"The finest up and coming artist in the U.K. Danny Bryant and his band kick f**king ass"!!
This quote comes from guitar god Walter Trout. Bear in mind, Trout is not the type of musician to endorse less then soulful players regardless of their age. Unless there are exceptions.
An exception being Danny Bryant's RedEye Band. If British Blues grandfather John Mayall wants to collect unemployment benefits, he can sleep better at nights knowing he has a successor to his crown.
Oddly enough, Bryant's singing is very comparable to Walter's. In his early twenties, he sounds like how Walter would have sounded when he struck out on a road rife with mishaps and misadventures of the worst kind.
Fronting a band consisting of bassist Ken Bryant (Danny's father), drummer Andy Burt and guests keyboardists 'fingers' Ben and Dominic Boucher, the CD "Watching You" is an exercise of British Blues at their best. Forsaking the-fastest-gun-in-the-west idiosyncrasies, Bryant dips into a bag of licks constructed by slower blues phrasings: The bottom line being fewer notes fill plenty of space and not cluttered with senseless soloing.
And made bolder by Bryant's strengths as a songwriter. All ten tracks are his. All sharing a common denominator of organic rhythmic textures supported by Danny's monstrous chops. "Since You've Gone" finds Bryant nursing blues solos bridging a gap between heartbreak and redemption. When Bryant is belting "Crying For My Baby," he seems to use this as an occasion to rejoice then hibernate in a cave. Exuding airs with a blues-rock cockiness to accentuate the positive, Danny outlines "Crying" as well as "Living In The Lion's Den" as stepping stones of blues solos emanating from a young boy trapped in a century old body. The landscape becomes less promising as "Search For You" shrouds itself in a long black veil not even vulnerable to Bryant's mourning for a better way.
Danny acknowledges Walter Trout in "Heartbreaker" that finds him loosening up his wrists and striking a match on his axe. An instrumental "Purple" wrings notes in Irish rocker Gary Moore fashion.
A happier mood paints "Dancing Girl." Leading off with bottleneck acoustic, the whole band joins in with Bryant riding a barroom crest of rhythm as he peels off single notes bombastic in nature. Back to the saltmines with "Falling Tears" dancing on pebbles of confessional angst and perseverance; enclosed in a pyramid of Bryant's solos taking flight.
Many years are ahead of Bryant to mature musically. Vocally it still has a way to go. "Watching You" is a look in progress of a young man not yet scratching the surface. But making enough of an impression that Danny Bryant is in this for the long haul. He won't go away that easily.
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