(Blues Rock) The Russ Tippins Electric Band - Electrickery - 2010, MP3, 320 kbps

Like America’s rustbelt, Newcastle Upon Tyne, located in the industrial northeast of England, is a hard rock region much like Detroit, Cleveland, or Omaha. The area is also largely an unrecognized breeding ground for world-class music talent, including Sting, Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music), The Animals, Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), and Brian Johnson (AC/DC). Newcastle’s Russ Tippins looks like Pat Travers, sings like a cross between Steve Marriott and Geddy Lee and is heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. His album electrickery has all the makings for a heavier rock milestone yet heavily influenced by blues textures…this is not a blues record.
Critically, Tippins brings little new to the party, but his sound and smooth playing puts the hammer to the anvil and should appeal to blues-rock fans, a significant slice of the today’s blues market. The album opens with a fiery cover of Hendrix’s “Freedom” and closes with a hidden cover of “Lemon Song” by Led Zeppelin (via Robert Johnson and Willie Dixon).
In a genre led by Joe Bonamassa with support from Aynsley Lister and Mato Nanji, Tippins has strong commercial promise, which will expand as his songwriting skills develop. Bass player John Dawson and drummer Ian Halford set up a solid platform for Tippins to solo and soar. The track “She’s Gone” is a powerful ballad that makes easy entry for radio hosts and which harkens strongly to late period Humble Pie. The “hit” on this record is the fast-moving panoramic title track, “electrickery,” where Tippins and Dawson whipsaw the fretboard with manic energy. ~BluesWax