Real country blues for the modern age.
Country blues developed in the Southern states of America in the late 19th and early 20th Century before the advent of sound recording and radio. While it was played by black musicians, white Southern rural musicians couldn’t help hearing country blues and being influenced by it, similarly, black musicians were influenced by white musicians. It was only with the advent of recording technology and radio that musical apartheid took root. Skip forward a century, and Reverend Peyton, with the help of his Big Damn Band, is doing his bit to keep this musical art form alive and vibrant in the 21st Century. The Reverend Peyton is a renowned fingerstyle guitarist who plays predominantly acoustic vintage guitars on this recording of a mix of traditional and new songs. The Big Damn Band comprises “Washboard” Breezy Peyton on washboard and backing vocals, who is also the Reverend’s wife, and Jacob “Snakob” Powell on drums and backing vocals, who are joined on “Honeysuckle” by the gospel-singing McCrary Sisters and Chicago blues musician Billy Branch, representing the country side of things is fiddler extraordinaire Michael Cleveland and Colton Crawford, the Dead South’s banjo player. Reverend Payton produced the record using vintage recording equipment and went for a largely acoustic sound, and the Grammy-winning producer and engineer Vince Powell mixed the album.
Album opener “Honeysuckle” is an original love song by Reverend Peyton featuring plenty of slide guitar. The first cover on the album is of Robert Johnson’s “If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day”, which Robert Johnson based on Hambone Willie Newbern’s ‘Rollin’ and Tumblin’’, with lyrics that look at the more carnal side of love. The version here by Reverend Peyton is as raw as raw can be featuring his voice and guitar playing. There is an old blues saying that the devil has the best tunes, but ‘Looking For A Manager’ featuring the McCrary Sisters makes a case for the opposite to be true on an uplifting gospel tune. The Big Damn Band join Reverend Peyton on the uptempo love song, ‘Like A Treasure’. “Washboard” Breezy Peyton is featured on Blind Lemon Jefferson’s ‘One Dime Blues’. Blind Lemon Jefferson was the first blues player to sell records in any quantity, and ‘Nell (Prison Cell Blues)’ is another of his songs, featuring Billy Branch on harmonica who seems to push Reverend Peyton’s vocals to a higher level.
On such a retro-inspired record it is a bit surprising to find a cover of Paul Revere & The Raiders’ ‘Freeborn Man’ from 1969, but not so surprising when you realise Tony Rice, The Outlaws and Jimmy Martin covered the song in the ‘70s. The band really shakes things up with Michael Cleveland joining on fiddle with the band enjoying mixing the blues with bluegrass and having the time of their lives. The Reverend Peyton’s own ‘I Can’t Sleep’ features his wordless vocals at the start of the track. The rhythm is stomped out on ‘Let Go’ with The Reverend’s raw vocals adding to the emotional excitement. We are back in more bluegrass territory with ‘The Good Die Young’ which features the banjo of Colton Crawford. The Reverend Peyton then tackles Blind Willie Johnson’s gospel classic ‘Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning’, covered by many artists including Hot Tuna. The album’s closer ‘Mama Do’ brings some fun to the proceedings, just in case anyone needed reminding the blues can also be good time music.
‘Honeysuckle’ is much more of a Reverend Peyton solo album than previous albums with his Damn Big Band, and while the guest artists bring nice touches to certain tracks, they don’t distract from the Reverend himself. There can be no doubt that he is a very talented guitarist who is perfectly at home playing vintage guitars in the country blues tradition. This isn’t to say he is simply a technically proficient tribute act, with his songwriting and enthusiasm he manages to bring his own take to this old-style music. While no one would say the Reverend Peyton’s voice is a thing of beauty, he does use his voice very effectively on ‘Honeysuckle’. If you’ve ever wondered what sort of music you might hear in an old-time Southern juke joint, you could do a lot worse than give ‘Honeysuckle’ a listen.
