Brother John - Johnny Never & John Colgan-Davis ~ Black Crow

Artiest/Band: Brother John - Johnny Never & John Colgan-Davis Album: Black Crow Release: Out Now Label: Self Format: CD/LP/DL/Digital Genre: Blues Produced by Johnny Never Music Ent. LLC Recording, Engineering, Mixing, from MorningStar Studios, Norriton, PA. & Johnny Never Music Enterprises. Mastered by MorningStar Studios. Johnny Never BMI. All songs except “Dirt Road © Johnny Never

There really is something primal about the roots of Blues. It is in our DNA it seems. For over a century and a quarter this art form has not only endured but flourished. It has spread out like a joyous musical virus to infect countless cultures around the globe, and not a generation passes without being pulled by its buoyant gravitas, its graceful yet at times grim depiction of human woes and joys, and the poetic circadian rhythm of our shared emotional realities. The vibrancy of young minds and hearts keeps propelling the blues forward. - Johnny Never

Black Crow features a blend of blues genres, original deviations, and creative song writing. The album includes twelve original blues and roots songs, written by Johnny Never, and a single cover of Charley Patton’s' “Dirt Road Blues.” Songs on the album are performed by Johnny and John with tracks that feature guest artists such as Chicago Carl Snyder, Mark Shewchuck, Alan Lewine, and Jimmy Pritchard.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Produced by Johnny Never Music Ent. LLC

Recording, Engineering, Mixing, from MorningStar Studios, Norriton, PA. & Johnny Never Music Enterprises. Mastered by MorningStar Studios. Johnny Never BMI.

Design by J. Carleton Dorchester Art. All Rights Reserved.

All songs except “Dirt Road © Johnny Never

MUSICIAN CREDITS

• Johnny Never: Vocals, Slide Guitar, Standard Guitar, Stomp Box.
• John Colgan-Davis: Harmonica & Back Up Vocals.
• Chicago Carl Snyder: Piano on Cook it to The Bone
• Jimmy Pritchard: Acoustic Bass on Old Man Mose and No Place Like Home.
• Mark Shewchuck: Percussion on Black Crow, Wandering Eye, No Place Like Home, Sexy Baby Blues and Cook It To The Bone.
• Alan Lewine: Bass on Sexy Baby and Wandering Eye,
• Holly Hoffman, Shannon Roberts, Monica Moran - Backup singers on Old Man Mose and Bread and Salt.

TRACK NOTES (from Johnny Never)

1. Bread and Salt is a roots gospel inspired song about being left with just the bare essential elements needed to sustain emotional existence.

2. New Sovereigns Blues is a blues for our troubling times with homage to the guitar work of Robert Johnson and the social protest of Big Bill Broonzy.

3. Svelte Man Blues is a fun, autobiographical traditional resonator blues.

4. Black Crow, the title track, reflects the torment laden death of a cherished love, set to a beautiful, yet forceful, fingerstyle open D tuning.

5. The lone cover on the album, Dirt Road Blues is one of Johnny’s favorite Charley Patton songs.

6. Wandering Eye Blues ventures into beautiful Piedmont inspired guitar and is a long overdue soliloquy on the perils of not being able to keep one’s eyes on the road of love.

7. No Place Like Home is a love song set to a lively resonator guitar bop.

8. That Thing You Did Last Night is a humorous swipe at how easily men can be won over when all their thinking is led by the little head.

9. Old Man Mose is a Folk Blues ballad, once again harking back to the finer qualities of social commentary in Blues Music History.

10. Sexy Baby Blues is a jazzy number with great Mississippi Saxophone (harmonica) about the angst that comes from having a stunningly sexy girlfriend.

11. Whiskey Glass is a rearrangement of a minor blues Johnny wrote in 2017 that one reviewer referred to as the new “St James Infirmary”.

12. Five Miles is a blues song about life.

13. Cook It To The Bone is about the rather feline attributes of a woman Johnny once fell in love with.

BIOGRAPHY

The core of Brother John is the duo of two well-seasoned Philadelphia blues artists, Johnny Never and John Colgan Davis. The name “Brother John” reflects the strong bond of their musical partnership, as well as the humanity and enduring power of collaborative musical creativity that has always defined the blues. Johnny Never, is an independent blues song writer and acoustic fingerstyle and slide guitarist. He has been writing and performing Delta and Piedmont style blues for over two decades. He is a two-time Quarter Finalist at the IBC and has performed in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. and Canada. John Colgan-Davis has been performing since the 1970s. He performed with Bonnie Raitt, recording with her at WMMR in Philadelphia in 1973, and toured with Sparky Rutger and the John Cadillac Band. He is also a founding member of Philadelphia's renown blues band, The Dukes of Destiny. Brother John is most often just these two musicians on stage. There is a chemistry between them during performances that is visceral and contagious. Bother John may also from time to time include other musicians such as those represented on tracks off their new album, Black Crow. Their art is immersed in blues history.

WEBLINKS

OS: www.brotherjohnblues.com

FB: www.facebook.com/johnnyneve

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