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The Soul of John Black’s new blues album, due out Tuesday, meanders from subgenre to subgenre, from the spiritual-inspired opener, “The Hole,” to the slidey, elastic “Swamp Thang.”
All along, it threatens a tangential trip to some other genre altogether, but never snaps its tether. If a listener didn’t know better, this could easily be the work of a blues man dabbling in various styles, rather than the other way around — an impressive feat. John Bigham’s soulful voice imbues the whole affair with gravity and humor at the same time, and his restrained guitar work covers a wide range with seemingly little effort.
Then there’s the rhythm section, which ties it all together with some big, bouncy bass. The case may say blues, but your booty will hear hip-hop.
Bigham, incidentally, also plays drums.
The bad news? Many of the songs are underwritten and repetitive, running about a minute too long. It’s a small complaint, but it makes the album most suitable for listening to while doing something else. In fact, it would best complement a specific something else, one that’s not polite to mention in a family newspaper.
All in all, “Good Girl” is just the kind of album that could bring the blues to a wider audience. Of course, Bigham and his band will likely have moved on to another style by then.
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