Walbank, Tom & The Amassadors - Mudhook Vol. II

Rock'n'Roll Purgatory: Born in 1969, Englishman Tom Walbank discovered blues at fifteen after seeing John Lee Hooker's brief appearance in the Blues Brothers film. After furiously studying the harmonica stylings of Sonny Terry, he spent many a year performing in the bars of Edinburgh, Scotland, with devout Hun Steve O'Connor. He then spent five years in the San Francisco Blues scene with his new Yankee bride, then continued his journey to Tucson, Arizona, where the rent is cheaper and he has become respected not only by the blues crowd, but also among rockabilly, punk, and indie fans as well. His music refuses to be a caricature of the music he loves, instead coming off as sincere, vital, and original. Mudhook Vol. II takes it title from an amagalmation of Muddy Water and John Lee Hooker, and those ghosts definitely haunt this recording. You'll hear slide guitar, harmonica and a deep, throaty voice that sounds like it could belong to a bluesman twenty years his senior. What you'll not hear is slick, over-produced hotshot blues masturbation, nor a mawkish re-working of blues staples. These are all original compositions invested with heart and soul and recorded on reel-to-reel for a true warmth. If you wonder what a Brit could possibly know about Delta Blues, you'll be pleasantly surprised, as Tom is not only an encyclopedia of blues history, but also has managed to add his own voice to the latest chapter.

Tom is also paints when he is not playing music, and his work can be witnessed on the cover of this CD. He has done a 600-portrait strong history of the blues, from Charlie Patton to Corey Harris, and also done some illustrated folk tales, canvases, and a children's book.

Bands Tom Walbank has opened for include Dick Dale, Holly Golightly, Robert Belfour, T Model Ford, Paul Jones, Calexico, Giant Sand, Neko Case.