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  Rose
City Kings – Up On It
{6/26/2004 | Rose City Kings}
Up On It
is the Rose City Kings 2nd release. These Portland,
Oregon bluesmen are: Dan “Kingbee”
Berkery on vocals, guitar and banjo (he also
wrote all the songs), Roger E. on drums and
percussion, Ron Camacho holding down the bass,
Jeff “El Nino” Simonson playing
keys and Joe “Super” Powers blowin’
the harmonica.
1.
Up On It – powerful blues
rock with tasty harmonies and hot steamin’
guitar.
2. Best Friend – blues
with a southern gospel-esque quality.
3. Breakdown Blues –
banjo, soulful vocals and intense harmonica.
4. Double Belly Twist –
not a song you’ll easily fall asleep too,
man can these cats play. Screamin’ guitar
is putting it mildly.
5. Big Trouble – head
bobbin’ beat and mojo-riffic vocals. Oh,
the bass solo was an added bonus.
6. Dark Cloud – traditi0nal
sounding vocals that are kind of distorted,
banjo throughout and organ solo.
7. Put A Wiggle In It –
piano boogie-woogie and high octane guitar,
a great combination. Not only was I wigglin’,
I was also squirmin’ and boppin’
my head while dancing in my chair.
8. Tequila Blues – this
answers the age old question, what do Oregon
fellows know about Texas blues? The answer is
apparently a great deal!
9. Baybelline – a tasty
shuffle sprinkled with a dab of country.
10. Temptation – a bit
milder than the other songs, has an R&B
feel with the emphasis on the B, and it feels
good.
11. Sweet Nothings –
more a rockabilly tune, this one was a gem.
12. One Thing – a piano
song with soulful singing, kind of like Ray
Charles. OK song, did not share in the intensity
and feel as the others.
These guys
are good, really good. I would expect a lot
more music out of these guys. Their stuff is
original, good and they are on fire! This CD
is a powerhouse of energetic blues. I really
enjoyed it a lot. I hope to see these guys live
sometime. Damn, I think the bluesometer might
need to be re-calibrated after this, rating
4. 701.
Ciao’
for now, peace.
Cornbread
Cornbread@stlblues.net
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