DAVID JACOBS-STRAIN
Stuck on the Way Back (Northern Blues)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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There are few acoustic blues players that make me sit up and take notice, but Oregon's David Jacobs-Strain is one that caught my attention with his fourth CD, Stuck on the Way Back. He's quite an accomplished player in the style of Taj Mahal, Guy Davis, or Otis Taylor. You get the picture: a genuine throwback player with real traditional and acoustic blues on the National Reso-Phonic guitar. This year, he'll return to the Port Townsend Country Blues Workshop for his third year as a member of the guitar faculty, and I'm simply amazed that he won't turn 20 for another year. When he plays the traditional "Poor Boy Blues" or R.L. Burnside's "Poor Black Mattie," he's respectfully honoring generations of bluesmen and blueswomen with fresh takes on traditional blues, and he's built up quite a following at festivals like the Beale Street Caravan, California World Music Festival, or Portland's Waterfront Blues Festival. If you enjoy the sparse, yet emotionally powerful blues of mentor and label mate Otis Taylor, pick up David Jacobs-Strain.

Track List:

River Was Green * Bowlegged Charlie * Poor Black Mattie * Sidewalk Rag * Poor Boy * Black And Blue * Dark Horse Blues * Wild Bill Jones * Linin' Track * Old Man Dancing * Cold Mountain Blues * Broken Wings

© 2002 - Eric Steiner