Porterdavis

(Roots ‘n’ Blues)

Porterdavis’ debut studio recording comes with an unwritten guarantee that there’s more of the good stuff where this came from. The self-titled long-player isn’t Porterdavis’ first – the band delivered the excellent Live at Eddie’s Attic two years ago – but it’s a definitive statement of contemporary Americana. And if the local trio relocated from the East Coast in 2004 to steep its roots-blues in Texas tea, it couldn’t have done better than with überproducer Gurf Morlix. Daniel Barrett’s textured leather voice wraps so well around not only the band’s own rawhide compositions (“Smack You Back,” “Take the Fall”) but those of Muddy Waters (“Can’t Be Satisfied”) and in suede tandem with Eliza Gilkyson (“Carter’s Tune”). His vocals, plus slide and electric guitar, are sharply honed by drummer Mike Meadows and harp player Simon Wallace, an atypical rhythm section delivering a sound that resonates in harmony throughout Porterdavis and lingers long after the last track.

***.5

This article appears in August 28 • 2009.

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