I recently reviewed the new Fish Eyed Blues CD, It’s Not You…It’s Me. I thoroughly enjoyed it and wanted to hear how this JSJBF member band CD would sound live. Well, I got my chance along with a packed house at member venue the Chubby Pickle on the last day of April. The first set covered the entire fourteen original songs on the CD in sequence and as good as the disc is, the live versions were even better! The band faithfully created the recorded versions, even down to the percussive loop that opens “Good Time Blues.” The big difference is that the live versions were more muscular, and I felt like we were hearing them in the studio before they were mixed down. Live performance lets you feel the powerful drumming of Kevin Crouse, the rich sound of Rich Solomon’s bass, the amazing fret work of Jeff Bavaro’s guitar and urgency in Paul Iannizzotto’s impassioned vocals. The thing that makes the music so good is that while it covers several styles of blues, there are elements of country, rock and metal which keeps it interesting for the listener. Dennis Quilligan of Jersey Shore Records, to which they are signed, was videoing the event , and I hope that sees the light of day.
The second set contained several songs from their debut disc, “Nothing Personal” but also covered blues classics like “Shake Your Money Maker,” “Honey Hush” and “Dust My Broom.” They also did an outstanding version of the only cover on the disc, “Tobacco Road,” which was originally a hit for our good friend John Hawken and the Nashville Teens in 1964. Another departure was “Spooky,” a song that started out as an instrumental, was covered by many artists but made a radio staple by both The Classics IV and the Atlanta Rhythm Section. They finished with Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy,” which they were far from on this special night.
Fish Eyed Blues: “It’s Not You…It’s Me! Album release event.
April 30, 2022 at the Chubby Pickle
All proceeds of the album release event at The Chubby Pickle Fish Eyed Blues will be donated to the Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Foundation along with other proceeds from raffles, cd sales in conjunction with the foundation.
Fish Eyed Blues has been a proud member of the foundation since 2018.