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Roundhouse Self-Titled CD

Recorded at Dirt Road Studios 2004

Engineered by Joe Rogers

9 Song CD

Production: 4 Performance: 5 Songwriting: 4 Recommended: YES

Taking the recommendation of our editor, I posted a thread on NHTunes.com stating that I was looking for blues CDs to review. I got a response in the form of a CD from Roundhouse, a coastal New Hampshire/Southern Maine band.

   The packaging is simple; the music is not. The first song, “Close that Window,” started with some Bo Diddley drums courtesy of Joe Rogers and an ethereal harmonica crying out courtesy of Mike “Bullfrog” Rogers. The sound is haunting. I was drawn right in by a great sounding band with a great sounding recording. Buddy Shutes’ vocals sit in the misery of broken love. As the song progresses there is a unique sounding slide solo over the African rhythm. The harmonica breaks out in an interlude of chromatic sobbing. “Breezy Hill” is a blues bopper that walks easily down the street. The thing that gets me on listening to this is the great quality of the recording. It is real smooth and easy on the ears. The next song “You don’t know Misery” keeps the momentum with a slow tempo-ed swamp groove and a nice, easy tremolo-ed guitar and that weeping harmonica. Next thing I know the Bo Diddley drums slip into Glenn Miller’s big band. There is a great drum swing intro for “High Class Man.” The song has a real “keep on truckin’” strut. There must be something good in the water out on the coast. www.roundhouseblues.com

- James LeBoeuf

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