T-Bone – Good ‘n Greasy: 13th Floor Album Review

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T-Bone are five guys based in New Zealand but with global connections, and Good ‘n Greasy is their debut album showcasing their mastery of American Roots music. Which is both ancient and timeless, and doesn’t have any necessary fashions to follow.

Started this particular project seven years ago as a trio. Gerry Paul hails from Dublin and is the principal songwriter and guitarist. A folk musician and involved in the Arts, a director of both the Coastella and CubaDupa festivals of recent times. Richard Klein is the fiddle player from New Jersey and has been a longtime member of the Le Blanc Brothers Cajun Band from Melbourne. Cameron Burnell is a multi-instrumentalist and a member of the Frank Burkitt Band as well.

That was the core trio. Then came Aaron Stewart stand-up bass, who’s also played with the Mel Parsons’ Band and more recently Fly My Pretties. Michael Muggeridge on mandolin is the most recent.

Lucille kicks off and the song is equal parts Cajun and Zydeco. The fiddle swings with the classic style of the Balfa Brothers, and the singer has a gritty whiskey and cigarette Jook Joint rasp. This would be Klein, and his violin is outstanding throughout and lifts the overall sound of the band. To stand out from the myriad similar acts you would find up and down the States.

T-Bone Rag is classic Bluegrass in structure and swings in the same manner as one of this country’s most iconic groups, the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band. By that we also imply the Dillard’s sound. Has the infectious bounce of Hank Williams’ Jambalaya, with a bit of John Henry/ A bit of Bo Diddley. You notice how fluid the bass is.

That is interesting. On Ding Dong the vocal is Western Swing in phrasing and there are elements of Music Hall and Old Country. This could be Skiffle and we are hearing the faint echoes of the Quarrymen. A bass solo nails it. The deep roots of Paul McCartney’s style leading up to Beatlemania.

Far North. Paul has the higher tenor voice, and he’s written a sunny Folk tune here. Dreaming of the Far North sounds indistinguishable from dreaming of the whanau. It may be both. Fiddle and mandolin add some American Civil War musical sounds.

I Like to Ramble is Old Country Irish Folk Swing. As it was passed down and preserved in the America of the Appalachian Hills, when it almost disappeared in its place of origin.

You Didn’t Write Me Letters Back has a change of tempo to European Gypsy Jazz. The singer’s phrasing is urbane Blues, a little like Lonnie Johnson in style. Paris and Rome are name-dropped. Finishes with perfect, impassioned French.

Keep My Skillet Good ‘n Greasy is the acid test for this debut album, and they get there in the end. A classic song which goes way back beyond recorded music and has many versions. The fiddle player stamps his mark with some Cajun swing which gives this workout a modern edge. Never work no more/ I’ll lay ‘round your shanty all the time/ Gonna get a jug of brandy/ Gonna give it all to Mandy/ Keep her good ‘n drunk ‘n dirty all the time!

Listen to it a few times and you get the idea of his bragging about his skillet good ‘n greasy. The singer starts slowly but puts the appropriate dirt in there. Have a listen to versions by Uncle Dave Macon, on Spotify and YouTube. The roots of Rap and Hip-Hop trash talk go back a long way too.

I Hope That Time Passes Me By is softer Folk Pop, of the singer-songwriter style of the Seventies American West Coast. This also became the Bluegrass style back then, and again the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band were there.

Guide Me Home is similar with a Gospel tone, and simple pastoral sentiments like the Waltons television series. Back in those days there was only TV and a choice of two channels.

Manuka Swing- Balfa Waltz is a great way to close the album. Begins slowly as the mandolin leads off, an old Celtic melody of sadness and sorrow. Then picks up with a superb violin entry, perfecting that patented Balfa Brothers sound which they achieved with twin fiddles harmonizing. Klein does this solo and he comes in with soulful patois singing.

T-Bone are veteran musicians with long pedigrees, and on their debut album Good ‘n Greasy they deliver great American Roots music where the competition is stiff and the standards are high. They can keep it good ‘n greasy most of the time.

Rev Orange Peel  

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Rev Orange Peel
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