DOUG MACLEOD
A Little Sin (Black and Tan)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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Country blues has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, and Los Angeles' Doug MacLeod is one of the best acoustic bluesmen around. There's a dozen acoustic songs on A Little Sin, and each one showcases Doug's mastery of the National Reso-Phonic guitar. While 11 of the cuts are fine examples of country blues built around the slide guitar, I'm pretty partial to a song that brings back the days when the freight train was the highway to the city for many Southerners making their way to Memphis, Chicago and other points north. "The New Panama Limited" is more than just a new epic song about riding the rails in the South, it's MacLeod's story about meeting David "Honeyboy" Edwards, and Honeyboy's stories about riding freight trains. Doug paces this 11-minute acoustic blues epic just like a train ride, with his steel slide punctuating the journey with whistlestops and long stretches of rail. Backing Doug on this Black and Tan release are Dave Kida on drums and percussion and Denny Cray on autoharp, stand up acoustic bass, and acoustic bass guitar. If you like Keb' Mo' or Alvin Youngblood Hart, check out Doug MacLeod. When not on tour, Doug writes "Doug's Back Porch" for Living Blues Magazine, and on Sundays from 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM Pacific Time, he hosts "Nothin' But the Blues" on KKJZ-FM at www.kkjz.org. A true acoustic blues talent and one of my favorite blues discoveries of 2004.

Track List:

Big City Woman * A Little Sin * East Texas Sugar * My Love's Grown Cold * Pretty as Pretty Can Be * Devilment Doin' Woman * Plowin' Mule * Sweet Bakin' * High Spending Woman * If I Had Good Sense * The New Panama Limited * The Last Blues Song Ever Sung

© 2004 - Eric Steiner