Eric Johanson
Live in Mississippi
***and1/2 out of *****
The blues rocking guitarist and songwriter Eric Johanson's newest release, Live in Mississippi, captures his raucous live sound as the New Orleans based artist mixes up the blues, rock and roll, soul and a touch of voodoo.
Captured at the Ground Zero Club in Biloxi, MS on August 9, 2024, Live in Mississippi find Johanson on vocals and guitar with his backing band of bassist Will Repholz, and drummer Terry Scott, Jr. holding it down. Opener "No Where To Go" is a motoring blues rock opener that primes the ears for the tunes to follow.
The rumbling drums and scorching guitar solo highlight "Undertow" while "Just Like New" finds Johanson using a slide as the track takes on a bright Allman Brothers like feel. Johanson spent some time playing with The Neville Brothers and here he drops a fun, bluesy, riffed filled cover of their hit "Yellow Moon".
After the revved up, straight ahead rocking of "Galaxy Girl" the trio deliver another cover with a spacey, bubbling spin through Dr. John's "I Walk On Guilded Splinters" which is excellent. The stripped down traditional blues gets a solo airing from Johanson on Skip James' "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" before the easy flowing, head bopping "Familiar Sound' strolls out.
The live album ends with two extended rockers, "Changes The Universe" takes a while to get going and is fairly tame until a scorching solo to end, while album closer "Don't Hold Back" is much better, a heavy hitting, metallic blazer that caps off Live In Mississippi on a dynamite note.
Fans of other New Orleans based guitar slingers like Anders Osborne, Samantha Fish and Tab Benoit will find a lot to love on Johanson's Live In Mississippi as the rocking blues flow with ease.
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