Hwy 321 Blues Album of the Month: Review

RONNIE BAKER BROOKS: BLUES IN MY DNA  Alligator Records ALCD 5023

It’s been seven long years since Ronnie Baker Brooks has released an album, but he returns at the top of his game with this disc. The son of Blues Hall of Famer Lonnie Brooks, he delivers a relentless, electrifying mix of Windy City blues and funkified blues-rock that’s loaded with intense observations and deep feeling. Ronnie’s debut effort for Alligator, this one was produced by the legendary Jim Gaines, whose fingerprints are all over works by his father, Luther Allison, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana and dozens more. Will McFarlane guests on guitar with skintight backing from drummer Steve Potts and bassist Dave Smith. Choice cuts abound, including “I’m Feeling for You,” “Lonnie Brooks’ Blessing,” “Blues in My DNA,” “Accept My Love,” “Robbing Peter to Pay Paul,” “I Got to Make You Mine,” “Stuck on Stupid,” “I Found a Dollar Looking for a Dime” and “My Boo.”

-Marty Gunther, Red Hot’n Blues Reviews

Shared in partnership with Charlotte Blues Society