Stoney Curtis: Live Review

Don’t let the Flintstone cartoon character name fool you. Stoney Curtis is no joke. This guy is clearly a master of the Stratocaster and Live gives a chance to glimpse that virtuosity. Live could be considered a best of album consisting of 11 tracks from his last three releases captured at Shrapnel Records Prairie Sun Studios live venue. Make no mistake, this isn’t your straight up 12 bar blues. This is an acid blues rock mixture of his many influences including Kiss, B.B. King, Cream, and Robin Trower.

Aaron Hagerty and Steve Evans deliver a rock solid rhythm section for Stoney to start off the experience with two tracks off of Acid Blues Experience– “Last Train to Chicago” and “Evil Woman.” These are about as close to traditional blues songs as you’re going to get on this album and even then they are full of some heavy riffs and fuzzed out psychedelic tones. The remainder of the album is a pretty even mix of tracks from Raw and Real and Cosmic Conn3ction.

Stoney continues to deliver the rock with “American Lady,” “When The Sweet Turns To Sour,” and the rocking shuffle of “Heading for the City.” Things get really interesting though on “Behind the Sun” when Stoney provides us with a feedback drenched solo by unplugging his guitar and then continuing to generate tones simply by manipulating the end of the cord with his hand and controlling the proximity to his guitar. Of course it would be near to impossible to tell that’s how it’s done if you weren’t watching the DVD that comes included in the first 3,000 copies sold of this album.

“Blues Without You” is a slow emotional track where Stoney sings about how he doesn’t want to be alone without his love. The emotional appeal builds and subsides and builds again as the lyrics progress until Stoney lets it fly with a powerful, cathartic solo. Shortly after that track comes the melodic and heartfelt love song “The Letter.” Don’t confuse this with Joe Cocker’s famous tune by the same name.

Overall, this is a great guitar blues rock album. The only flaw is that at times Stoney’s voice struggles to live up to the impressive skills that he displays on the guitar. However, don’t let that hold you back from putting Live in the player, turning the lights down and pretending you’re front and center at a Stoney Curtis live show.

The Review: 8/10                                                                                     

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Behind The Sun
– American Lady
– Evil Woman
– When The Sweet Turns To Sour
– Blues Without You

The Big Hit

– Blues Without You

Review by Kevin O’Rourke