The Roland Bowling Band

Roland Bowling's thick, vibrato-drenched guitar tone and high octane blues licks immediately let listeners know he's a disciple of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. Like his heroes, Bowling fronts a tight trio. Bassist JesseMac and drummer Slammin' Dan providing a rock-solid foundation for Bowling's vocals and guitar slinging. While some of the music on Redemption may have a familiar feel, the band has enough soul and creativity to put their own unique stamp on this set of guitar-driven blues. Musically, the up-tempo shuffle "Old Man" doesn't stray too far from Stevie Ray territory, but the humble lyrics ("You had a good looking woman, I know you paid your dues") are fresh and original. On the moody instrumental "Utopia," Bowling shows that he can seamlessly shift from rich atmospheric chords to firing off blistering lead lines. The gorgeous, dreamy ballad "Rentiesville" is one of the disc's strongest tracks. Inspired by the band's experience playing at the historic Rentiesville Blues Festival, it's the kind of tune that can make barflies look up form their drinks and all the couples in a club start to hold hands. Redemption is an impressive debut, and it should earn the Roland Bowling Band a spot on the radar of all fans of high-voltage electric blues. -John Kleinman - John Kleinman