Tom Hambridge - Down The Hatch

Album: Down The Hatch
Size: 95,6 MB
Time: 41:07
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2025
Styles: Blues, rocking blues
Art: Front

1. Willie Dixon's Gone (3:12)
2. Everytime I Sing The Blues (4:21)
3. I Want You Bad (3:14)
4. How Blues Is That (4:15)
5. Hard Times (3:41)
6. What Does That Tell You (3:19)
7. Believe These Blues (5:14)
8. Making Lemonade (2:08)
9. What Might Have Been (3:20)
10. You Gotta Go Through St. Louis (2:42)
11. Start Drinking Early Day (2:29)
12. I Wanna Know About You (3:06)

Down The Hatch, the new album from four-time Grammy winner, producer/drummer/songwriter Tom Hambridge showcases the joy Tom receives from creating music - especially for his own releases. The 12 original track-album offers a mix of songs that represent the blues sounds of the past, present and future. Some of the tunes were originally written for others by him, like "Willie Dixon's Gone", "You Gotta Go Through St. Louis", "Every Time I Sing The Blues", and are included as he wanted to do his version - the way he heard them in his head while writing them.

There are also a handful of new tunes. All the songs have a common thread - Tom. Whether he's in the studio creating for Kingfish, George Thorogood or Buddy Guy, the award-winning drummer is motoring the whole thing - in this case he's the original producer, songwriter, drummer and arranger. "Down The Hatch is basically me being me", says Tom. "I love the blues, I love rock 'n' roll, I love Willie Dixon, I love Buddy Guy - it's me, doing and feeling me".

Down The Hatch mc
Down The Hatch gofile

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Tom Hambridge - Blu Ja Vu

Size: 103.8 MB
Time: 44:03
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2023
Styles: Electric Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Full

01. Ain't It Just Like Love (Feat. Buddy Guy) (4:33)
02. That's My Home (Feat. Joe Bonamassa) (2:47)
03. Wear You Out (3:05)
04. Blues Don't Care (Feat. Christone Kingfish Ingram) (2:54)
05. Sick With Love (Feat. Rob McNelly) (4:13)
06. Automatic (2:57)
07. Symptoms Of Love (3:37)
08. Brother John Boogie (Feat. James Cotton) (2:47)
09. Get Out Of Town (2:26)
10. Smarter Than I Was (Feat. Josh Smith) (5:05)
11. Johnny Winter (3:09)
12. Meet Me In Chicago (Feat. Rob McNelly) (3:33)
13. End Of The Line (2:52)

When you have a musical career as a singer and drummer that includes writing over 1000 songs, producing 100 albums, and working with everyone from Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley to Buddy Guy - two things come to mind. You must be exceptionally talented. You must be Tom Hambridge.

Hambridge is the four-time Grammy-winning whirlwind talent behind – among many other projects – three of blues legend Buddy Guy’s most critically acclaimed albums: Living Proof (2011), Born To Play Guitar (2016), The Blues Is Alive And Well (2018), Keb Mo’s Good To Be (2022) and for his work on rising blues star Christone “Kingfish” Ingram’s albums 662 (2022) and Kingfish (2020).

Hambridge has been such a prodigious creator and producer of music that Guy says of him: “Someone like that comes along only once in a lifetime. I call him the white Willie Dixon.”

But every once in a while, Hambridge takes time out to make an album just for himself. His latest, Blu Ja Vu, is the first since his 2018 The NOLA Sessions, a sparkling tribute to New Orleans music.

Blu Ja Vu is a look back at some of the songs Hambridge has written or co-written – usually with Richard Fleming -- and produced for his musical friends. A few of them return the favor here, so it's bluesy déjà vu all over again.

