Ruben Marcano

You can hear the finger moving on the fretboard.

That’s how close this record gets. @julyoofficial sent over “Blues Way” — Mehran Matin, Julyo and SF1 — and the guitars on it are something else. I play, so that’s where my ear goes first, and the vibrato is right there in front of you: the finger against the wood, the whole physical act of it. You only get that when the playing is honest and the engineering stays out of its way.

It opens on “A Place Called Home,” which is one of my two favourites here. Super expressive. The other is “There Before Sundown.” On both of them the guitars shine.

And it’s a full record around them — bass, drums, harmonica that’s really lovely, vocals that hold their own. Mixed beautifully. It breathes. It’s dynamic in a way a lot of records aren’t any more, and it carries attitude and character the whole way through.

I really, really like this album.

#contemporaryblues #bluesguitar #harmonica #guitartone