Rob Thorworth, who hails from Birmingham Alabama, is a veteran of the road. His previous band Gravy, a rockin blues band, played to packed houses all over the southeast United States and sold thousands of their excellent debut CD "Gravy - From The Hip". When Rob attempted to license the name to his successful band, it was discovered that another band owned the name and he was unable to secure the rights to the name. Rob, with drummer Chris Fryar then formed the current band with jazz influenced bass player Christian Grizzard to form the current Rob Thorworth Band.
Rob and the band basically locked themselves into a house and put together fifteen songs for the new CD. Some of the songs date from the "Gravy" days of the band; road tested but not recorded till now. Even though the band is a trio, and plays the blues, you won't find any SRV clone songs here. All the songs are original and there are plenty of guitar fireworks on this CD to keep most blues guitar freaks happy. The overall feel of the CD ranges from laid back blues to some rockin songs with bits of traditional slide blues, jazz and rock & roll thrown in for good measure. The musicianship is evident all over this CD and the production is excellent. The CD opens with "Nats Nut," a toe tappin’ instrumental. "Hot N' Sticky" is a solid rocker with some fairly heavy guitar work. "The First Noble Truth" is one of those slow grinding blues songs that blues fans can get into which combine soulful guitar and emotional vocals. "Squeeze Play" is a slow song with some cool slide guitar. One of the older songs making it to this CD was the drastically reworked "Slap You Baldheaded" which has an old 50's blues club sound to it, complete with horns, instead of the rocking arrangement I've heard in the live show. "The Stitch Ain't Strong" and "Pick It Up" are both rockers that finish out the CD. If you want to check out the music, samples in real audio are located on Rob Thorworth's Web site listed below.
If the Rob Thorworth Trio makes it to your area, I recommend that you check them out. They put on a solid entertaining show with good singing and great playing. Pick up the CD, which can be ordered from the web site or bought at the shows or found in better stores. You can even order copies of "Gravy - From The Hip" from the site.
Rob Thorworth - Guitar & Vocals
Christian Grizzard - Bass
Chris Fryar - Drums, percussion
Web Site: www.thorworth.com
This review is copyright © 1999 by Robert T. Murphy, and Blues On Stage, all rights reserved.