Hambridge launches this set with one of his most famous partners, Buddy Guy, featuring a vocal duet on the raucous, hard driving “Ain't It Just Like Love” with a rollicking honky-tonk piano break from Kevin McKendree, followed by a fierce Guy guitar explosion. Joe Bonamassa joins in next for “That's My Home,” adding his powerful vocals and more wicked guitar work behind a restless refrain, “Where I put down my guitar, that's my home.” “Wear You Out,” co-written with Gary Nicholson, is a testament to a '54 Stratocaster, a seventy-something Eldorado, and a woman who “couldn't be satisfied” so “I ain't slowing down till I wear you out.”

“Blues Don't Care” brings in Christone “Kingfish” Ingram on guitar and vocals for a tough blues lecture on just how little the blues cares “You try to run, but there's no escape, it's the middle finger on the hand of fate.” Rob McNelley adds feverish guitar licks to express the chills of “Sick With Love,” then “Automatic” drives hard with some auto-erotic lyricism: “I got a T-Bird Ford, 1965, 4-barrel V8, I'd like to give you a ride – it's automatic.” “Symptoms of Love” is another Hambridge solo effort, which pairs nicely with the musical diagnosis of “Sick With Love.”

“Brother John Boogie” is a rousing boogie-woogie instrumental featuring harmonica legend James Cotton (R.I.P.) leading the band and ending in a joyous shout. “Get Out Of Town” is a boisterous roadhouse two-stepper filled with barrelhouse piano. Josh Smith provides ethereal guitar tension behind the new awareness found in “Smarter Than I Was” – “She took my soul to a darker side, but halfway there I got wise.” “Johnny Winter” is a blues-rock protest song that asks the very real question: “How come Johnny Winter, he ain't in the hall of fame?” – that's the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “Meet Me In Chicago” is co-written by Robert Randolph, and again features the furious razor-sharp guitar of Rob McNelley, drenched in a desire to get back to sweet home Chicago.

The very fitting album closer, “End Of The Line,” is an eloquently phrased little blues, gently offered for our thoughtful consideration: “So many of my friends have gone, maybe my time ain’t long, but I promise ‘til the day I die, I’m gonna keep the blues alive. But I feel sometimes like I'm the end of the line.” But if Blu Ja Vu shows us anything, it's that Tom Hambridge can be counted on to create great music … again … and again … and again. ~Jim White

Blu Ja Vu MP3
Blu Ja Vu FLAC

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Tom Hambridge - The NOLA Sessions

Size: 123,4 MB
Time: 52:31
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: New Orleans Blues, Blues Rock
Art: Full

01. Blues Been Mighty Good To Me (4:09)
02. Bluz Crazy (3:59)
03. This End Of The Road (5:47)
04. I Love Everything (2:54)
05. What You Leave Behind (3:06)
06. Little Things (3:16)
07. Whiskey Ghost (4:38)
08. Save Me (4:15)
09. A Couple Drops (3:53)
10. Masterpiece (5:14)
11. Me And Charlie (5:11)
12. Trying To Find It (3:40)
13. Faith (2:22)

Tom Hambridge is a two time Grammy Award winning producer, songwriter, and drummer. He also has six Blues Music Award nominations and shares his 2011 BMA for “Song of The Year” with Buddy Guy. Hambridge has produced Guy’s last four albums including 2015’s “Born To Play Guitar”. Guy’s newest album “Blues Is Alive & Well” also produced by Hambridge should be released any day now. Other recent Hambridge productions include albums for Kenny Neal and Mike Zito.

This new album is inspired by New Orleans and the creative depth of its local legends including the late Allen Toussaint, guitarist Sonny Landreth and organist Ivan Neville. All of the songs are written or co-written by Hambridge. Also guesting are the McCrary Sisters and The Naughty Horns.

On “Blues Been Mighty Good To Me”, written with Richard Fleming, Hambridge plays drums and shares the vocal with the iconic pianist Toussaint on one of the last recordings made before his passing in 2015. This is a great song that should receive considerable attention.

