• Band / Artist : Robert Farrell Band
• Genre : Blues / Rock
• Sample Track Download : Woolly Mammoth
• Buy CD : My Music
• Buy Digital Download : Mp3 Room
• Rating : 9 out of 10

I have to admit I have a love hate relationship with artists like Robert Farrell. I love the music and passion they bring to their music, but hate the fact that they can do so much more with a guitar than my feeble attempts, with my lowly acoustic, even though I’ve had it for 20 years. C, A, G, Am and that’s about my limit. My cousin Dennis on a visit from Singapore picked up my guitar once and performed a wonderful rendition of the Beatles Blackbird, so I know its not the instrument. Anyway I’m getting way off topic here.

Robert Farrell is from Ottawa, in Canada, which is where I am currently residing, but it took someone from Birmingham, UK to put me onto Robert, so a big thanks to Paul Nicholls, AKA PodcastPaul. Ah the wonders of podcasting. So here I am scouring the globe for great music, when there’s some on my own doorstep.

It’s been a while since my last Blues / Rock review, but sometimes you just have to sit on your hands and wait for the good stuff and man this is good stuff indeed. I imagine Robert can really let loose with some of the Blues standards, but this release focuses on all original material and it’s absolutely stunning.

It was the track “Woolly Mammoth” that first brought the band to my attention and indeed it’s one of the strongest tracks on the CD, even though the subject matter is a bit on the unusual side. For me though, it’s the instrumental tracks that really bring this album alive. That’s not to say however that there’s anything wrong with Robert’s voice, to the contrary it’s a very distinctive and flavorful voice, but for me it’s all about the music. My favorite tracks on the album would have to be “Slidewinder”a truly great vehicle for someone with Robert’s talents and “Wah” which has a very Jimi Hendrix feel.

Conclusion : Whether you are a blues fan or not, there’s no denying that this is a wonderfully energetic and well crafted release. I definitely must check out Robert when he next performs in Ottawa.