Ray Reed
Where the Trinity Runs Free (Dialtone)With a sound that’s raw and raucous, Fort Worth bluesman Ray Reed cuts to the chase, eschewing any notions of pretension. With a half-century of paid dues under his belt, the singer/guitarist lays down the type of hardscrabble blues you’d find in a Saturday night roadhouse out on the Jacksborough Highway. It’s the kind of unadulterated sound we’ve come to expect from Austin’s Dialtone Records. Reed’s handful of funky originals, including “Look’n for the Blues” and “Trust Me,” stands up well next to choice covers of B.B. King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Frankie Lee Sims. Joining Reed are brother-in-law/guitarist Clarence Pierce, Freddie King/Jimmy Reed bassist Johnny Woods, and Dallas harmonica ace Hash Brown. A couple of acoustic numbers, “Bad Sad” and standard “Key to the Highway,” find Reed tipping his fedora to Lightnin’ Hopkins. This is blues in the bucket, forthright and honest.
This article appears in April 11 • 2008.