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    Homemade Jamz Blues Band
    Pay Me No Mind
    (www.northernblues.com)
    Review Date: Oct 2009

    by Gary Weeks
    Two older brothers and a baby sister can hardly make a blues band. Neither one of these kids are eighteen. Already they are getting kudos from Elvin Bishop and B.B. King. They were 2nd place winners in the International Blues Challenge. They are touring the blues festival circuit and appear on blues cruises. Their parents act as their managers and homeschool them so they can bring their music to the public.

    Sixteen year old guitarist Ryan Perry, thirteen year old bassist Kyle Perry and 9 year old drummer Taya Perry are living a dream that most of us will never get. Their father Renaud Perry will take the stage with them on some tunes to play harmonica. And he is not too bad of a songwriter.

    Which makes things easy on the debut cd by the Homemade Jamz Blues Band entitled "Pay Me No Mind." For youngsters who have never experienced the heartbreaks and pitfalls of life, this music comes naturally to them.

    Pay Me No Mind is not some abrasive blues rocker ripping doors off the hinges. Recorded in their living room in Tupelo, MS, the music pulls you in gently. Your parents and grandparents can enjoy this.

    Shuffles are for the most part avoided. Opening track "Who Your Real Friends Are" and ending cut "Boom Boom" are the perfect bookends for eleven tracks of satisfying music that owes more to B.B. King then anything else. Ryan Perry has educated himself well enough to understand that playing few notes is a godsend. His punctuations give "The World's Been Good To You" and "Penny Waiting On Change" an image of a world worn traveler. Younger siblings Kyle and Taya complement their older brother brother nicely. They don't overplay and the idea of being a power trio isnt in the cards. What is important is giving the music air to breath and not glossing it with pomp and circumstance. No one is showing off. It's a team spirit and the Perry's know how to work together.

    Now the roadwork becomes heavy. The demands for additional cds become bigger. The offers pour in by the numbers. And the pressures to stay on track can become a burden. Those are the blues these kids have to face. But with watchful parents monitoring their success, the Homemade Jamz Blues Band wont have any difficulty navigating their course. They cant burn out when their journey is just beginning.


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