Hambone Wilson

Thayer Hambone Wilson
Self Produced

Originally from Virginia but now residing in Washington, Hambone Wilson is an eclectic musician whose music covers the full spectrum of Americana, from the blues to rockabilly to country to R&B. All this rootsy material comes out splendidly on his latest recording, Thayer Hambone Wilson. The man knows his route around a guitar fretboard and plays some mighty dangerous slide work, too. You can feel the influence of his background in Virginia and the Washington, DC area as this album echoes with the sounds of regional greats like Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton.

Wilson surely celebrates all aspects of roots and brings along some mighty heavy hitters to help him out. Bass player Kenny Gadney of Little Feat fame, Rainbow’s Dave Stone, Parliament-Funkadelic saxophonist Greg Thomas and piano player Willie MacCalder from the Powder Blues Band are all among the musicians on hand to help out.

The album’s selections are quite diverse. It opens with a Rolling Stones’ kind of edge with jumpy “Dance, Dance, Dance” that features Greg Thomas blowing some dynamic sax. Wilson’s trademark blistering slide guitar is prominently displayed in tracks like “Murder Me” and “Born To Rock,” and it then takes a country blues feel on “Two Mules” or swampy flavoring on “Run To The River” where he just might save his soul. “Torn, Twisted And Blue” has a Dylanesque feel, while “Wasting Time” with John McLung on pedal steel and “Tumble Weed” are just good old country numbers.

Wilson has a knack for delivering memorable songs in short bursts. None of the songs on the disc surpass the four-minute mark, with most hitting under just three minutes. But he says a lot within the time frame, which in itself is also somewhat of a throwback to old radio play and the length of what could fit on an old shellac pressing.

Overall, Hambone Wilson has pieced together a terrific mix of music that should appeal to most anybody in one form or another. He should not be labeled as a specific genre. No musician with this type of mettle that can stretch easily between styles should be pigeon-holed. Thayer Hambone Wilson is flat out a nice collection of fun songs that should have your toes a-tappin’ and your fingers a-poppin’. Enjoyable start to finish.

Total Time: 41:16

Dance, Dance, Dance / Cheating And Lying / Sweet Virginia / Tunble Weed / Rocking My Blues Away / Torn Twisted And Blue / Murder Me / Sue Who? / Two Long Arms / Born To Rock / Run To The River / Two Mules / Wasting Time / Good Grief / Virginia Creeper / Blue Boy