Album Review: American Blues Box
Release date: 2006
Highlights: Mississippi Mud, When You Were Young, Unconditional Love, Some Kind of Wonderful
At one time, Derek Davis was known as the frontman for the late 80’s – early 90’s California hard rock band Babylon A.D. These days, Derek is still doing his thing but instead of doing hard rock, he’s gone back to his roots with the Blues/Rock band American Blues Box. Its really not much of a surprise to hear Derek doing this as any fan of Babylon AD knows, his voice always had that Steven Tyler influence to it that made a transition like this not just easy but very natural. Nothing about American Blues Box sounds contrived or fake. My first impression of this album right off the opening track “Mississippi Mud” was that it sounded like a bunch of friends jamming out some blues tunes and having fun. The band is really tight and is just rough around the edges enough to make for a “real” listening experience. Davis is joined by Babylon A.D. bandmate and drummer Jamey Pacheco, brother Eric Pacheco on bass, Kyle Bates on bass and guest Charlie Knight on some killer blues harp.
American Blues Box’s debut plays like a long lost Aerosmith classic. The songs are well crafted and well executed and they are so much fun to listen to. The band delivers a rousing, kick ass version of the classic “Some Kind of Wonderful” but its the song “When You Were Young” that really hit it out of the park for me. Its a beautiful song of reminiscence that as I get older find appeals to me more and more. Derek’s delivery on this song really shows what a great singer and a great writer he is.
American Blues Box is a great rock and roll record and this band has a very promising future as long as they can keep it real, keep it simple and keep it fun. You can pick up a copy of the album and hear samples by going to http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/americanbb. Also, head over to http://www.americanbluesbox.com and read and hear more about them! Tell them the Brainfart sent ya!
About The Author
