I remember when the group Bloodline came out in 2000 with the Krieger, Oakley, Davis kids. JB didn't have the musical "bloodline" of his band mates, but he's the one that has persevered. I lumped him in with the other young guns of his age group, Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. I always liked Lang's vocals but not so much his fret work. KWS was smart enough to hire singers, and he was the best guitarist by far. I pulled out an old VH1 tape from 1997 and watched it a few weeks ago. What's happened to him anyway? Come back, come back KWS...
I tried to like JB's solo work after leaving Bloodline but it just never clicked for me. Then, one evening when the wifey was out of the house, I had the satellite tuned to one of the channels not approved for her ears, and this live track comes on with smokin' guitar and splices of ZZ Top and Zeppelin mixed in. It was from JB's "Live From Nowhere." So live was what did it for me. I alerted Bob Kilts to it and he subsequently purchased "...John Henry" and said it was outstanding. I still had my reservations, but finally picked it up seven months after its street date. This is without a doubt his finest work to date. I'm glad he goes to #1 on Blues charts, but this isn't really blues, or blues-rock, it's rock-blues if anything. JB is a fan of UK axemen such as Clapton, Rory Gallagher, and God love him for this one, Paul Kossoff. If you're a fan of Warren Haynes/Gov't Mule, you will enjoy "Ballad..." immensely.
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