The Reverend Shawn Amos - The Cause of It All (2021)

The Cause of It All is The Revs' new stripped-down collection of blues classics, forged in quarantine with longtime guitarist Chris Doctor Roberts. The timing couldnt be better. Pared down to their essence, these songs speak to our shared sense of vulnerability and isolation, but with the joyful, contagious swagger that has long borne bluesmen and their listeners through trouble, into the light. The Cause of It All, the Reverends 4th studio album (Shawn Amos 8th), arrives a year after Blue Sky, his full-band outing with the Brotherhood including drummer Brady Blade and bassist Christopher Thomas. Even as lockdown commenced, Blue Sky hit #6 on the Billboard Blues Album chart and nabbed a 4-star review in American Songwriter. Theres a bravery I wanted to capture, the Rev says of the platters that inspired The Cause of It All masterworks from icons like Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin Wolf, and Little Walter. I wanted to bring back a spontaneity thats been lost. The Rev executes his most assured vocals and harp playing yet, radiating within spartan arrangements that percolate with Dr. Roberts unique, deeply sympathetic, snaky electric and acoustic stylings. Quarantine was the perfect opportunity to do this, the Rev says. After an embrace of Chicago blues on his debut The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You, more Delta vibes for The Reverend Shawn Amos Breaks it Down, and finally an expansion into singer-songwriter territory with Blue Sky, the timing is just right for The Cause of It All. Not only because its a box the Reverend Shawn Amos needed to check, but because it shows the power of elemental blues to soothe, entertain, and embolden folks who long for a lone, joyful, steadfast voice in the dark. Now more than ever.