Slydeco guitar wizard Landreth enables the rockin’ side of vocalist Hambridge on four tunes; “This End of The Road”, “Little Things”, “Whiskey Ghost” co-written with Gary Nicholson, and “Me and Charlie” (dedicated to Buddy Guy’s bus driver Charlie McPherson). These are performed as just a trio with Hambridge on drums and bassist Tommy MacDonald. These are so good one has to wonder whether Hambridge might produce a future project for Landreth.

“What You Leave Behind”, written by Hambridge for his old friend John Flynn, features the B-3 mastery of Ivan Neville; guitarist Shane Theriot; bassist Calvin Turner Jr. and The Naughty Horns. On “Save Me”, co-written with Bobby Whitlock, McKendree is added on organ; David Torkanowsky on piano; and background vocalists The McCrary Sisters. On “I Love Everything” Hambridge’s daughters, Sarah and Rachel, replace the McCrary Sisters. “Masterpiece” is a fabulous song about a father reflecting on the beauty of his son. Neville plays again on “A Couple Drops”.

New Orleans guitarist John Fohl, formerly of Dr. John’s Lower 911 joins Hambridge and MacDonald on “Blue Crazy” with Kevin McKendree on piano; on the contemporary country ballad “Trying To Find It” with McKendree, and guitarist Rob McNelley; and on the closer “Faith” with Nathaniel Smith, cello.

Hambridge usually keeps busy by making others sound better. This is a fabulous album by him that should garner airplay in several different radio markets including Blues and Americana. ~Richard Ludmerer

The NOLA Sessions MP3
The NOLA Sessions FLAC

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Devon Allman - Ride Or Die

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:20
Size: 110.7 MB
Styles: Blues rock, Southern blues
Year: 2016
Art: Front

[3:15] 1. Say Your Prayers
[3:10] 2. Find Ourselves
[4:57] 3. Galaxies
[4:32] 4. Lost
[3:31] 5. Shattered Times
[4:18] 6. Watch What You Say
[4:13] 7. Vancouver
[4:07] 8. Pleasure & Pain
[2:27] 9. Hold Me
[4:49] 10. Live From The Heart
[4:35] 11. Butterfly Girl
[4:20] 12. A Night Like This

After leaving the Royal Southern Brotherhood in 2014 and issuing Ragged & Dirty, his own extended meditation on Chicago blues, guitarist/songwriter Devon Allman spent time playing with his father's road band and guested on Jeremiah Johnson's excellent Grind the same year. His solo re-emergence on Ride or Die is an exercise in spiritual and musical maturity. He plays guitar and bass, and provides passionate lead and backing vocals. He also produced some tracks solo and others with longtime compadre Tom Hambridge -- who mixed and mastered it and played drums. Guitarist Tyler Stokes, bassist Steve Duerst, and keyboardist Kevin McKendree are also aboard, with saxophonist Ron Holloway and violinist Bobby Yang. Allman wrote or co-wrote all but two tracks. Hambridge contributed one and the set closes with a surprising cover. Allman's approach is still rooted in muscular electric blues (check the slamming opener -- and first single -- "Say Your Prayers"), but wraps these sounds in hooky hard rock, vintage soul (Northern and Southern), and rhythm & blues. "Find Ourselves," with its sweet, gritty tenor saxophone and swooping B-3, directly references Muscle Shoals, and Allman effectively advises the listener to rise up and grab onto life's purpose. This theme is recurrent. The album's title is used in the crackling "Galaxies," where Allman, buoyed by a stinging guitar line, Latin percussion, and swelling B-3, exhorts: "When galaxies collide/Will you ride or die?" While "Lost" and "Watch What You Say" are acoustically framed rockers that build to dynamic climaxes, "Shattered Times" is roiling, swampy electric funk. "Pleasure & Pain" is a midtempo soul-rock appeal to a beloved other who desires oblivion to escape the difficulties inherent in everyday life. With cracking breaks, Rhodes piano, and wrangling, jazzy guitar, he and his band bring the message home with conviction. "Hold Me," with its soul piano and finger-popping vintage rock & roll chorus, touches on early Smokey Robinson and Doc Pomus. "Live from the Heart" commences with a jangly 12-string, crisp snare, and simmering B-3. It transmutes into an unlikely yet direct homage to Curtis Mayfield. Simple, wise, and life-affirming lyrics combine with an irresistible hook, making it an album highlight. The closer is an excellent reimagining of the Cure's "A Night Like This" as a midtempo rocker complete with thundering electric guitars and a honking saxophone break. Allman beefs up the arrangement to be sure, but his singing is an unguarded expression of vulnerability offered in a deeply masculine, gritty, and soulful baritone. Ride or Die is convincing in part and as a whole. It's the first time that Allman shows full confidence in his music, that he no longer has anything to prove to anyone but himself. The fine songs on this date are to-the-bone expressions of his questions and convictions delivered in a compelling musical language. ~Thom Jurek

