist AJ Fullerton is a new name on the blues scene. The Forgiver and the Runaway is his debut on the reputable VizzTone label, and if that’s not enough to induce a listen, realize that album is produced by Canadian blues master Steve Marriner of MonkeyJunk. Marriner also plays multiple instruments and has other well-regarded Canadians such as harmonicists Paul Reddick and Jake Friel contributing.

AJ hails from the mountains of rural Western Colorado, where he has garnered multiple awards from the Colorado Blues Society since 2016. Fullerton’s key strength is songwriting. Much of his material is in a melodic, vocal-oriented roots vein, lending his songs, ten of which are originals, as suitable to Americana as they are to blues. The other two songs are penned by notable blues writers JD Taylor and Colin Linden.

While the mixing and engineering was done in Ontario, it appears that the sessions revolved around a core band consisting of Fullerton on guitars, Glenn Milchem on drums, Jesse O’Brien on keys, and Anna Ruddick on bass. Beyond those four there are nine others sharing credits, including Marriner and the two harmonicists. Most of the others contribute either percussion or background vocals. Throughout, Fullerton’s vocals are strong, articulate, and soulful.

Some may have already heard the single “Say You’ll Stay,” a catchy blues rocker that’s slightly heavier than some of the early material on the album. Friel contributes some superb harmonic while the fuzzed guitar riffs likely owe more to Marriner than Fullerton. In this slightly heavier mode is the harp -driven “I Cried,” one that has Marriner’s stamp all over it.

As we listen to the hard-edged, guitar-imbued “Wish You’d Tell Me,” the album has two distinct aspects to it, the aforementioned roots-like songs that open the album like “Remind Me Who I Am Again,” “Healing Takes Time,” “Could’ve Been Mine,” and “Slippin’ Away” (signifying from the album title, “The Forgiver”), and the edgier blues songs in the second half and the edgier blues songs in the second half. In addition to the second half’s “And the Runaway,” JD Taylor’s “Cherry Red,” (not the Big Joe Tuner tune of the same name) is distinctly different, featuring the O’Brien’s barrelhouse piano and carrying a Delbert McClinton roadhouse vibe. “Never Was” is piano-driven shuffle while the distinctive “Homesick” is a relatable, country-like tune complete with pedal steel. The album closes with Linden’s laconic, infectious acoustic “Hooks in the Water.” The runaway can finally relax.

AJ Fullerton brings solid songwriting, pleasing vocals, and mostly a tantalizing variety of styles on this auspicious debut. He is one worth watching.

—Jim Hynes