That's not to say that Mr. Dunn's disc is a dud. There's some good ol' American rock 'n' roll here, the music, one might say, from the nation's heartland. And one could, I suppose, stretch a bit and call the opener, "Room To Move," an urban blues tune, though it could just as easily be taken as hard rock. "Life On The Chin," which features some fine organ and a bit of harmonica, isn't far removed from the genre. The rest, though, are a mix of rockers ("Four Letter Word"), fleet-fingered jazzy romps ("Wasted On Club Soda"), and the sort of melodic mid-tempo instrumental ballads ("Outer Banks," "Dreams") the Allman Brothers are famous for.

At only eight songs clocking in at just under twenty-six minutes, I'd guess this project started life as a demo for Mr. Dunn. If so, it's far and away superior to most of that ilk. Johnny's songwriting (he wrote all eight tunes) is exceptional, with a great deal of variety on display; the arrangements are intelligent and thoroughly considered, and instrumental contributions are uniformly top notch. Production rivals most big-budget releases, and Johnny sings with power and conviction throughout. Indeed, the only misstep is the use of cheesy-sounding synthesized strings on "She Does Too" - not that strings would be misplaced on the track, but here they're so obviously fake it spoils what might otherwise be a tender and touching song.

Having listened to Mr. Dunn's disc numerous times, I've no doubt that, should he choose to do so, he'd be quite capable of singing the blues very well indeed. But the fact is there's precious little in evidence here. "Room To Move" is a good disc (fans of the Allman Brothers might find much of it to their liking), but anyone expecting a blues outing from Mr. Dunn's Blues Band is bound to be disappointed.

Web: www.monkenmusic.com
E-Mail: hunybee42@msn.com

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