Artist:     Debbie Bond

Album:     Blues Without Borders

Label:     Blues Root Productions

Release Date:     7.09.21

90

BUY DIGITAL

BUY PHYSICAL

Alabama blueslady Debbie Bond returns with a new album, recorded—like many these days—during the pandemic by whatever means possible and very much against the odds. Bond managed to beat the odds to some extent by having UK drummer Micky Barker luckily visit her at home in Tuscaloosa before lockdown became the new norm. So, Barker, a regular band member when Bond tours the UK, was able to add his considerable talent and weight to the project, alongside her usual blues partner, “Radiator Rick” Asherson on keys, harp and supporting vocals.

Mysteriously, incomprehensibly and sadly, Bond, moves below the modern blues radar at times, despite her lifelong immersion in the music and having played with so many old-time greats, from Johnny Shines to Eddie Kirkland, Little Jimmy Reed, Shar-Baby, Carroline Shines and Willie King.

Bond served her time playing in the now few-and-far-between juke joints of rural Alabama and the Muscle Shoals end of the business before branching out with her own band. With this new release, she delivers an exceptional album, easily her finest offering to date, that features her vocals, grainy, moody and muscular to great effect; while her fretwork-picking also reliably drives the whole thing along with ease and a sophisticated ripple throughout. Never a slouch when it comes to singing and playing, Bond’s writing skills also shine brightly here with a clear grasp of the music and the recording game.

Don’t expect guitar pyrotechnics here, Bond is too self-assured and experienced to fall into that kind of musical trap. Instead, what you have is a genuinely gripping blues offering that slips along purposefully and strongly from start to finish, covering all those essential blues bases with a confidence and command that make this an essential release for blues lovers everywhere.

—Iain Patience