Tim Hain - Bleggae (2007)

Who would have thought that a melding of blues and reggae would work this good.
Englishman Tim Hain is a singer, guitarist and songwriter. He is of public school education and aristocratic descent, a real English eccentric but with a very small percentage of Jamaican in him. He found himself playing blues guitar for visiting reggae artists, and from this he founded the fusion of two musical genres that he has affectionately named BLEGGAE! They seem a strange mix, but when you break both styles down to the nitty gritty basics, they are both built on 2-3 chords, both originate in hardship, and sometimes both inspire joy (although blues does have its depressive moments), but in the main they both can be quite spellbinding with a great beat and very hummable melodies.
On the album Tim is joined by band members Roy Parsons and Pete Shaw on bass, and drummers Leroy and Prince (the drummer formerly known as...), as well as a bevy of guest musicians.
In the main the music and singing is very much reggae, as in the tracks Welcome To Iraq and If I Ever Get Home, but with a driving and scything blues guitar sound throughout. Another great example is the really fun sounds of Reggae Lift The Blues featuring vocal support from Prince (the drummer currently known as).
Although not all the tracks have reggae taking the lead, and songs like the fine An Old Bluesman Never Dies has only a smattering of reggae to a larger portion of blues, then there is the funky blues of Thatís What The Blues Is All About featuring Andy Cortes, as well as the great blues tune Feels So Nice.
One track on the album that has to be heard is the cover of the Jimi Hendrix song Wind Cries Mary, a blues rocker done in a blues/reggae style, quite inspiring. The album also ends with a real feel good reggae song One Man Went To Mojo.
Tremendous idea that works exceedingly well, Bleggae on!