Eric McFadden - Bluebird Of Fire (2011) Lossless

Eric McFadden can never sit still. Sometimes he plays flamenco-influenced acoustic folk-rock (self-titled, Devil Moon). Sometimes he plays Hot Club jazz (Holy Smokes). Sometimes he plays Tom Waits-type mutant carnival gypsy weirdness (Our Revels Now Are Ended, Train to Salvation). Sometimes he plays punk (Joy of Suffering). Sometimes funk (he's played with George Clinton!). Sometimes he does all of this at once (Who's Laughing Now). On Bluebird On Fire, he tries his hand at blues-rock. Unsurprisingly, he pulls it off with style, virtuosity and originality. With a few exceptions, the songs here have the kinds of structures that would be classified as blues-rock. Sonically, though, it is pure McFadden. No strats-with-wammy-bars here. Instrument-wise, McFadden sticks with his current favorites-- nylon-stringed acoustics and archtops run through amplifiers with some distortion, and a sparse rhythm section. He punctuates the hard, distorted blues-rock songs with blistering solos that are short and to the point. When he isn't aggressive, the sound is dark and sinister, with just enough twang to evoke some western grit. Some of it even sounds like it belongs in the soundtrack to a dark, modern western movie, like "Hangin Moon," which even sounds a lot like Tom Waits' "Goin' Out West." If you want to know what blues-rock can sound like when people stop trying to imitate certain famous strat-players, let McFadden show you. This guy can do no wrong.