CHAINSAW DUPONT
Lake St. Lullaby: An Unfinished Blues Opera
(Blues Warrior)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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David "Chainsaw" Dupont calls his approach to the blues Delta Crush blues. I beg to differ. On Lake St. Lullaby: An Unfinished Blues Opera, he's got a dozen songs that are loosely connected like another opera, namely Porgy and Bess, around some of the hard times he's faced since growing up in Mississippi in the 1950's. In addition to playing around the greater Chicagoland area, Chainsaw's a part of the semi-annual Chicago Blues Tour, a cooperative event presented by the city of Chicago Mayor's Office of Special Events, and Blues University. Chainsaw joins local blues luminaries such as Killer Ray Allison, Johnny Drummer and the Sharon Lewis Blues Band on an all-night celebration including stops at Chicago nightspots like Hothouse, Rosa's, the 7313 Club, and Lee's Unleaded Blues. Producer and songwriter Steve Pasek, AKA Mr. BiG, has written some sure-fire blues winners for Lake St. Lullaby: An Unfinished Blues Opera, and my favorite is "My Lucky Night." Sitting in with Chainsaw are a group of blues musicians who know when to go just over the top: Marty Binder, Willie Hayes and Jose Ormaza share drum duties, while Shoji Naito and Ray Klass play bass behind Chainsaw's blues-perfect vocals and strong command of the guitar.

Whether you discover Chainsaw at his music-packed web site, www.chainsawdupont.com, or live around the Midwest, I think you'll agree that Junior Well's former guitarist is carrying on Junior's legacy. Strong guitar work, coupled with literate and traditional songwriting, plus a diverse approach to the blues sets Lake St. Lullaby: An Unfinished Blues Opera apart from the many discs that crowd the blues shelves. Lake St. Lullaby: An Unfinished Blues Opera has many surprises: check out the added lyrics, calendar and song lists on the additional features made possible by the Enhanced CD format.

Track List:

99MPH (interstate version) * Ricochet * Saccharine * Sweet As A Queen Bee's Honeycomb * Nowhere to Go * Shotgun House * Fate * Kinda Fat * Peach & Plum * Blue Cadillac * My Lucky Night * Soul Check * Unlucky Man

© 2005 - Eric Steiner