Ride Or Die

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Sean Chambers - The Rock House Sessions

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 47:50
Size: 109.5 MB
Styles: Blues rock
Year: 2013
Art: Front

[5:05] 1. World On Fire
[4:23] 2. Since I've Been Down
[4:33] 3. Healing Ground
[3:53] 4. Meant To Be
[4:47] 5. Come To Poppa
[3:12] 6. Your Love Is My Disease
[4:10] 7. Holding On
[4:30] 8. Just For The Thrill
[4:05] 9. Money In A Minute
[4:34] 10. It Hurts To See You Go
[4:33] 11. Choo Choo Mama

Opening with a Texas strut, World On Fire, Chambers steps up with strong vocals and a lot of guitar swagger. Bob Britt on guitar, Reese Wynans on keys, Tommy MacDonald on bass, TJ Klay on harp and especially Tom Hambridge on drums add a lot to the heat. On Since I've Been Down, a fast paced rocker, Wynans really carries the weight on organ and with Hambridge on drums sets up some of the most scorching guitar work on the release. Healing Ground, a bit more of a Detroit rocker, opens up a nice space for Klay on harp prior to Chambers taking his stiff arming guitar solo. On ballad Meant To Be, Chambers slows it down creating what is certainly an easy airplay track with a strong hook and solid instrumentation. On rock classic Come To Poppa, Chambers adds pop with biting vocals, wah wah guitar riffs, backing vocals from Etta Britt and backing horns from Steve Herman (trumpet) and Jim Hoke (sax). On Your Love Is My Disease, a funky rocker, Chambers rakes the strings of his guitar in rhythm creating a bit of tension before letting the dog off the hook. Stinging guitar riffs on this track along with a solid rhythm and melody make it one of the releases best. Gary Moore track Holding On is of course a ballad and with backing vocals from Britt has a R&B sound with a twist of ZZ Top (Trippin). Another track with a bit of Texas swagger is Just For The Thrill. Elmore James licks, Wynans on keys, Hambridge on drums and Klay on harp are great support for Chambers on lead vocal. Money In A Minute has the bite of an angry dog proving a strong blues rocker with gritty vocals, crisp guitar riffs and hot harp work from Klay. On BB King tinged, R&B style blues track It Hurts To See You Go, Chambers holds the listener in the palm of his hand. This is absolutely my favorite track on the release and Chambers not only delivers on vocals but really digs deep for the right riffs to send this truck over the cliff. Really nice! OK...How do you end a super blues rocker album...I'll tell you! You play a Ten Years After track and that's exactly what Chambers does with a great version of Choo Choo Mama. Now it likely isn't a secret that the early TYA stuff is among my favorite blues rock bands of all time. Chambers uses a tight arrangement not far different from the original sans substituting harp for some of Lee's flaming guitar riffs but this song is a cooker and you hate to have it end. This is a cool release and one that you should definitely check out! ~Bman

The Rock House Sessions

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