Originally posted 03/02/07
You look around
and it damn near seems half the whole world saw him crush the current crop of UK pop artists on Jools Holland's New Years Eve special Hootenanny show on the BBC with his "three string trance wonder" guitar and "Mississippi Drum machine" (a wood box. duh). I saw the show too. Kooks? Cowering. Modfather Paul Weller? Head bobbing but fearful for his career. Amy Winehouse? Ready to duet. Zutons? Killed. Lily Allen? Cried. Ray LaMontagne? Crazy. The rest? Please.
On Holland's Hoot site Steve dusted the rest with a 40% share of the viewers approval poll. I've dug Steve since his last album Cheap that he did with the back-up of his mates The Level Devils but this new album Dog House Music is just all Seasick Steve (save for HJ Wold rockin' the Marching drum on the one minute long first track). A lot of folks griped about Steve's last album due to the number of stories Steve told between many of the tracks. Not a problem here, ya' big baby, as Steve has saved his story for the final thirteen minutes. I won't spoil it for you but here's Steve's real-life backline: Folks d.i.v.o.r.c.e.d. when the lad was 4. Followed his dream to hobo when kicked outta the house at 14. Cowboy'd. Migrant, Carnie. Grew up to open shows (and play bass for) Hooker and Hopkins, moved to live in Norway, and own and play a diddley-bow built just for him by Super Chikan hisself.
Look...here's the deal, Seasick Steve crosses all blues barriers just by bein' his own good damn badself and with out pissin' off the trad purists nor the punk blues freaks nor lettin' 'em pass without a proper challenge either. Ragged and rightous he's got the groove and the charm of R.L. Burnside, the durty trancey funk of T-Model Ford, and the Git-Down of John Lee. But it's all-pure his own thang. Steve's got that boogie that'll make yr church goin' Granny shake and yr teenage kid turn up even louder and yr galfriend weep and hit replay. Git it! OOOOOWWWWW WOOOOOOO! Sing the Dog House Song!
