My days get a little better anytime I open up my mailbox and see a package from Switzerland’s Voodoo Rhythm Records. While I may not like everything they send me, it’s always interesting. Armed with that familiarity of the label, when I pulled out the cd and saw the name of the band and the cd, I knew this one had to be good.

Neither the band nor the label disappointed.

Coming out of Cologne, Germany, The Juke Joint Pimps are T-Man and Mighty Mike. Boogie the House Down - Juke Joint Style is their debut album on Voodoo Rhythm and it compiles tracks from their previous demo albums, as well as some new material. The new songs were recorded live onto one-track analog tape and when you hear them you’ll agree, that’s the way it should have been done. This is some shit you’d expect to hear in a juke joint somewhere down a Memphis back road. This is the kind of shit I like to listen to on Saturday nights at very loud volumes. Pure, loud, and raw…and the only thing dirtier might be the cd cover.

The Juke Joint Pimps - 4 Seasons Love
The Juke Joint Pimps - Red Whine
The Juke Joint Pimps - Dick Shake

The Juke Joint Pimps on myspace, Buy Boogie the House Down - Juke Joint Style

Man, you know you’re living right when you plop down with a bottle of Beam on your day off and crank this out over two days. That’s pretty much what Brock Zeman and Dan Walsh have done. Accomplished musicians in their own rights, it seems they wrote this album while just screwing around. I quote Dan:

Back in Septemeber 2006, while on a day off from a tour with Brock Zeman, we decided to stop off at the Cozy Little Shack on Lake Erie where I run my little studio and record some songs that Brock had written over the last little while just for fun.

So, we stepped into the studio, cracked a bottle of Jim Beam and pressed the record button and let the machine roll. After about the 3rd track I started lookin’ at Brock with this real weird face and said “Am I loaded (I was) or is there some real good shit happening here?” He replied “You’re an idiot and please don’t talk while I’m singing, biatch.”

We wound up tracking 24 songs over 3 sessions and then carried on with our ridiculous little tours. Over the month of January 2007, I put on my lab coat and started tracking some instrumentation on 13 of these songs along with Brock. We invited this great guitar player from Carleton Place, ON named Joel Williams who wears stupid hats to play a little guitar and sing on few cuts, and then we had LeeAnne Wesseling sing a duet with Brock on the final cut.

Lemme tell you, their drinking session gave birth to one hell of an album, and the real shame is that no one is talking about it. Reviews of other albums like to compare Brock’s voice to Steve Earl. For me, it is really reminiscent of Dave Loggins.

Dave Loggins?
One hit wonder…Kenny Loggins cousin…
….sigh….
(sings) Please Come To Boston…

This album, along with their solo material, is available via Busted Flat Records, and based on the superhero strength of The Bourbon Sessions, I am gonna be placing an order for that solo stuff with my next paycheck…..but for now I am gonna go cook up some pork stew and have a bourbon session of my own.

Brock Zeman and Dan Walsh - Blood on the Hardwood Floor
Brock Zeman and Dan Walsh - Don’t Tell Jimmy
Brock Zeman and Dan Walsh - Ridin’ on the Rims

Dave Loggins - Please Come To Boston

Brock Zeman’s Web Site, Dan Walsh’s Web Site, Buy The Bourbon Sessions