Ramsbottom Rhythm & Blues Festival 2009
Sunday 27th September 2009
Ramsbottom Cricket Club, Lancashire
Photos by Rick Lacey

 
   The Ian Siegal Band
 

  Cuillin Blue                                                       www.cuillinblue.com
 

  Dr Truth                                                           www.doctortruth.co.uk
 

Review of Dr TRUTH at Alexander’s Jazz Theatre, 20^th August 2009. 

“Give it to me straight Doc, do I have the Blues?”…“Body And Soul, from your head to your shoes, for I am Dr Truth”. “Is there a cure Doc?”… “Verily, for as the Devils own breath seared the cobbles of the Irwell Delta there has arisen from the ashes of The Roach Twins Band yet another blues combo and it is they and they alone that can administer a cure”. “And where shall I find this blues combo Doc?”… “They manifested themselves only recently at BJ’s Blues Club but if you hasten to a place known as Alexander’s Theatre of Jazz treatment may begin. Err…by the way that’ll be six quid.” 

Having tended said remuneration I found myself in the aforesaid venue confronted with the embodiment of Dr Truth; five of the most experienced bluesmen in the North Western arm of our spiral galaxy. Front man Mike Bowden graciously allowed the band an instrumental pre-med before ‘Not My Woman’ and the contagiously slow blues, ‘You’re My Disease’. The horrors of a Turkish holiday were revealed to us in ‘The Redneck Riviera’ while the bands social conscience came to the fore during ‘Dealings Of The Dollar’. Ever wondered how Nature sorted the lying from the truth well so has Dr Truth and this was only one of the big questions pondered in ‘One Savage Moment’. With an opened ended Jazz structure and a funky bass motif ‘Down The Line’ provided a tantalising glimpse into the unshielded delights available on the internet. An up-tempo boogie keyboard introduced a dissertation on the Blues in ‘New Orleans 1927’ a place and time, (pre Gary Moore as Mike reminded us), about which many blues songs have been recorded. None perhaps as poignant as Charlie Patton’s ‘High Water Everywhere’ recalling the Mississippi floods of that year… “The backwater done rose around Sumner now, drove me down the line”. Not all the stuff played tonight was new, ‘Look After Yourself’ sounded just as virulent and just as politically relevant as it did way back in Salford 1991. Dr Truth has to be one of the finest live blues combos in the North Western arm of our you know what and if they use that stunning ‘shaman in the sky’ poster image on a CD it will be worth buying just for the cover. 

“I’ve seen ‘em Doc, am I cured?”… “Verily my son, but as the shadows of old bluesmen seek refuge from the full moon at the crossroads then you must likewise continue to search for the Truth. And remember, the Truth is in the music and the music is Dr TRUTH.” 

Band line up: Mike Bowden, vocals; Chris Roach, guitar; Paul Ashton, keyboard; Rick Lacey, drums;
Dave Luvin, bass guitar. 

Giles Reno

Many thanks to Rick Lacey for the photos and the review.
Alan White, www.earlyblues.com