"HUGH POOL. You can't swing a cat in this city without hitting Hugh Pool. I caught this hard working New York country-delta-blues guitarist at the Bottom Line opening for Dave Edmunds, some time ago. Playing flavorsome guitar with a mouthful of whiskey and a salty voice, he seems to be a member of 100 bands supplying his Winter and Allman Brothers sound. When he's not playing, you can see him with engineering credits on CDs from bands like The Bootleg Remedy. Whew!"
- Aber (Village Voice "Choices")
"Hugh Pool's song hark back to the 1960's rock that was steeped in the blues. His repertory extends from rolling-and-tumbling slide-guitar boogies to neo-psychedelic jams to reflective, down-home hymns that recall The Band."
- Pareles (New York Times)
"Before there w as grunge, there was Howlin' Wolf. Now there's the HUGH POOL BAND... Pool is a tremendous slide and fingerstyle guitarist with a propensity for adventure. He's also got a great voice...intense, deep and real."
- Jeff Calvin (Blues Review Magazine)
"HUGH POOL. Evidence that not every rocker living in Brooklyn is a bandwagon-jumping, Vice-reading twentysomething. Pool's earnest forays into roots rock vibe a mellower Greg Allman, maybe, or a journeyman blues player with a jones for introspection and noise-geetar."
- Hoard (Village Voice "Choices")
"Honky-tonk Hugh Pool is surprisingly from New York, not exactly the home of roots rock. But you wouldn't know it from listening to his music. Pool has a knack for mixing blues, country and nasty rock 'n' roll, and he makes it look easy. Known mostly for his unreal steel-guitar playing and his mastery of the Fender Stratocaster, Pool also belts out lyrics with authority. And unlike Mick Jagger, he really is a mean harmonica player."
-Joey Key (From AOL City Guide) June 27 2007
"It's true that Hugh can play the living shit out of a guitar. He can do things to the instrument that I have NEVER seen anyone do. His riffs are as seamless as a bender. His tone borders on the sublime. But all of it is smoke and mirrors, icing on a very large cake. The thing about Hugh is that when you see him you see this guy who is being true. You see who he is, which is to say you see a man who lives so deep in the pocket that he probably evolved from lint. In this day and age of Velveeta processed bands, Hugh is refreshing to say the least."
- Harlan Longstreet (entire Rodeo Bar review found here.)
"I had forgotten how talented this guy is. He can literally do it all...electric blues with and without slide, acoustic delta style on a National, wicked fast country style fingerpicking, you name it.... he even blows a pretty mean harp."
- Big Road Blues
"The average music fan may not know who Hugh Pool is right now. But if there's justice in the world of music, that will change."
- Pittsburgh Post Gazette
"HUGH POOL KNOCKS THE DOORS OFF." Just back from 3 shows on the east coast of North Carolina, Hugh Pool is a one man armada. Each finger might as well have its own guitar, there is so much sound coming out. Then as if he needed more, there's the harmonica's howl, his foot is stomping, and the voice is the unmistakable, authentic sound of life's struggle through the classics of the finger-picking blues. And when Hugh picks up his 1937 National metal guitar...hold onto something.
But the night was not complete without 2 hours worth of stories of life, the road, and music."
- Ed Bernstein, ShareNY.com Reports
"Whatever Mojo is, Hugh Pool has it in spades."
- David Morreale, Mudluscious Records
"Hugh Pool is one of those rare artists whose vision transcends his chosen genre."
- Glenn Paul Manion, The Splatter Effect
"...in other words they're the veritable Real Deal."
- Waterfront Week (Williamsburg/Greenpoint)
"Hugh Pool is a Brooklyn cowboy, if there ever was one. This wildman from Williamsburg has been up and down these highway roads across America, many times now gracing audiences with his fancy fret work and his self-described psyche-delta stomp. Along the way, he has had the privilege to share a stage with everyone from Patti Smith and Johnny Winter to Gov't Mule. As always, expect a little blues, a little country and one hell of a rocking good time."
- (New York Press)
