Another strong solo effort

Fifty years ago, Doyle Bramhall II was born in Austin, Texas. He was born into a musical household: his father, Doyle Sr., was a drummer who performed with legendary blues artists such as Freddie King, and was childhood friends with the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Austin is known for its legendary blues scene, and so the younger Doyle chose to join the scene as well, on guitar. His talent was undeniable, so his status among the blues elders as a hot young guitarist continued to rise until its peak in 1999 when he received phone calls from rock giants Roger Waters and Eric Clapton. This catapulted him into a new level of stardom, to the point where he collaborated with major artists, from B.B. King and Gregg Allman to Gary Clark Jr., Sheryl Crow and even Questlove. After a fifteen year break from solo work, Bramhall released an album in 2016 titled Rich Man. Two years after that, following a label switch to Provogue Records, he has dropped a new album, Shades.

As expected, Shades’ roots lie deeply in blues. Bramhall’s guitar playing and vocals are front and center. He’s still an exceptional player; his unorthodox style of playing left-handed while stringing upside down creates different sounds that are otherwise impossible for the typical guitarist to recreate. His vocals are surprisingly smooth, given that the blues is known for its grit and emotion.

The songs themselves are mostly straightforward, but there are a few small differences between them. The album contains a lot of different styles, from slow blues jams (“Love And Pain”) to sinful bluegrass picking (“Hammer Ring”) and ’70s Southern rock (“Live Forever”).

Bramhall also finds plenty of room to bring some of his famous friends on board. Eric Clapton shreds over “Everything You Need” to give it a little more flair. The real gem, though, is his collaboration with Norah Jones, “Searching For Love.” It’s an epic six-minute piano ballad and vocal duet that showcases the best of both performers’ skill sets.

Overall, though it’s no genre-bending effort, Bramhall has managed to make a fun record that can appeal to both blues purists and those looking to venture into new territory.