David Kearney has had a burning desire to play guitar since his youth. As a teenager he was performing regularly as part of the Walter Johnson band. At one of the band's gigs the marquee listed the bands name and in addition it read 'featuring Guitar Shorty'. The name stuck and he went on to join the Ray Charles band. Shorty's musical journey continued for years including stints with Guitar Slim and fronting numerous house bands. While on tour in the early 90s he cut the first of 4 albums. On his first CD release since 1998, Guitar Shorty is explosive and outrageous throughout an hour of 13 savage tracks. Only one song was written by Shorty, the remainder are originals by his bandmembers and lesser known covers. Piledriving production is handled by Scott Mathews and Brian Brinkerhoff. Mathews also plays drums and keyboards.
"Loosen Up" contains a catchy, repetitive chord structure and a contagious rhythm.
There are plenty of piercing, guitar blasts while Mathews' mighty sax helps to pound out the beat. Shorty's scalding guitar and Jim Pugh's scorching B3 organ where made for each other just like "Coffee & Cigarettes". This laid back attractive groove features humorous lyrics and fierceful, high-pitched notes played scholarly by Shorty. "Maybe She'll Miss Me" is outright hot rockin'. It's what ZZ Top tried to do in the 80s but it always ended up sounding like pop. Guitar Shorty doesn't have much vocal range. On this track, the vocals are powerful and shift the tune into overdrive. Kearney pushes a wah-wah pedal without restraint on "In The Morning". This good old fashioned R&B song also features his most expressive vocals. "The Netherlands" is a brilliant instrumental which was recorded with an entirely different band. Still, Shorty lays down sharp, cutting, crisp notes which fuse blues/jazz/rock into a single solid. Get the feeling this is a disc of fiery guitar solos? Well it offers much more than that. As evidenced on "One & Only Man", there are soulful vocals and highly, rhythmical melodies which are sure to appeal to the masses.
On his Evidence debut, Guitar Shorty masters the art of combining blues and rock into a style that sounds like blues. Far too many artists end up playing rock when they attempt to marry the 2 genres. He also proves that experienced blues artists are capable of playing contemporary blues. The dynamic diminutive singer/guitar player delivers plenty of simmering licks to give your tweeters an aerobic workout. Guitar Shorty has indeed gone wild. He gets as rampant and enraged as a patient who has gone off their medications. However, upon listening to this assaulting disc, you are left with the impression that he is just warming up.
For further information, contact: Evidence Music Inc., 1110 E. Hector Street, Suite 392, Conshohocken, PA 19428 USA Tel: (800) 474-5131 Email: evidencemusic@aol.com Artist website: www.guitarshorty.org
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