Stoney Curtis Band

A London Review of SCB

STONEY CURTIS BAND
Boom Boom Club, Sutton, Surrey, 30 October 2006

There are some gigs you wait for with fevered anticipation, and when the moment arrives it by passes you by and the sense of disappointment is palpable. Happily the opposite was the case with the Stoney Curtis band at The Boom Boom Club

Playing their 4th gig on the bounce in a very short debut UK tour, the band took their time and built the foundations of a climactic gig that had the diehards on their feet at the end of a two hour avalanche of wah wah inflected guitar feast full of colourful tones, and mangled audio brilliance.

Put simply, the band's psychedelic refracted take on the blues is accurately described by the title of their 'Acid Blues Experience' debut album on Provogue records.

I would wager that half of the audience didn't know the band before the gig started and nearly the same percentage again were hooked by the end.

Stoney Curtis himself is a tall gangling figure who slashed his guitar, slung it over his shoulder, and gently caressed it by turns, teasing out every psychedelic blues nuance whilst power house drummer and earthy vocalist Charles Glover 11 and the redoubtable funky bass of Colby Smith layed down the coolest rhythm tracks imaginable.

Yes there are undoubtedly retro UK elements here stretching from Robin Trower to Led Zeppelin and beyond, but Stoney's unique take on psychedelic rock blues is derived from his measured use of subtle tone colours and unhurried flurry of notes that seek to give expression to some of the most heartfelt lyrics in rock blues today.

Take for example, the climactic encore 'Without You' on which he built up a lyrical tension on the back of powerful chord changes, and then exploded with an avalanche of notes. For the rest there was some bruising blues rock on the opening 'Last Train To Chicago', a mesmerising take on Hendrix's 'Machine Gun' and an elongated raga style jam on which Stoney pulled out his guitar lead to tease out electrical charged high voltage sounds, that punctuated an eastern sounding tableaux.

On 'Around The World' Stoney employed a fast tempo'd staccato approach before launching into a searing guitar run.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Stoney Curtis eschewed all manner of hype and relied solely on his band's magnificent musical performance which was sparked by an enthusiastic audience. In fact this was a as good an introduction to the UK as you could possibly imagine by a band who let their music speak eloquently


Review by Pete Feenstra

- Pete Feenstra/ Get Ready to Rock

Sometimes, promising debut albums are followed by disappointing second albums -- a problem that is known in the music world as the "sophomore slump" or "sophomore curse." But other times, artists who show promise on a debut album take it to the next level creatively on their second album, which is exactly what Stoney Curtis accomplishes on Raw and Real. In 2005, the Los Angeles-based blues-rocker (originally from Chicago) showed a lot of promise on his first album, Acid Blues Experience. But his excellent follow-up, Raw and Real, is an even stronger album from Curtis, whose long list of influences ranges from Jimi Hendrix, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, and Robin Trower to electric Chicago blues icons such as Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf, and Muddy Waters -- and there are even traces of David Lee Roth in some of Curtis' vocals, which isn't really surprising when you consider that Van Halen had blues influences and included an arrangement of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man" on their first album. Although blues-oriented, Raw and Real is not the work of a blues purist; anyone who expects everything on this 66-minute CD to adhere to a traditional 12-bars blues structure will be disappointed. But one needn't be a rigid blues purist to be consistently blues-minded, and Curtis' passion for '60s and '70s hard rock as well as soul and funk doesn't decrease the amount of blues feeling that he brings to ballsy, hard-rocking selections like "Black Rose," "Girlfriend," "American Lady," and "That's Right" -- not at all. Curtis, who wrote or co-wrote all of the material, employs a wealth of blues feeling and blues imagery on Raw and Real, which is a consistently engaging sophomore disc from the Windy City native. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide - Alex Henderson (All Music Guide)

March 15, 2007

Stoney Curtis Band Live at Cozy's
Acid Blues Experience
By The Atomic Chaser & The Rocker

This past March 1st The Rocker and I found ourselves at one of the hottest Blues joints in the Valley, the world famous COZY's. To hear and see the Stoney Curtis Band. Now The Rocker and I have experienced the SCB a number of times. Each time better, tigther and HOTTER than ever. A Blues rock trio whose chemistry is like hand in glove. For those of you who never had the previlege to see the Stoney Curtis Band perform this band puts its heart and soul in every note they play. You have Stoney Curtis whose guitar playing is extremely dangerous and is simply out of this world. The rhythm section of bassist Colby Smith and drummer Charlie Glover II is just plain scary! This is what happend the night the Stoney Curtis Band unleashed a ACID BLUES EXPERIENCE...

As the trio took to the stage there was a slight chill in the air. That would soon change as they plugged in and commenced to rocking the joint. Stoney and his fellow bluesmen fired things up with an hour and half that was so hot that we thought the fire department was going to be called in! A smoking set that included songs from the band debut release, 'Acid Blues Experience' on Shrapnel Records in the form of, "Mulholland Shuffle", "Free", "Bullets" and the powerful showstopper, "Last Train To Chicago". Their set also include three mindblowing covers. First, the Bob Marley classic, "I Shot The Sheriff", that literally melted the paint off the walls. A great cover that we hope make it to record. The second a emotional filled take on U2's "One". The one that brought the house down and literally left The Rocker and I picking up our mouths off the floor was the smoking rendition of Prince's, "Purple Rain", with drummer Charlie Glover handling backing vocals and killer falesetto!

After witnessing and experiencing the Stoney Curtis Band, our respect and admiration for this band has reached new highs. If you love Blues that will move you and rock that will roll you, the Stoney Curtis Band is just what the doctor ordered. This band's show is a MUST SEE!
- Atomic Chaser