Greg Koch: Blues Review

Greg Koch’s Blues, a collection of live recordings with minimal studio overdubs, hit the shelves on the 29th of November 2024. The real goal of the album seems to be to replicate the spontaneity and free-flow vibes of seeing a live blues show at your favorite local spot, and it delivers. According to Create Records, Koch wanted a curation of tracks to show off his 12-bar chops and pay homage to his influence. The result is 8 tracks of traditional eclectic blues awesome, including two fun Muddy Waters covers. Koch is backed up by a crew of respected and skilled musicians here, credited as Roscoe Beck, Malford Milligan, Larry McCray, Jimmy Hall, and the Memphis Horns. 

Blues opens with two Muddy Waters covers, “Can’t Lose What You Never Had” with Jimmy Hall, The Memphis Horns, and “Can’t Be Satisfied” with Larry McCray. Both tracks stand out on the record, coming in at around four minutes each. Both songs show off Koch’s skill on the guitar, and you can hear his mastery of the fretboard in his playing. “Can’t Lose What You Never Had” also boasts a killer harmonica part. Both tracks are great takes on classic tunes from blue royalty.

The next three tracks, “The Stumble,” “Stormy Monday,” and “Steppin’ Out,” continue to showcase the fun, playful groove atmosphere established by the opening tracks. “The Stumble” has a fast swing beat and noodling solo, while “Stormy Monday” comes in at a nearly 10 minute saga. Starting off slow and dreamy, the song evolves into a bendy rocker with catchy phrases in the big multi-minute solo that punctuates the song, which uses days of the week to tell a story about the philosophy of life: work Monday through Thursday, fun on Friday night, church on Sunday. “Steppin’ Out” is a riff-driven rocker track distinguished by a killer call-and-response setup between guitar and drums in the intro.

The real hit of the record is the sixth track, “Red House,” is a nine-minute heartbreak song that builds from a slower deliberate pace to a heavy solo that shows off the musicality of Koch’s playing. The guitar part goes from noodling to running up and down scales at speed to some quick vibrato picking that feels almost like mandolin playing to some effects-heavy fun mid solo that almost feels like a synth. What’s not to love about a big rocking blues song about your girl leaving you?

The record closes with “The Damn Thing,” a four-minute light jazzy tune with a Chuck Berry feel, and “The Ripper,” a fast heavy tune that starts out with some muted riffing man moves into a killer solo backed by a fun organ part. It’s a great tune whose only flaw is ending a bit abruptly.

Blues is about jamming live and feeling the music. The album is all style and skill on the instruments, and it achieves what it sets out to do. One fun note on the backing band: as great as the ensemble is, I found myself noting how fun the organ parts were over and over again as I listened through the record. Don’t get me wrong, all the players on the album are killing it, but that organ just adds a bit of soul that feels critical. Koch shows here why he’s had such staying power in the blues scene, a full mastery of the fundamentals.

The Review: 8/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Can’t Be Satisfied
– The Ripper
– Can’t Lose What You Never Had
– Red House

The Big Hit 

– Red House