Lorenz, a 1989 Musician's Institute graduate and current Phoenix resident, released "Even My Shoes Got the Blues" mid-January on the upstart digitalautomaticmusic (D.A.M./MP3.com) Internet-oriented label. He has competed in the Phoenix Blues Society's Annual Blues Showdown, and although he has not won the popular regional contest, his effort has quickly established him as a staple in the cities blues and roots music clubs and venues.
The nine-song CD is filled with acoustic and acoustic-slide guitar and for the most part things move along quite well. With reflection as a major theme, the moody and enjoyable "Sundance Blues" transitions into "Even My Shoes Got the Blues," a cut that is promising but sung in an off candor style that is distracting at best and unnecessary at least.
"Tell Me" finds Lorenz slidin' through a tale about a lost romance and the repercussions of the dreadful fate. "Tell me darling, why ya treat me so bad? You make a grown man cry. I have never been so sad…" "I Carry On" closes down this independent release and finds the soloist musing about "finding her and carrying on."
www.fatcatblues.com, www.mp3.com/fatcatblues or
P.O. Box 44723, Phoenix, Ariz., 85064, (602) 553-3822
This review is copyright © 2000 by Matt Alcott, and Blues On Stage, all rights reserved.